- News Flash! Harper fails the 'Good Government' Test

Posted: 6/8/2010 10:42:30 AM The Globe and Mail
Harper Tories pounce on Ignatieff’s leadership,
Jane Taber, 8 Jun.'10
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/harper-tories-pounce-on-ignatieffs-leadership/article1595961/
Tab 18

Stephen Harper is, once again, applying the 'Flanagan Principle' - it doesn't have to be true, it only has to sound plausible.

Lets be rational about this.

It is not likely that Ignatieff would give Maurizio Bevilacqua carte-blanche to commit the Liberal Party without reporting back to the Party for approval.

The only people that are likely to believe the line that Harper and the Con's are giving are the 33% die-hards who don't care about the truth of the matter and support Harper and the Con's no matter what. These are the ones that keep Harper in power and provide the 'unlimited' funding. Of course, these 'messages' are designed for their consumption and, hey, if a few others fall for it, all the better.

Looking at issue in a rational, logical fashion, with the good of all Canadians as the objective, then discussing it and seeking and considering real and meaningful input, especially from those who have been elected, and oathed, to do precisely that, is not a question of "Governing is about making difficult choices", it is simply "Good Government". Heavy-handed, absolute control and suppression by a leader imposing his personal beliefs is not "Good Government" it's anti-democratic, despotic autocracy and in the case at hand, verging on theocracy.

The test for "Good Government" is:

Any action taken by the government must be based on the particular issue at hand and all its relevant circumstance must be weighed in an objective, detached and dispassionate fashion, taking into consideration the opinions from all sides. It must operate in an open, transparent fashion based on the free flow of information, unobstructed and unaltered so that the people may know, understand and formulate their opinions.


To the reasonable person this is only fair and just, enlightened. To the extremist it is weakness, indecisiveness, in the vernacular, ‘dithering’.

Apply this to anything Harper does and what do you get.

Lloyd MacILquham cicblog.com/comments.html