Canada’s Eroding Democracy

It was no surprise that virtually every mainstream media outlet in our country dismissed the 2011 Harper budget as “the one released before the spring election…but with a couple minor additions”. Once again, they (the Canadian media) blindly disregarded vital electoral changes that will affect every Canadian. The newly added plank of phasing out party funding may not seem like much on the surface, but the ramifications of this decision will make Canada much less democratic. John Tory of CFRB1010 radio in Toronto downplayed this policy and the budget as “not going to affect Canadians.” In fact, Mr. Tory and many other news reports that used a similar tone can’t be any further from the truth.

In 2004, PM Jean Chrétien introduced new election rules around party funding and fund raising. The idea was to make funds available to all ideologies that Canadians deemed to be worthwhile.  With the changes, a party must receive at least 2% of the popular vote to qualify for this funding; two per cent represents approximately 400,000 votes. There was a clear disadvantage to any party who represented the interests of individuals or groups of individuals who may not have the financial means to support a political party. It was recognised that this disadvantage was not democratic, so Parliament voted to allow Canadians themselves to make the decision on who will or will not receive funding. This meant parties that qualify for the funding would receive it according to the way the people of Canada decide through their vote. This policy put the power of funding directly in the hands of the people. This fair and democratic system was scrapped by Harper in the release and implementation of the 2011 federal budget. 

Most troubling about scrapping the right for Canadians themselves to decide who deserves funding is that in the last 5 years Harper has been systematically eliminating funding to organizations who have traditionally represented minorities who haven’t the resources to fund political parties. Organizations including Human Rights Advocacy Organizations, Women’s Rights Advocacy Groups, Immigrant Organizations and others have all lost or dramatically reduced federal funding.   The result of scrapping party funding coupled with organizations losing funding means the interests of all these groups will diminish to a point where progress is impossible – their voice will be lost or dramatically silenced.  Parties representing these interests cannot compete against other parties who back the interests of, for example, the banks, big oil, and corporations in general or the wealthy. These interests have the means to have their message heard while less wealthy interests remain silent.

Silencing parties and organizations that don’t fit the conservative mould isn’t all Harper has done to grasp complete control. He has silenced public service staff or academia who dare to question conservative initiatives. The Ministry of National Resources was this year crowned the Canadian Journalists Code of Silence award for muzzling a leading Canadian Geologist sighting “media lines” must first have minister office approval before speaking to the public or media.

It’s extremely worrisome that no one in the mainstream Canadian media understands the severity of this or at least has the courage to report it. Our democracy has been diminished by Harper in 5 short years and no one in Canadian mainstream media cares and/or has the ability to recognize what has unfolded in such a short time. Prorogation didn’t do it, contempt in parliament didn’t do it, filibustering committees, silencing critics, and now these electoral reforms weren’t enough to capture the attention they deserve. The lack of opposition in parliament has also got me scratching my head. It is so ironic that at a time in history when suppressed nations all around the world rally to improve their countries by moving towards democracy, we are letting ours slip away.

There are measures we can take. When we hear clear political bias on the airwaves, call in and let them know you are on to what they are doing. Write to the papers and email TV stations; be relentless. Let them know what you know and ask them why they are not reporting on these important matters. Hopefully they will cave under public pressure and do the right thing. Our biggest challenge is communicating to unengaged Canadians who have been totally disenfranchised by the whole Canadian political process. In the 2011 federal election there were almost 40% of eligible Canadian voters (9,251,160 people) who choose not to vote at all. If only a fraction of those voters showed up at the polls, the outcome may have been much different.

The lists below were found on the Canadian Center on Policy Alternatives web site. The lists are part of a great article by Maria Gergin posted on April 6^th, 2011.

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/silencing-dissent-conservative-record

List of organizations which have been cancelled or defunded, followed by a list of individuals who have been silenced or removed from their posts.

(2006-2011)

1.       ORGANIZATIONS

Seventy-nine community organizations, agencies, NGOs, research bodies and programs which have been cancelled, or whose funding has been cut or dramatically decreased:

·         Aboriginal Healing Foundation

·         Action travail des femmes

·         Afghan Association of Ontario, Canada Toronto

·         Alberta Network of Immigrant Women

·         Alternatives (Quebec)

·         Association féminine d’éducation et d’action sociale (AFEAS)

·         Bloor Information and Life Skills Centre

·         Brampton Neighbourhood Services (Ontario)

·         Canadian Arab Federation

·         Canadian Child Care Federation

·         Canadian Council for International Co-operation

·         Canadian Council on Learning

·         Canadian Council on Social Development

·         Canadian Heritage Centre for Research and Information on Canada

·         Canadian Human Rights Commission

·         Canadian International Development Agency, Office of Democratic Governance

·         Canadian Labour Business Centre

·         Canada Policy Research Networks

·         Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women

·         Canada School of Public Service

·         Canadian Teachers' Federation International program

·         Canadian Volunteerism Initiative

·         Centre de documentation sur l’éducation des adultes et la condition feminine

·         Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA)

·         Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples (Toronto)

·         Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada

·         Childcare Resource and Research Unit, SpeciaLink

·         Climate Action Network

·         Community Access Program

·         Community Action Resource Centre (CARC)

·         Conseil d’intervention pour l’accès des femmes au travail  (CIAFT)

·         Court Challenges Program (except language rights cases and legacy cases)

·         Court Commission of Canada

·         Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre Toronto: (Funding cut by CIC in December 2010).

·         Democracy Council

·         Department of Foreign Affairs, Democracy Unit

·         Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women Toronto

·         Eritrean Canadian Community Centre of Metropolitan Toronto

·         Ethiopian Association in the Greater Toronto Area and Surrounding Regions

·         Feminists for Just and Equitable Public Policy (FemJEPP) in Nova Scotia

·         First Nations Child and Family Caring Society

·         First Nations and Inuit Tobacco Control Program

·         Forum of Federations

·         Global Environmental Monitoring System

·         HRD Adult Learning and Literacy programs

·         HRD Youth Employment Programs

·         Hamilton’s Settlement and Integration Services Organization  (Ontario)

·         Immigrant settlement programs

·         Inter-Cultural Neighbourhood Social Services (Peel)

·         International Planned Parenthood Federation

·         KAIROS

·         Law Commission of Canada

·         Mada Al-Carmel Arab Centre

·         Marie Stopes International, a maternal health agency

·         MATCH International

·         National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL)

·         Native Women’s Association of Canada

·         New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity

·         Northwood Neighbourhood Services (Toronto: (Funding cut by CIC in December 2010).

·         Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH)

·         Ontario Association of Transitional Housing (OAITH)

·         Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care

·         Ottawa Chinese Community Services Centre

·         Pride Toronto

·         Réseau des Tables régionales de groupes de femmes du Québec

·         Riverdale Women’s Centre in Toronto

·         Royal Canadian Mounted Police External Review Committee

·         Sierra Club of BC

·         Sisters in Spirit

·         Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

·         South Asian Women’s Centre

·         Statistics Canada long-form census

·         Status of Women

·         Tropicana Community Services

·         Womanspace Resource Centre (Lethbridge, Alberta)

·         Women’s Innovative Justice Initiative – Nova Scotia

·         Women’s Legal Action and Education Fund

·         Workplace Equity/Employment Equity Program

·         York South-Weston Community Services Centre Toronto

INDIVIDUALS

Fourteen civil servants, scientists, and organizations/watchdogs whose staff have been fired, publicly silenced, or who have resigned in protest:

·         Rémy Beauregard, President, Rights & Democracy  (International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development)

·         Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak, Director General, Canada Firearms Program

·         Richard Colvin, diplomat, Foreign Affairs

·         Yves Coté, Ombudsman, Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces

·         Linda Keen, Chair, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

·         Paul Kennedy, Chair, RCMP Police Complaints Commission

·         Adran Measner, President and CEO, Canadian Wheat Board

·         Kevin Page, Parliamentary Budget Officer

·         Sheridan Scott, Commissioner, Competition Bureau

·         Munir Sheikh, Deputy Minister, Statistics Canada

·         Col. Pat Stogran, Veterans Ombudsman

·         Steve Sullivan, Ombudsman, Victims of Crime

·         Peter Tinsley, Chair, Military Police Complaints Commission

·         Earl Turcotte, lead negotiator, Mine Action and Small Arms Team, Foreign Affairs