Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Toxin

A thought occurred to me when writing my last post.

Harper used the first prorogue to avoid the prospect of losing power to an Opposition coalition. He went to the wall, declared treason and a unity crisis over a very legitimate and legal action in our parliamentary system. When the system did something he didn't like, he circumvented it and ran to the GG.

By challenging the supremacy of parliament through withholding documents and appointing a patsy judge to investigate it, Harper is using the Afghan detainee abuse scandal to further challenge the legitimacy of parliament and therefore the integrity of our system of government. This is what the man does when he faces challenges to his position. He takes the issue to the edge and tests the system. So far he's winning because the actors in the system fold like so many Chamberlains.

Harper is using a dark and brooding scandal to consolidate power by using it as another system test. The mission rot in Afghanistan could help Harper destroy our parliamentary legitimacy by giving him another means through which to call a bluff on Canada's democratic and legal legitimacy.

If the Chamberlains here do not eventually find September 1939, Canada will have its own insurgency. Because we'll need it.

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