Your editorial (“Protesters pick the wrong day,” May 18) needs to be challenged. You say that on Canada Day, a “protest” against Harper is not appropriate.
Well I strongly disagree. Canada Day — a day to celebrate Canada and community. Well after Harper finishes his term, many aspects of what Canada stands for will not be recognizable. Democracy is being trampled on by this government. Just look at the (supposed) current budget Bill 38 — which includes over 400 pages of rule changes, which this government won’t allow time to dissect and debate. Where is a prime minister that governs for all the people, not just the 39 per cent of the only 50-plus per cent that voted in May 2011? He is secretive and unwilling to call out ministers who have clearly gone overboard ($16 orange juice, hotel upgrades, helicopter rides) and mean spirited (attack ads). As a respected national newspaper wrote in their Sunday edition, “If anything calls for a riot, it’s Harper’s stealth governance.” This is the first time that a major national newspaper has written so openly about our “undemocratic” Conservative government. Yes, the time is more than ripe, to protest, but then maybe most of us are too complacent to see the damage being done. We’d rather eat a piece of Canada Day cake at Lakeside Park. Angst is on the menu for those who truly care about Canada and Canada Day.
John Vanden Heuvel
Blewett