Stop Stephen Harper

It looks like Stephen Harper will be our next Prime Minister. What remains to be seen is whethe he will command a majority or minority Conservative government.

A minority would be no sweat as far as Canadian progressives who want to protect the Canada we have is concerned. He will have no one to bargain with. The Liberals and Tories are filled with enmity for one another. I can't see Jack Layton and the NDP cowtowing to the Conservatives on important issues such as the environment and militarization. Dealing with the Bloc would look bad on the Tories, and in some ways the Bloc as well. The Tories agenda on things like Kyoto, missile defence, and social conservative issues, would be in oppoistion to the Bloc positions on this issues. If the Conservatives win a minority government on Monday, I don't think we'd have anything to really worry about.

A majority, on the other hand, would be a frightening prospect.. Harper has said he would be restrained by the courts and by the Senate. With respect to the courts, he would be. That means the issues like same-sex marriage and abortion are safe from revisitation, for the forseeable future, anyway. However, it is customary and expected for the Senate to eventually pass all legislation that is sent to it from the House of Commons.

My major concerns with respect to Harper are numerous. These include agreeing to negotiate with the US over missile defence, saying no to the Kyoto treaty, and and retracting the aboriginal agreement reached a couple of months ago. Harper has already indicated these positions on these issues in his platform. In my opinion, human survival is at stake with respect to the missile defence and climate change issues, and it is extremely important that Mr. Harper be prevented from having enough power to follow through on his plans for these issues.