Please distribute widely.

Take action and sign the petition at:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=27949758238

The following article is from:
http://www.rabble.ca/news/coalition-majority-were-better-harper


Coalition of the majority: We're better. Off with Harper
By Elizabeth May
December 1, 2008
Rabble.ca

Canadians have a once in a lifetime opportunity to protect democracy, to
assert that the will of the majority means something.

We have from now until December 8 to make it clear that the majority of
Canadians want Mr. Harper to leave 24 Sussex Drive.

We may need to make the case to the Governor General that Mr. Harper
must not be allowed to cling to power by prorogation. He delayed the
confidence motions by one week until December 8 in order to throw all
the Conservative fire power - back-tracking, attack ads, illegal tape
recording of phone calls, spinning on steroids - at forcing the
opposition parties to blink. If it doesn't work, he is threatening to
shut down the House to buy more time. He may seek to dissolve the House
(prorogation).

Why must Mr. Harper go?

The first and obvious breaking point is that he has "lost the confidence
of the House." This somewhat quaint archaic notion is critical to the
functioning of Parliament, especially in a minority. Only 37.6 per cent
of the voters chose this government. With that level of support and a
minority of seats, but with the largest caucus in the House, the
Conservatives get a shot at a minority government.

To make it work, a prime minister in a minority must consult with the
opposition party leaders and try to develop a consensus. The minority
government needs the confidence of the House to govern. That's how our
democracy works.

Mr. Harper forgot this. He totally ignored the commitments he made at
the APEC Summit in Peru. There he dropped his election posturing that
deficits were "dangerous" and described them as "essential." There he
spoke of Canada joining the approach taken by other industrialized
governments to stimulate the economy through a package of investments.

Instead, as we all know, his economic statement, hyped by the
Conservatives as a response to the global financial crisis, was more
about trying to press post-election financial superiority to crush
opposition parties.

The fiscal update was not a response to the needs of Canada's economy.
In fact, in their thinly disguised effort to dress up blatant
partisanship as an economic measure, they had to make the key message
one of belt-tightening austerity. This seriously backfired. Even their
friends in the Conservative-friendly media criticized Harper's message
as worsening the threat of deflation.

Since last Thursday's statement, Harper has experienced something new.
For the last two and a half years, his bully tactics have been
unchallenged as a fractured opposition caved in to his threats. But
suddenly there was steel in the backbones of the opposition parties.

Mr. Harper is now desperate. He is not just desperate to remain Prime
Minister. For the first time he is facing serious anger from his
backers. His ability to stay on as leader of the Alliance Conservative
Republican Party of Canada is now at risk.

We have a very short amount of time to mobilize everyone who voted
Green, NDP, Liberal and Bloc. (And the 27,000+ voters in Nova Scotia who
elected former Conservative Bill Casey. Now an Independent MP, Casey is
voting non-confidence.)

We don't have much time. The issues are about far more than politics.

Reading the Speech from the Throne, it is clear the Harper government
was going to use the economic crisis as cover for an ideological field
day, cutting and slashing of the government services and programmes.
Environment, arts and culture, programmes for low income Canadians were
all on the cutting block. Even in backtracking and promising more, Mr.
Flaherty has only pledged to chance the budget date by one week to
January 27.

Looking south of the border, we can see the benefits of moving fast to
reassure society that economic stimuli are coming. Even before
inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama helped quell economic panic
by announcing massive investments in renewable energy and
infrastructure. He is leaving details for later. Contrast that with a
shell shocked Jim Flaherty on the CTV news last night, saying he was not
going to announce some "back of the envelope" package.

The latest spin from the PMO is that the determination of the coalition
government-in-waiting to bring down his failed government will hurt the
economy through economic uncertainty. But, clearly, Harper's approach is
damaging the economy by the day.

Meanwhile, climate negotiations are underway right now in Poland under
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The talks will reach
their peak by December 10-13. It is my dearest prayer that the
negotiating instructions to the Canadian delegation will come from a
coalition government of parties that support climate action. We have
time, but we do not have much time.

Join the rallies on Thursday. Blog on the mainline media sites. Write to
your MP (of whatever party). Sign the petition. Go to
defendourdemocracy.ca. And write the Governor General at info[at]gg[dot]ca.

Nearly one million Canadians voted Green. Greens join the call for the
emerging coalition. For the sake of Canadian jobs, economy and planetary
survival, support the coalition.

Elizabeth May, O.C., is leader of the Green Party of Canada. Thanks to
the creative work of Richard MacArthur at Proactive Imaginations for
Hire for "We're better. Off with Harper."

* * * * * * * *

Take action -- time is of the essence! Go to
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=27949758238

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