Conservative culture of deceit and contempt

Conservative culture of deceit and contempt
The Conservative government under Stephen Harper is showing its true character. Secrecy and intimidation have taken the place of transparency and respect. The examples are too numerous not to see a pattern:

1. Accusing police of corruption for protecting officer safety. In a brazen show of contempt for our police forces, the Conservative MP who chairs the House of Commons Public Safety Committee has said that police chiefs “derive financial support from pro-registry sources” and called them “a cult” for seeking to maintain the gun registry that they access 11,000 times a day to protect officer safety.

2. You’ll get the documents “when they are good and ready.” A Justice Department lawyer refused to even give a date for when specific documents would be provided to the Military Police Complaints Commission’s hearings on the government’s role in the torture of Afghan detainees.

3. Silence regarding Rahim Jaffer’s alleged lobbying activities. The Prime Minister will not say whether Rahim Jaffer, a former Conservative MP and unregistered lobbyist, lobbied any government minister or secretary of state to obtain government grants.

4. Showing contempt for victims of crime. While the Prime Minister doesn’t hesitate to trot out high profile murders to score cheap political points, his government has paid victims lip-service by cutting 41 percent of the budget to Grants for the Victims of Crime Initiative and another 34 percent - $2.7 million – in Contributions for the Victims of Crime Initiative.

5. Refusing to reveal why Helena Guergis was kicked out of cabinet and caucus. A sitting cabinet minister was forced to resign because her conduct while in cabinet had been referred to the RCMP for investigation, yet Stephen Harper still won’t say what alleged criminal activity was happening in his government.

6. Failing grades from the Information Commissioner. While the Conservative government was elected on a platform of transparency and accountability, the Information Commissioner has found this government to be the most secretive in history when it comes to answering Access to Information requests. Canadians await the Commissioner's findings on charges of political interference.

7. Shutting down Parliament when the questions get too tough. In the ultimate act of contempt for Parliament, Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament so he wouldn’t have to face continued questioning on the Afghan detainee torture scandal.

8. Challenging the supremacy of Parliament to cover-up Afghan torture documents. The Conservatives refused to comply with a motion passed by Parliament that would establish a review process for Afghan torture documents that respects national security.

9. Withholding information on government spending. The Conservatives won’t tell the Parliamentary Budget Officer what their baseline departmental spending levels are, denying Parliament the ability exercise oversight on the government’s spending freeze and the cutbacks needed to pay for it.

10. Raising taxes by $13 billion – and then falsely accusing Liberals of raising taxes. While the Conservatives don’t have the guts to admit they’re bringing in a $13-billion payroll tax that will kill 220,000 small business jobs, they have the nerve to portray the Liberal’s plan to freeze corporate taxes as a tax increase.

From The Globe & Mail