Democracy Defeated in
Canada's House Today
by C. L. Cook
 For those Canadians wondering where their country went, today's defeat of the Bloc Quebecois motion to condemn the prime minister's unilateral decision to make agreements with foreign powers, concerning Afghanistan, outside of Parliament, making "commitments" for which citizens must pay for years and decades to come, is another bitter reminder of all Canada is no longer.
The state broadcaster, CBC reports the motion being roundly drubbed today in the House.
Not the first defeat of democracy perpetrated by the current minority leader; Mr. Harper's twice previous misapplications of the House's proroguing, or ritual closing of session, to escape first unifying the opposition for a non-confidence vote it was certain to lose, then on a second occasion to forestall public scrutiny of a torture scandal are still fresh memories for Canadians.
There is yet no satisfaction as to questions of what the nature of involvement government and Canadian Forces have and had in what amounts to the commission of war crimes in Afghanistan; those are crimes allegedly committed by both major parties while forming government.
Now, the prime minister is emboldened. Because he faced no opposition from either the Liberal party, or "liberal" media, Harper now feels he has the authority to wave a hand, committing the nation to an already extended and never popular military involvement for another three years. Three more years of killing and taking prisoners off to an uncertain and undivulged fate; three more years of transit tubes, and broken families; three more years of devoting billions of tax dollars to bring democracy to far off Afghanistan.
It's an outrage, and would the state and corporate media in Canada be serving the interests of Canadian democracy it would easily be an issue large enough to bring the Conservative's days in government to an abrupt stop. But neither they, nor the Official Opposition oppose the undermining of the country's democratic principles. Even the Bloc's tepid attempt to at least censure the Conservatives for their extra-Parliamentary shinanigans was felled faster than a G20 protester; pole-axed by the Liberal Party of Canada, 209-81.
These same Liberals, who spend their days in attendance, their backsides warming benches, their hands remaining folded in laps, sit silent as Harper bills pick liberal democratic Canada apart. Years now have passed, and still Harper persists, he and his neo-Republicans allowed to rule, importing just the most regressive and oppressive policies darkest America can offer.
Does it matter that, poll after poll Canadians say they are opposed to Afghanistan, support the healthcare system, do not want to privatise the prison industry, or criminalize further social problems, health issues, and lifestyle choices in a bid to fill a vastly expanded, fantastically immoral, but immensely lucrative, Prison-Justice-Industrial Complex?
It doesn't matter to Mr. Harper. America did it, and that's what the Conservatives will do too. It seems the Tory urge to destroy liberal democracy is so encompassing, so utterly complete, both liberals and democracy must go. Yet the Liberals watch on.
The nation seems paralyzed, unable to do more than follow orders, while bracing for the shocks to come. In the House, the Quebeckers and New Democrats quack impotent on all matters, and the Liberals parrot the government line, agreeing in all matters of substance, if not always in style.
Former NDP premier of Ontario and now federal Liberal foreign affairs critic, Bob Rae could only muster by way of a defense for his party's bloodless acquiescence was a faded boilerplate statement of support for "The Mission" Ancien, saying;
"You can't have a state without security, and that's what we're trying to do."
So, Canadians find themselves in a position familiar to those in the United States, Australia, Britain, and throughout the Anglo-American Axis. The inherently unworkable marriage between Empire and Democracy is coming to an end. Militarism and endless war are the twin pillars of the new order from here on in.
Mr. Harper saw off Canadian democracy earlier this month, remarking as it disappeared over the horizon;
"My position is if you're going to put troops into combat, into a war situation, I do think for the sake of legitimacy ... the government does require the support of Parliament. But when we're talking simply about technical or training missions, I think that is something the executive can do on its own."
For its part, the Bloc isn't impressed by the prime minister's casual attitude, PQ MP, Claude Bacand contradicting Harper's confidence, telling the CBC;
"I don't want to hear about all that crap that this is a training mission. This is a military mission."
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff agrees with the government, expressing his party's support for a "training role for Canadian Forces" in Afghanistan beyond 2011.
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