Over the past four days it has come to light that the highest levels of Canadian government were aware of the torture of detainees in Afghanistan. This includes the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. Can we, as Canadians, continue to endorse his leadership of the minority government when he has taken action that has violated Geneva conventions, tortured hundreds, and humiliated us as a nation around the world?
Being Canadian is a nebulous concept; culturally we are one and we are many. There are few Canadians, however, who would agree that the use of torture is acceptable in any circumstance. The willful and cognizant transfer of prisoners to an authority we knew would abuse them makes use as bad as those who applied near-lethal force to those who had never know the justice of a court. There is nothing but shame in the actions of those who permitted this to happen.
The Harper government has always worked to control the message. The level of transparency of this government is next to nil. The level of control that Mr. Harper holds is dictatorial and it’s clear why: if we knew what was going on behind closed doors and if we were aware of the things that were being perpetrated around the world in our name we would see him (Mr. Harper) and his government for what they really are – the very worst kind of opportunistic politicians.
The Liberal party was brought down over a scandal related to the abuse of funds. This Conservative government must fall for the abuse of our fellow human beings. There is no forgiveness for this; that any one of us would send anyone – even someone who we think is a terrorist or an enemy – to be tortured is a crime that must be punished without reprieve.
This is a sad day for Canadians. There is a glimmer of hope, however, that this government will fall and a more transparent, open, government-for-the-people will arise. It doesn’t matter whether that government is Conservative, Liberal, or a coalition government with another party – a clean sweep and a new house is the only thing that can begin to wash away this stain.
Image of Mr. Haper from lillith e-zine
“Stephen Harper snowballing” is a mental image nobody wanted…
I find it interesting that despite being a minority government, the leading party is the only group privy to such important information. Not to be dramatic, but if we wanted a select few making major decisions for a nation with limited accountability, we’d impose a monarchy or elect a president.