standing up for canadian democracy

A friend alerted me to an amazing blog post written in the form of a letter, or perhaps a letter that's been turned into a blog post. The author of the letter is Peter Black, a Canadian citizen. He's writing to the leaders of all the opposition parties.

Dear Messieurs Ignatieff, Layton, Duceppe and Ms. May

In the 2006 election, the Conservative Party’s slogan was “Stand Up for Canada”. In the coming election, your common slogan must be “Stand Up for Canadian Democracy”.

I know that you will explain to Canadians why you disagree with various policies of the current government. I am asking that, in addition, you remind Canadians of the numerous practices­ of Stephen Harper which are undermining our democratic institutions - Parliament; the Judiciary; the Civil Service; and Canadians’ right to information and the truth from their government:

The letter goes on to summarize some of the government's worst anti-democratic excesses, neatly filed under these categories: Abusing Parliament, Undermining the Canadian Judiciary, Attacking the Civil Service, and Lying to and Hiding Information From Canadians. Read the excellent post here.

For a much longer version of Black's list, I refer you to this list, compiled by a member of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament going by "Defend Parliament".

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Update. In posting this, I am not suggesting or predicting campaign strategy for any party. I am not generally interested in partisan analysis, so this blog seldom comments on such matters. I offer Peter Black's letter as an excellent summary reminder of the Harper Government's anti-democratic practices.