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Harper will hurt Canada

I agree with Michael Bunn (“Dictator Harper has to go in next election”, July 14 Advance) but wonder how much more damage this dictator will do in the next four years...

To the Editor:

I agree with Michael Bunn (“Dictator Harper has to go in next election”, July 14 Advance) but wonder how much more damage this dictator will do in the next four years. In politics, four years is a long time. Our outmoded election system allowed Harper to grab absolute power with just 24.3 per cent of the 23,971,740 eligible voters. Is Canada the only country where parties supported by less than four voters out of 10 get to form a majority government?

He fired the first shot by eliminating the per-vote subsidies in order to create a two-party system to make us more like the U.S.A., so corporate Canada can elect the party of its choice. Now he declared war on labour unions by taking away the bargaining rights of the postal workers.

I have spent most of my working years in management positions and have witnessed how union and company profited by co-operating. The contribution to workplaces and communities by unions enhances the lives of the vast majority of Canadians. The list is long: workplace health and safety legislation, Old Age Security, Canada Pension, Medicare and more.

Unions fought long battles and greatly contributed to make Canada more egalitarian. More than ever will the battle continue. It won’t be business as usual of organized labour and not for those who want Canada to be just, fair and more egalitarian for all. This is the beginning and I am afraid of what is to come: private health services to undermine Medicare, decimating of more environmental regulations, more money for military equipment, more prisons we don’t need, promoting and subsidizing of dirty energy products, to mention some.

The Harper support of corporate Canada will continue and the poor will get poorer and the rich will get richer. We, the people, now must do what the governor general failed to do and get rid of this dictator. The progressive forces must come together as never before and get a government that expresses the will of the people, with an agenda for justice and respect, and of equitable sharing of our rich bounty. Above all, climate change, the most serious threat to our sacred Earth, must be attacked.

There is nothing more important for the next four years than to fight to keep the laws, rights and services that generations of Canadians have fought to keep from being dismantled.

Henry Dahle

Creston