Skip to content

PREST: Hey, PM: all that complainin' got to you yet?

Here’s a question: why would he want to keep doing such a crummy job? Stephen Harper obviously had a grand vision for what the position of prime minister could be.
Prest

Here’s a question: why would he want to keep doing such a crummy job?

Stephen Harper obviously had a grand vision for what the position of prime minister could be. But people all across the country, not on his level, could not comprehend what he and the Prime Minister’s Office were trying to do. With all the constant complaining he’s faced, being prime minister doesn’t sound like a fun job at all.

Who can forget auditor general Sheila Fraser, who got all bent out of shape a number of times, including once just because a report penned by the Conservatives quoted her saying great things about the Harper government’s spending on security for the G8/G20 summits in 2010.

The only reason she was complaining was because her quote had nothing to do with the summits and was actually lifted from a CBC interview in which she was talking about spending by the Liberal government in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Cry me a river, Fraser.  

Then there was Munir Sheikh, the head of Statistics Canada, who in 2010 resigned in protest after the Conservative government scrapped the mandatory long-form census.

“I want to take this opportunity to comment on a technical statistical issue which has become the subject of media discussion ... the question of whether a voluntary survey can become a substitute for a mandatory census,” Mr. Sheikh wrote in his resignation letter. “It can not.” Oh snap. This was a position that differed from what the

Conservatives had been saying all along. Listen, Sheikh: you should count yourself lucky that you ever got to work with a man like Stephen Harper, who obviously knows more about data collection than you and your protesting friends in wacky organizations such as the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Chamber of

Commerce and the Canadian Bar Association. Nerds.

Then there was Conservative backbencher MP Brent Rathgeber, who in 2013, complaining that the PMO was muzzling him, quit the party to become an independent.

“It’s much more enjoyable now. I can speak freely,” he told the National Post earlier this year. “I can blog freely, without the inevitable phone call from some 24-year-old in the PMO.” He got so mad that he wrote a book about his experiences and called it Irresponsible Government. Maybe you should have listened to those PMO kids,

Rathgeber – no one blogs anymore. Get on Snapchat, sucka.

Then in 2012 there were those 2,000-odd people, including many scientists, who marched through Ottawa to Parliament Hill to protest cuts to scientific research and the muzzling of government researchers.

“We are here today to commemorate the untimely death of Evidence in Canada. After a long battle with the current federal government, Evidence has suffered its final blow,” eulogized Katie Gibbs, a PhD student in biology at the University of Ottawa. Biology? This is physics, Gibbs: in order for the motion of an object to change, a force must act upon it. Harper = the force. Your attitude = the thing that must change!

Then there were the 160 Canadian academics who signed an open letter to express grave concerns about the damage to Canadian democracy that the Conservatives’ Fair Elections Act would cause.

This cause went global with 19 political scientists from second-rate universities around the world like Oxford, Duke and Harvard all signing a letter voicing similar concerns. “We believe that this Act would prove (to) be deeply damaging for electoral integrity within Canada, as well as providing an example which, if emulated elsewhere, may potentially harm international standards of electoral rights around the world.”

But Oxford guy, the Act was Fair. It’s right there in the name!

Then there were the more than 100 Canadian law professors and other academics who earlier this year wrote an open letter to Parliament voicing concerns about the content of the Conservatives’ Bill C-51 anti-terror legislation as well as the way it was being rammed through with little debate.

“It is sadly ironic that democratic debate is being curtailed on a bill that vastly expands the scope of covert state activity when that activity will be subject to poor or even non-existent democratic oversight or review…. We urge all Parliamentarians to ensure that C-51 not be enacted in anything resembling its present form.”

That was followed by another open letter from 140 Canadian tech and business leaders – including Ryan Holmes, CEO of Vancouver-based HootSuite – asking Harper to scrap the “reckless, dangerous and ineffective” Bill C-51 because of the chill it would place on Canada’s technology sector.

Listen Holmes, what’s the big mystery? The Conservatives chase votes, not retweets. #HarpBurn.

These are just a few examples. There were so many people from all walks of life who just could not understand what Stephen Harper and his government were trying to do. And Harper had to just sit there and take it while these people did everything in their power to try to stop him, quite often to their own ruin. How could Stephen

Harper continue to work in those conditions? Why would he want to keep doing such a crummy job?

It’s no secret he has other interests, like wearing sweaters and writing books about hockey. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he had more time to pursue those interests, free from the constant attacks from all of these folks who keep saying that they no longer recognize the bitterly polarized and tightly controlled country Canada has become.

He doesn’t need to hear all those complaints and have all his plans shot down. He’s done what he thought was right for this country, now we can help him move on and do what’s right for a learned man like him. I’m sure he’d appreciate more free time to write those books. I’d even pitch in for a new sweater.

Andy Prest is the sports editor for the North Shore News and writes a biweekly humour/lifestyle column. He can be reached via email at aprest@nsnews.com.

What are your thoughts? Send us a letter via email by clicking here or post a comment below.