Young woman urges a "Canadian Spring"

My admiration goes out to young people standing up to their elders (but rarely betters, whatever the Harper echo chamber may think of themselves) and their activism is one of the few things I can feel hopeful about in this era of unthinking Harperism.

Rogue page inspired by Arab uprising, wants Canadians to mobilize


During the throne speech of the new Harper "Majority" Regime - 40% of the vote, 25% of eligible voters - this young graduate who took a position as a page in the Senate, held up a home made red stop sign with the words "Stop Harper!". She was escorted from that august chamber - normally the meeting place of Harper-appointed yes-men and women - by a guy dressed in 18th century militaristic gear.

There was tut-tutting at the lack of security by a scared Con spokesman, his own insecurity whipped into view by the thought that a young woman armed with a sign was a danger to his own god-ordained right to dictate to Canadians what they had to do - or be charged with High Treason.

Funny how the Cons are all for freedom from dictators - or so they say - but can't see the autocratic agenda of their new Saviour is a danger to the country. Who, exactly, holds the treasonous agenda here?

Last bastion of Bushism

Harper is trying to put a human face on his regime by pretending to be concerned about maternal and child health in developing countries. He even put it forward as as the theme of the upcoming G8 meeting.

At first it didn't include family planning and contraception.

Then it did.

But now, it does not include funding for safe abortion services. No, no way, nohow. Abortion is legal and funded here (for the time being, anyway). But other countries? Not for Harper and his base.

From the Globe and Mail:

Ottawa refuses to fund abortion in G8 plan

"The question of whether family planning would be part of the G8 maternal-health initiative is deemed important by most experts because many of the estimated 500,000 childbirth deaths in developing countries each year are caused by complications from women becoming pregnant too young and too often in quick succession.

The inclusion of safe abortion services, where they are legal, is also promoted by many experts, because so many deaths are caused by complications from botched abortions."

...[F]unding family planning but not abortions will be impractical in the real world, said Katherine McDonald, executive director of Action Canada for Population and Development. To cut off abortion funding, Canada must cut off all funding for any family-planning program that provides abortions.

“If Canada follows that model, it’s a replica of the Bush-era global gag law. If they don’t, how will we know that none of the money is used for abortion?” she said.

 Bush-era global gag law. We're looking better and better here.

Arrogant bastions.