From Harper's insistence on fixed-election dates modelled on the American 4-year cycle that helps foster US style continuous campaigning, to his refusal to acknowledge that he is not a President, but an MP with little more special status or power than every other MP sitting in Parliament, he has shown time and again his disdain for the Canadian electoral system.
One of Harper's favourite things to do is ignore grey areas. He acts as the uneducated do and pushes to frame all issues as black/white, left/right, with us/against us. This man condescends at every turn, and believes in only two extreme political perspectives: all the way Left, or all the way Right. This again is indicative of his preference to ignore Canadian approaches and in this case embrace the American two party system of Democrat or Republican.
In Canada we have a more robust and nuanced approach to the issues affecting many vastly differing areas of the country. We have seen many major parties come and go, succeed to play on, or merge with others to survive or up their odds. Canadians appreciate a variety of opinions and champion the many legitimate choices we have at the polls. This however, is something that our current Prime Minister seems to reject with gusto. The most recent evidence is a statement made today regarding the inclusion of Green Party leader Elizabeth May in the televised leaders debate. During the last election, Harper moved to exclude the May by threatening to boycott the debate if she was invited to participate. A classy move supporting democracy it was not. This year Harper has gone further, stating that he would be interested in a debate that included only himself and Liberal leader Ignatieff because really, the election is between them, and voters have only two choices.
I don't know about you, but I certainly can't even consider supporting a person who would be as condescending, hateful, exclusionary, and disrespectful as this. And I certainly won't allow us to throw away our multi-party system without a fight. Only a madman bent on power like Harper could.
The quote, as reported by the CBC (http://bit.ly/hR223Q):
« Ce sont les réseaux de télévision qui prendront cette décision [la participation ou non de Mme May]. De notre côté, a précisé M. Harper, je suis ouvert à plusieurs formes de débat, un débat traditionnel qui comprend tout le monde, ou un débat entre moi et Michael Ignatieff, parce qu'en fin de compte, les élections sont à propos de moi et M. Ignatieff. Les électeurs n'ont qu'un choix entre nous deux. »
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