Tyee staff and contributors have compiled a list of 70 government assaults on democracy and the law. As a list of 70 is pretty difficult for anyone to verify all at once we have been posting a few at a time. To read the entire list at once go to this link.
Harper's Office
Deploys Interns for Dirty Tricks
In one instance
that brought on allegations of Nixonian tactics, junior PMO staffers in the
guise of normal citizens were sent
out to disrupt a
Justin Trudeau speech.
Tory operatives
hauled
out citizens from
a Harper rally in the 2011 campaign because they had marginal ties to other
parties. A spokesperson for the PM was compelled to apologize. Problem fixed this time
around: Only fully vetted Harper supporters will be allowed, by invite only, to attend the PM's
campaign stops. If they have a ticket.
Conservatives
Make Campaign Event Attendees Sign Gag Order
Not only have
Harper's campaign handlers made his campaign events by invite only, they were forcing anyone let in to sign an agreement not
to transmit any description of the event or any images from it -- but dropped the gag orders after news stories made
them an issue.
Conservatives
Unfix Their Own Fixed Date Election Law
In 2008, Harper
pulled the plug on his own government, violating his own new law, which stipulated
elections every four years.
Guilty Plea on
In and Out Affair
The
Conservative Party and its fundraising arm pled
guilty to some
Elections Act charges stemming from their exceeding spending limits in the 2006
campaign. The investigation cost taxpayers over $2 million.
Cons' Elections
Bill Strips Power from Elections Canada
The Fair
Elections Act also makes it harder for Canadians to vote as more ID is
required. Nationwide protests in which more than 400 academics took
part forced Pierre Poilievre to withdraw some measures in the bill because of
their alleged anti-democratic bent.
Harper Minister
Smears Head of Elections Canada
In a bid to impugn his integrity, Democratic Reform
Minister Pierre Poilievre accused the Elections Canada CEO Marc Mayrand
of being a power monger and wearing a team jersey.
Copyright Grab
for Attack Ads
CTV News found out Conservatives aimed to rewrite
copyright law to let political parties grab any media content and use it for
free in their ads. The impact, warned CTV's Don Martin, "will be to
cast a chill on every broadcast appearance" by MPs, commentators and
reporters, who "must now be aware their views could end up featured in a
political attack ad." By asserting "unlimited access to the airwaves
for propaganda purposes," Martin said, the Harper government "could
be seen as flirting with fascism."
Conservatives
Use Terrorists' Propaganda in Attack Ad
Harper's party
created a political ad incorporating music and horrifying images of doomed
captives pulled straight from the Islamic State's own promotional video. The target:
Justin Trudeau, whose views on the risks and rewards of bombing ISIS differ
from Harper's.
Record Use of
Personal Attack Ads
Under Harper's
leadership, Conservatives became the first to routinely use personal attacks ads outside an
election writ period. Their ads often used quotes deliberately taken out of
context. Incidence of attack ads by Harper Conservatives was heavier than by
any other government.
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