Insincerity At Its Worst: Canada and the Harper Watch

I give to people that are asking for money on the street. I don't give every single time, but enough to feel a little bit like I'm doing alright. I don't mind if I have a buck or two I will do it. I appreciate the "thank you" people give in return, makes me feel good. I'm not a fan of the over do it replies, but its my hang up and not their fault. You know the replies like "God Bless You".  I give because I want to hear thanks because it makes me feel good (I know selfish reasons).  I'm not really doing it to get favour from God, but if he will give it for a small gesture like that, well who am I to say no to it. My point really is that I don't know if God bless you is sincere?  Do you really mean it when you say, "I love you". This young man said that today to Suz and I. We went to a grocery store called No Frills that just open in the core of the City. Good prices on food, no frills. This young man was sitting outside when we were going to the care and he asked for spare change, so we gave him a toonie (Two dollars).  We were putting the granddaughter in the car and just about to put the food in the back of the vehicle. When he came over again and asked for ten dollars. He said it is for the shelter, that charges ten bucks for a bed? So we gave him ten dollars and the cart which you take back for a loonie (dollar).  He was happy and said "I love you".  So I said "Hey! Don't say that! Just say Miigwich?". So he smiled and said Miigwich. So I got into the car and started driving away he was by the store again and still smiling he waved a big wave one more time. My wife said "That's nice" and she smiled. Me I was almost kind of grumpy.  But I wised up right away. It was just a small gesture but it got me thinking about Prime Minister Harper.

PM Harper? Yeah, not because this young man was insincere but because he did seem grateful for the small amount we gave. You should have seen his smile.  I was thinking about insincerity and so started asking Suz about it as we drove to the North End of Winnipeg.  She said those politicians like Harper really don't care. I was talking about Haper because PM Harper did something no other PM did; he apologized to the First Nations in Canada. He apologized for the forced assimilation of Indian residential schools.  That was a good sign. The reaction was mixed of course. I think many wanted to believe, to believe that it was a true apology. That someone, the government actually said "We're sorry"- "We're sorry we tried to kill you".  I see some people cried when they heard that PM say, "We apologize".  Some said "who gives a rats ass?"  Me, I was happy to see Indians on television. I am always happy to see Indians on tv when they are not being arrested, shot, being charged or seen as doing bad things (whether its raising their voice for a cause the media paints them ugly). I had mixed feelings about the apology. I had no doubt it was a nothing speech but I also thought it was a slap in the face to the previous governments. Those previous governments like to portray themselves as a kinder government to the poor, to the immigrant, to the old, to the chilren and to the Indian. But they didn't say sorry to the Indian did they. Harper got up in front of the world and say "we apologize". No one else in government said that. Even our great Liberal party didn't.

Haper's apology has been proven to be a bad joke. It is insincerity in the puriest from, deceit, a bold lie is the most kind of insincerity you can imagine; it is a statement backed by hatred. We live in Interesting times. We are seeing evil in the disguise of a man.

I cringe when I see him speak at events. There have been the honouring of Canadian soldiers in the Netherlands. Harper speaking on the soldiers. Can you imagine how the Veterans feel to see him there? This Harper, the guy that is fighting every one of them at home? The Veterans are not the only ones that Harper is trying to kill. You name an issue, a cause, a living being and Harper and his team are hurting them: Lakes, the Air, civil service workers, the poor, the middle classe, the upper middle class, the new comer, the Indian, the science community, the public oversight people.

It is the sight of the insincerity that really bothers me. Harper can stand in front of millions and lie.  It is sad. Even his Ministers can stand up and say the same lies. It is disgusting. I wonder if people can really see how repugnant that is? I mean it is very embarrassing when he attempts to act like someone who cares.  It is down right pityful. And when he tries to be all tough?  That's a shame. He makes our country look very bad. Still Old White people with extreme views will vote for him.

I wonder if they feel bad?

Canada has become the ugliness in the world that it used to speak against. That is the sad and ugly legacy of Harper and his team. 

Investigative journalist Michael Harris, author of Party of One, the bestseller about Harper’s tenure, believes so. “There is something very Stalinesque about Harper,” remarks Harris. “My bottom line on this guy is, he hates democracy. He doesn’t care about truth and cares only about the perception of what benefits him. In that way he’s way worse [than his predecessors].