Dear Mr. Harper, I can’t stand you. (Is it all right to say that in this country, or will I be hauled in for treason?)
It isn’t only that you wrote policy for the Reform party; that you shake your children’s hands when they go off to school in the morning; that you have switched party allegiances more often than I change my underwear; that you pay wages to a – your – personal stylist; that your stance on abortion, especially in light of developing countries (which means everywhere), is archaic; that you have virtually and single-handedly killed the arts’ programs in Canada; that you planned to put the food industry in charge of its own inspections; that you are dangerously secretive; that you do not see Canada as a bilingual country; that you ignored a private member's bill calling for an inquiry into the CFB Gagetown/Agent Orange issue; that in 2009 you appealed to members of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters to contact opposition MPs and pressure them to support legislation that would scrap the gun registry program; that you have made comments such as, “You have to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from Eastern Canada; people who live in ghettos and are not integrated into Western Canadian society” and, “The establishment came down with a constitutional package which they put to a national referendum. The package included distinct society status for Quebec and some other changes, including some that would just horrify you, putting universal Medicare in our constitution, and feminist rights, and a whole bunch of other things" and, as vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank, “Then there is the Progressive Conservative party, the PC party, which won only 20 seats. Now, the term Progressive Conservative will immediately raise suspicions in all of your minds. It should... They were in favour of gay rights officially, officially for abortion on demand. Officially -- what else can I say about them? Officially for the entrenchment of our universal, collectivized, health-care system and multicultural policies in the constitution of the country.” (Speaking of defects…)
No. It isn’t just this.
It’s mostly that when I look at you, which I do as little as possible, you remind me of a clammy, dough-faced puppet-master from a cheesy 1960’s horror film, the perspiration settling just so beneath your baby bang brow of wig-like hair, the focal points of your eyes hitting two completely different targets at all times, your skin rubbery and malleable, as if at any minute you might pull it away from your skull and expose who you really are – a minister for a right-wing church, for example, or a steamy Boy Scout leader.
These are just my opinions, of course; they don’t belong to anyone else.
Still, it’s interesting. It all kind of reminds me of what my daughter said years ago about first impressions: “Mum, sometimes you can look at someone for just a few seconds and know almost too much about them.” And you know what? Sometimes you can.
Sincerely yours,
Taxpayer and law-abiding citizen
