Narrative Control

It's looking more and more likely that an election is on the horizon for us residents of Soviet Canuckistan. Iggy's trying to use the long-gun registry to create an election issue to campaign on (hoping to eradicate NDP support in doing so), while Layton's desperately trying to avoid stepping on any of the landmines being laid before him - and irritating his base in doing so. Meanwhile, Harper's been starting to create a coalition boogieman to campaign against. "You losers better gimme a majority this time or else you'll be sorry!" is his basic refrain.

And of course, the census scandal continues to broil in the background, as more and more groups keep adding their voices to the chorus of protest over the Convervatives' move against a long-standing Canadian institution.

I'm really not sure how things are going to go. I don't think anyone has much of an idea; an election this fall (not likely) or spring (much more likely) is a real gamble for everyone involved.

What I do know is that the Harper government has been pretty impressive at destroying a number of illusions about Canada. We Canadians used to like to think of ourselves as progressive, compassionate and practical. Even good, though we'd make the claim in quiet tones, blushing from embarrassment. This is clearly not the case; Harper's managed to frame the public narrative to the point that "immigrant" has become a dirty word in much of our public discourse. Where once we lauded our institutions of higher learning, an anti-intellectual sentiment has been growing louder. The CBC has always been tragically underfunded, but there was a time when the idea of getting rid of it would have provoked angry snarling even from Tories.

Go to the CBC website and look at any politics-related news article, and look at the user comments. You'll find some of the vilest stuff this side of Stormfront. Those are fellow Canadians' voices.

I'm not going to pretend that Harper created any of this. These ugly sentiments have always been there, but he's been able to frame enough of the debate that suddenly they've become that much more acceptable to espouse. Sure, rural Quebec (to use an example) has always had some pretty ignorant, offensive attitudes toward minorities, but it wasn't until recently that a group like the ADQ could actively campaign on "screw the minorities (especially the browns)." Me, I remember how loudly the NB Greens were decried when their leadership was revealed as being a bunch of bigots - it's something it took them years to live down.

Meanwhile, we've got a government that's doing its level best to prevent us from learning about the way prisoners have been treated by our "allies" in Afganistan, and the public largely doesn't care - notice how there haven't really been any developments there in over a month. The new head of Amnesty International is strongly criticizing our government for eroding our human rights (e.g., Omar Khadr, the de-funding of rights groups, the mass arrests at the G20 protests, etc.), and the story basically went by without a blip. You know, I'm no fan of Mulroney, but I really can't see him silencing a Veterans' advocate for saying politically inconvenient things. Certainly, I couldn't imagine Mulroney getting away with it... But Harper's managed.

It's depressing. Harper said at the outset that he was going to change the nature of Canadian politics forever; I don't know about how enduring it will prove to be, but it's certainly true that by legitimizing certain often-repugnant perspectives and controlling the public narrative to such a degree, Harper's definitely changed Canadian politics for the time being. (This actually is part of the reason I find the Census thing so baffling - given how tightly Stevie tries to control his message, how careful he tends to be, how could he make such an obvious blunder?)

Yet, for all he's "accomplished," Harper must be terribly frustrated. Twice now Canadians have refused him a majority, and it doesn't seem likely that they'll change their minds on that issue anytime soon - no matter what kind of coalition boogieman he invokes. He's basically already made all the gains he feasibly can; there aren't really any more voters he can court without promising things that will lose him some of his current base. Not that he needs a whole lot of help in that regard, as the Wild Rose party in Alberta can attest to.

So, what am I saying in my own rambling way? To be entirely frank, I'm not sure, but I think I can sum it up as follows: I'm aghast at the state of things in my country, and in a bit of horrified awe at the damage that a single government has accomplished in two short terms. I'm also hopeful that we've seen it at its worst, and in a way I'm looking forward to the next election since, at the very least, it will mean we'll be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel.