Official Request, To Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II, For The Dismissal Of Stephen Harper As Prime Minister Of Canada

Montreal, December the 16th 2011.

Her Majesty The Queen

Buckingham Palace

London, UK   SW1A 1AA

Subject: Official request, to Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II, for the dismissal of Stephen Harper as Prime Minister of Canada

Your Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,

I’m addressing to Your Majesty as a citizen of Canada.  I have been watching and analyzing the situation in my country and it seems that nobody knows how to make our government work anymore.  Since Your Majesty is our ultimate Leader, I now have no other choice but to ask Your Majesty to help us, Canadians, to remove Stephen Harper from the office of Prime Minister of Canada because Canadian democracy is in jeopardy as never before in its history. The Canadian Constitution is being violated repeatedly by Stephen Harper’s government.

I started by looking up Wikipedia for the function of Prime Minister of Canada:

“is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or Viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the Constitution. Not outlined in any constitutional document, the office exists only as per long-established convention originating in Canada's former colonial power, the United Kingdom, which stipulates that the monarch's representative, the Governor General, must select as Prime Minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons; this individual is typically the leader of the political party that holds the largest number of seats in that Chamber.”

When I read this definition, “the Governor General must select as Prime Minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons”.  There is a problem right here.  The confidence of the elected House of Commons was lost in March 2011 for contempt of Parliament by the Conservative Party of Canada.  The Governor General, David Johnston, did not act on it.  He should have made the Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party of Canada step down from power and out of the House of Commons, at least for a certain period of time and, with shame even.  It was the first time in the Commonwealth’s history that a Government was being found guilty of such a disgraceful act.  I might remind Your Majesty here that it was not long before that the Governor General was appointed by Stephen Harper.  How do Your Majesty expect this person to be impartial in such important decision making so soon into his new career?   

In the past, people went to prison for being found guilty of contempt of Parliament but now, when the entire Stephen Harper’s government is found guilty of the same offend, nothing is being done to protect Canadians in their constitutional rights.  That day, Stephen Harper even described his contempt of Parliament offence as “just a vote of the House of Commons“.  We understand here that Stephen Harper has no respect whatsoever for the Canadian Constitution, which he is supposed to be subjected to and, be defending with all the dignity required in such a privileged position.

As a Canadian, I was wondering when Your Majesty were going to step in to protect us, Canadians?  It did not happen.  How come I ask Your Majesty?  How could Your Majesty not do anything as Canada’s Leader?  It tarnished the Commonwealth’s history as well, didn’t it?

Talking about those 2011 elections.  They should not have included the Stephen Harper’s government after such a contempt of Parliament offence.  The strong majority he boasts about was obtained with not even one quarter of the votes of the population.  It does not make any sense to have such an electoral system where a doubtful majority would get such powers, at every level of Canada’s governance, and all in one man’s hands.

With the way our constitutional system is working right now, Stephen Harper is naming the person who should represent Your Majesty, which person should then be telling him what to do.  Such process leaves too much space for partiality.  Then Stephen Harper appoints Senators, first on the basis of their political allegiance and then, on their ability to rightfully defend Canadians’ rights and Constitution.  I’m not saying here that Senators are not doing a good job but I have my doubts on some of the rushed conservative appointments.

It is a known fact that the conservative majority Senate did not always go through the entire process required by our Constitution for accepting or rejecting law projects.  For example, conservative majority Senate took defiance of the House of Commons to a new level, by defeating a climate change bill without offering a word of debate or hearing from any witness.  Stephen Harper said that the bill, sponsored by New Democrat Party and passed with the support of all three opposition parties in the elected House of Commons, was "completely irresponsible," would have shut down whole sections of the economy and thrown "hundreds of thousands and possibly million of people out of work."  Stephen Harper despises his compatriots and only responds to the needs and greed of the Oil Industry, his previous employer, instead going green like the rest of the World. 

Stephen Harper used Senators for his electoral campaigns, $341 000. worth for one Senator alone in the last election I read.  Senators could jump from one Chamber to the other without any respect for Canada’s legislations.  The Senate and the House of Commons are supposed to be independent from one another.  But not for Stephen Harper who appointed a Senator in 2010 and then when the 2011 election was called, this Senator decided to jump in the race.  He lost the election and, now he is back in the Senate.  Here again, I ask Your Majesty how could the Governor General not act on this serious matter?

In 2008, Stephen Harper shut down the legislature after only 6 weeks in session, in order to avoid a no-confidence vote already.  Stephen Harper prorogued the Parliament’s session with the approval of Governor General, Michaëlle Jean.  If Stephen Harper’s request had been rejected by the Governor General, he would have had to choose between stepping down or facing the no-confidence vote.  It’s the government’s job to always be prepared to face the House of Commons and to maintain its confidence.  Here again, I asked myself where Your Majesty were?  Not even a comment on the subject from Your Majesty’s part on the poor way your representative handled the matter. 

Less than a year later but for a different reason, Stephen Harper prorogued the Parliament’s session with again, the approval of Governor General, Michaëlle Jean.  Official reason: to consult Canadians on economy.  Right there, another lack of judgement by Your Majesty’s representative.  Since when does a government has to prorogue Parliament in order to consult with the population?  Real reason though was to evade from being accountable to the people's elected representatives through the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan.  The prorogation shut down hearings investigating what government officials knew about the torture of Afghan detainees after they were handed over to the Afghan authorities by Canadian soldiers.  How convenient I should say. 

Prorogation of Parliament twice within a year, how much did Canadian taxpayers had to pay for elected Members of Parliaments’ salaries for doing nothing?  I’m sorry here, it’s not for nothing because while the Parliament’s session was prorogued the first time, Stephen Harper was able to appoint 18 new conservative Senators.  I wonder if Canadian taxpayers awarded him with a Christmas bonus that year? 

When elected Members of Parliament ask to get access to all government documents available on any given matter, as it is their right and duty to, they receive only partial information from Stephen Harper’s government.  This behaviour was part of the contempt of Parliament offence by Stephen Harper’s troop earlier this year and still, the Governor General is doing nothing to bring order back in the House of Commons.  As for access to information, there is a law ruling the process, and Stephen Harper’s office blocks this process every occasion it has.  When he does not want information to come out, Stephen Harper uses the Supreme Court to block it all at once.  This is very wrong for Canadian democracy and, costly for Canadian taxpayers.  Since Stephen Harper appoints judges to Supreme Court, it seems he is over-using the Institution.

Before Stephen Harper came into office, journalists had access to Members of Parliament as soon as they came out of the House of Commons.  Canadians then had the sense democracy was being exercised.  Since Stephen Harper is holding the office of Prime Minister of Canada, only the opposition Members of Parliament could be interviewed.  No information leaks out of Canada’s government unless it passes by Stephen Harper’s office, period.  Recently, it has been said that over a thousand people were being paid, by Canadian taxpayers’ money naturally, to control the way media talked about the Stephen Harper’s government. 

Also, Stephen Harper, who used to work for the Oil Industry, denies climate change exists even though, he is not an expert on the matter and despite what all environment experts and studies say.  Just this week, Stephen Harper’s government made a unilateral decision to step out of the Kyoto Protocol and even called it “stupid”.  By saying so, Stephen Harper is telling the rest of the world, they are stupid to sign such a deal.  The Kyoto Protocol’s first draft was made in Montreal.  Why would Canada suddenly step out of its own ideal for a better world?  By all of his actions, Stephen Harper made Canada look as an environmentally retrograde nation, which Canada really is not.  As a Canadian, I feel ashamed and most of all, betrayed by my Prime Minister’s actions on the international scene which I’m certain my fellow Canadians did not approve of either.  The Canadian values are to have green energies, pure air and clean safe water for our children and for future generations.

Stephen Harper recently even participated in a war crime, they now call it, helping to kill Muammar Gaddafi. Remember Your Majesty, the dictator from Lybia?  According to the Geneva Convention, Muammar Gaddafi should have been accountable and judged for his actions in an international Court of justice.  Canada is not a country of war, it hypocritically makes loads of money from it though, but war is not a Canadian value. 

Since Stephen Harper has accessed power, it seems that most Canadian taxpayers’ money is dilapidated in wars that are all Oil Industry related.  Right now, Stephen Harper is investing in useless war jets worth billions of taxpayers’ dollars and yet, the Stephen Harper’s government won’t even put a price tag on them.  How arrogant is this at a time of World economic crisis?  At a time when the Stephen Harper government is telling us he will have to cut in budget?

In 2006, there was a surplus in the budget, Canadians were breathing better.  Then came Stephen Harper into office, this genius in economy, he got Canada back to deficit before the World economic crisis even began!  Stephen Harper’s government has now managed to surpass Canada’s all-time-high 1996-97 debt load level.  Did Your Majesty know that Stephen Harper is the third highest paid Leader in the world after Obama and Sarkozy?  Your Majesty, Canadians can no longer afford Stephen Harper.

Stephen Harper has a growing habit of wasting Canadian taxpayers’ money.  Here is an other example.  One billion dollars were necessary to set up the Long Gun Registry.  It has been used efficiently by police forces all over Canada.  For no valid reason, Stephen Harper has decided to abolish it and now he even wants to destroy its data.  The result is that Canadians have to bring the Stephen Harper’s government to Supreme Court to save at least the registry’s data.  By doing so, just for my city, Montreal’s police force will loose trace of 60 000 guns! 

The Stephen Harper government also spent over one billion dollars on the G8 - G20 summits weekend.  The Auditor General’s report on the event’s spendings even outlined that one of the conservative Member of Parliament got money for his circumscription, located about 200 Km away from the Summit.  Isn’t the waste of taxpayers’ money a crime for Members of Parliament?  Shouldn’t it be sanctioned?

This fall session, Stephen Harper also tried to illegally shut down the Canadian Wheat Board.  When he was told he could not close the CWB, he sent the case to Supreme Court of Canada, abusing power and process again.  Stephen Harper keeps on wasting Canadian taxpayers’ money on Courts because whenever he’s being told it’s not the procedure he turns to never before seen extreme measures, buying himself some time, each time.  Stephen Harper makes unilateral decisions, he imposes his partisan politics and makes decisions for the wealth of the Oil Industry. 

An other example, there is a Canadian citizen who was used as a child soldier.  Instead of repatriating the boy like the Supreme Court ordered, Stephen Harper left the boy in Guantanamo, pretexting national security issues.  Naturally, this case went to Supreme Court, because logic could never apply with Stephen Harper, and then nobody is accountable on the government’s side.  This is a direct  violation of a Canadian child’s rights.

Stephen Harper also abolished mandatory long form census.  By doing so, many researchers are now deprived of their number one tool to accurately execute their jobs.  Even the government won’t be able to meet the needs of its population as efficiently because they won’t know just where concentrations of different social groups live, having each different needs to be met.

Just recently, we learned Stephen Harper’s government made a deal behind closed doors during the past year with the United States about security at our borders.  Now that this deal is almost signed, Canadians got leaked informations on the deal that demonstrates how it will make border crossing more difficult and intrusive.  The Stephen Harper’s government once again is hiding facts to Canadians and still abusing power and abusing process.  Transparency is clearly not a conservative value. 

Stephen Harper is a threat to our democracy because he keeps on violating the rules and laws and yet, nobody could stop him.   There are many movements in Canada trying to remove Stephen Harper from office but it does not seem to be working either.  There was even a woman, who was a page at the Senate, she put up a sign that said “Stop Harper”.  The woman lost her job for doing so.  The part I don’t understand here is, how come nobody at the time questioned the legitimacy of Stephen Harper after his contempt of Parliament offence?  And nobody questioned a majority of seats in the House of Commons with less than one quarter of the votes?     

Also, if I may, Your Majesty should suggest some changes to our electoral system such as mandatory voting for every eligible Canadian citizen voter, like in Australia where there is about a 94% participation rate.  Already, it would be a more significant vote and I would not have to write to Your Majesty.  If people decided not to do their Citizen’s duty, they just would have to pay a fine.  It’s a way of financing part of multiple elections we’ve been having.  Stephen Harper actually created a law for fixed date elections and he violated it himself by calling early elections to try to get a majority.  Here once again, I ask Your Majesty, how come the Governor General did not stop Stephen Harper’s early election call?  Talking about the majority for a party in Canada, it’s not representative because in the past election, 75% of the people did not vote for Stephen Harper’s party and yet, he brags about his majority every chance he gets.  And in the past week, the conservative party had abuse the majority concept imagining they were the greatest at what they were doing by brutally shuting off any Member of the Opposition.

It seems that when a person exercises a power related position, like a Premier or a Mayor, corruption tends to show up more after the second mandate.  Fixing to a maximum of two, the number of terms one individual can occupy this position, could also regulate Canadian politics at many levels of governance. 

I ask Your Majesty, ultimate leader in Canada, to step into our Constitution to readjust the way Your Majesty delegates her power in Canada.  Senators and Governor General should be appointed by a neutral procedure instead of being appointed ultimately by only one person. It seems that Stephen Harper acts unconstitutionally every occasion he has or could.  He has been testing outrageously our democracy to a never before seen level.   This power, put in reasonable hands worked right in the past but for the first time in Canadian history, this power sadly came into the hands of an arrogant, anti-democratic and self-interested man.

On top, Stephen Harper likes his name so much that he sent a memo to every level of government ordering to replace Government of Canada by The Harper Government in all official correspondence.  How big of an ego does a man has to have to want to change his country’s name for his own?  Canadians have never seen such an affront to their democracy nor, their intelligence. 

I also read that a Prime Minister is entitled to be called, The Right Honourable, and that this privilege could be maintained for life?  With all your respect Your Majesty, Stephen Harper should be deprived of this privilege since he is not worth the title of Honourable.  Let’s not forget that Stephen Harper’s government was found in contempt of Parliament just this year and that this man has no respect for Canadian democracy and its great Institutions whatsoever.  He is even about to introduce a law that will allow unlimited spying on Canadians.  This is in direct violation to individual’s right to privacy which is supposed to be protected by our Charter of rights and freedoms.  

Dictatorship sounds like a big word and yet, it is indeed, but it’s the only word applicable to Canada’s situation at this moment in time.  After verifying its meaning in the dictionary, I re-affirm my say. 

Dictatorship:

1. a country, government, or the form of government in which absolute power is exercised by a dictator.

2. absolute, imperious, or overbearing power or control.

3. the office or position held by a dictator.

And a Dictator is:

“a person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession.”

Right now Your Majesty, I’m afraid Canada is on the verge of a dictatorship led by Stephen Harper, and it will happen if nothing is rapidly done by Your Majesty.  Don’t Your Majesty have the duty to protect your subjects from dictatorship within the Commonwealth?  I demand Your Majesty that you intervene in Canada’s affairs to prevent further damage.  Before it is too late for major diplomatic mistakes to repair after the Stephen Harper’s government years.

Stephen Harper has a profound lack of judgement and respect for Canadian Institutions, proceedings, democracy and Canadians’ intelligence.  For all the above reasons and the ones I did not write about because the list would be too exhaustive, I expect Your Majesty have enough major reasons to be able to act upon the dismissal of Stephen Harper as Prime Minister of Canada, for betraying Canadians’ trust as well as Your Majesty’s.

  

If Your Majesty can not do anything about this serious issue, as a Canadian, I feel I am entitled to ask: What is Your Majesty’s role exactly in Canadian democracy then?  From everything I have read, our Canadian democracy ultimately depends on Your Majesty’s will and power.  Maybe this could be a great occasion to redefine Your Majesty’s role in Canadian democracy and maybe celebrate Your Majesty’s 60th year reign by making your mark in Canada’s history book.

I ask Your Majesty to act quickly upon the present request as it is well founded and the Parliament session is actually suspended for the Holidays.  I also thank Your Majesty in advance for taking this matter in hands and I hope Your Majesty will help her Canadian subjects in their quest to restore democracy as they knew it when Canada was the Number One Country in the World… 

I wish you have a great Holiday Season Your Majesty.  Sincerely.

Chantal Dupuis
Montreal, Qc

Ce document exprime l’opinion personnel de Chantal Dupuis, toute reproduction totale ou partielle est interdite 
sans l’autorisation écrite de l’auteure.  Tous droits réservés ©  Chantal Dupuis

This document expresses the personnal opinion of Chantal Dupuis, any total or partial reproduction is prohibited

without the written permission of the author.  All rights reserved ©  Chantal Dupuis