(The following article is from the August 1-31,  2010 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

People's Voice Editorial

At first glance, the Conservatives' new-found righteous anger against the long-form census seems bizarre. After all, big business uses census results in countless ways to refine marketing strategies. And for a government which happily spends billions to track and harass its critics, the sudden concern over "privacy rights" is a bit strange, to say the least.

     But there is a method to this Tory madness. It is often said that the Harper government aims to downsize the Canadian state, a view which is only partially correct. In fact, the Conservative goal is to expand the repressive apparatus of the state - prisons, military, police, "security" agencies - while eliminating its "redistributive" functions, especially universal social programs. From this perspective, scrapping a reliable method of tracking poverty or the impact of social spending makes complete sense. People's Voice often prints articles based on accessing Statistics Canada reports, which present a fairly reliable picture of developments such as the accumulation of wealth by upper-income earners at the expense of workers. Put simply, the ruling class in Canada is sometimes embarrassed by revelations that its policies are robbing the poor to fatten the rich.

     There's another side to this uproar. After more than four years in office, Mr. Harper still languishes deep in minority territory. Discontent over the ongoing economic crisis, the endless war of occupation in Afghanistan, cuts to health care and other urgent priorities, all combine to hurt the PM in the polls, despite the lacklustre efforts of his Parliamentary rivals. This helps explain the use of "wedge tactics" to divert attention from serious issues. High unemployment? More deaths in Kandahar? No matter - let's vent about the "outrage" voters feel when asked how many bathrooms are in their mansions.

     Once again, the Harper gang stand exposed as hypocrital bullies. We're counting the days until their welcome defeat.