It was also through the electronic social media that Canadians came together in January when the proroguing of Parliament changed the parameters, showing that Canadians of all and no political stripes care about the state of their country. Some, including Conservatives, resent that Harper seems to have attached his good fortune to groups intent on imposing their version of "Truth" on all Canadians at any cost. And in so doing, they believe that Harper has taken a few leaves out of the Bush policy book, including support and funding of religious institutions and denial of women's right to reproductive choices.
The Canadian government has turned its ear to the narrow, divisive and anti-democratic views of a self-appointed morality police force and away from the clear and persistent voice of the majority of its citizens. Most Canadians see this shift as a challenge to the open nature of our multicultural, multi-ethnic society and a return to a throwback social era rejected some time ago when a religiously-centered conception of Canadian identity prevailed.
It is not only women's equality at stake, but democracy's hard-won gains in rights protection for all Canadians.
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