The hits just keep coming. Let’s do a quick summary:
-First, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, vocally supported by Stephen Harper, vilifies environmental groups of all stripes by labelling them anti-Canadian “radicals” and terrorists
-Next, the government guts the Environmental Assessment Act and the Fisheries Act to smooth the way for future projects, as well as capping the length of assessments at 2 years.
-With the legal environmental protections dismantled, the Conservatives turned once again to the political opposition, dismantling the National Round Table on Energy and the Environment, which routinely produced reports that disagreed with the government’s pro-oil leanings, setting aside $3-million to audit green groups, and crippling those groups’ ability to encourage participation in the review process.
Now, the government has gone one step further: in a move that seems totally unnecessary at this point, having crushed the ability of Canadians to resist projects they disagree with, the Conservatives went ahead this week and gave themselves the power to approve pipelines, regardless of the National Energy Board decision.
So, in summary: in the last three weeks, the Conservatives have consolidated their power to push through any project they wish, while flattening the opposition. Three weeks ago, we lived in a democracy.
Jimmy Thomson 
We need to get organized. I suggest that everyone who can afford a few dollars should pick an opposition party, google them, and follow their directions to make a donation. This will be doubled with federal money (until Harper succeeds in eliminating this) and you will receive extra tax credits. A flood of donations to other political parties will send a message to the Conservatives and make it easier for the opposition to function.
See the earlier post, The Alternative Vote Explained (https://jameswsthomson.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/the-alternative-vote-explained/) for why that might not be as effective as we like to believe it is.
The trouble is, we’re working within a political system that is engineered to remain as it is, forever. Someone who has just been voted in by that system will never really work to change it; it worked for them, didn’t it?