Who would have thought it possible that right in Canada democracy could be assaulted so suddenly and so brazenly? We;re used to seeing this sort of thing in the developing world. Yet here we are: Stephen Harper lieing to the public, creating hysteria with rhetoric, and threatening to pervert democratic process, all for what? in order to hang on to his already tenuous minority government, elected by a mere 37.6% of Canadians.

One wants to be Christian with respect to Mr. Harper, but one has also to pray his understanding of Christian values isn't as weak as his understanding of democracy. Right now, no one knows what he is capable of. Even good ol' Rex Murphy is incensed at Mr. Harper's arrogance. Pundits across the airwaves have been pleading for him to be reasonable.

Anyway, there's lots you can do:

Tomorrow between 5 and 8 pm you can light candles: in Vancouver

http://eastofmain.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/candlesforprogress/ or anywhere really.

Rallies are being held coast-to-coast this weekend to support the idea of a coalition government. A good list can be found here: 

http://makeparliamentwork.ca/

In Toronto the rally is at Nathan Phillips Sq. at noon on Saturday.

You can sign a petition here: 

http://www.progressivecoalition.ca/form.php

If you need more information, there are many blogs and news articles about this concern for democratic process. One of the best I've found is Andrew Steele at the Globe and Mail; excellent, really exceptional material about this mess here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/Steele

Personally I'm pretty agitated I admit. We should all jump up and down at noon on Saturday:

Ezekial 31:16 - I made the nations tremble in fear at the sound of the tree's crash. I brought the tree down to the grave to join those who had gone down to the pit. Then all the trees in Eden, the choicest and best trees of Lebanon, and all the trees that were well-watered were comforted below the earth.