Alien Invasion
How the Harris Tories Mismanaged Ontario
Cohen, Ruth (ed.)
Publisher: Insomniac Press, Toronto, Canada
Year Published: 2001
Pages: 240pp Price: $19.95 ISBN: 1-895837-08-1
Library of Congress Number: FC3077.2.A44 2001 Dewey: 971.3'03
Resource Type: Book
Cx Number: CX6687
An examination of the devasting results of seven years of social and economic destruction inflicted the by the right-wing fanatics who ruled Ontario under the premiership of Mike Harris.
Abstract:
A collection of articles, interviews, and transcripts documenting the what happens when right-wing fanatics take power.
Robert MacDermid looks at the extensive financial backing which the Progressive Conservative party received from corporations and wealthy individuals. Ruth Cohen and John McMurtry expose the lies and propaganda the Tories used to sway voters. Ulli Diemer documents how wilful blindness and savage cuts to environmental programs paved the way for the Walkerton water contamination disaster.
As Ruth Cohen writes, "To the Harris Tories ... democratic government -- government that is respectful of human rights -- is an impediment to the free movement of capital. Since the free movement of capital was the Tories' primary concern, they set out to systematically dismantle those institutions that formerly governed society. This kind of objective used to be called sedition, but is now the sole motive of the wealthy and powerful whose hegemonic belief is that capitalism equals freedom and the free market must reign supreme." Cohen refers to this right-wing "ideology of the business cult" as the "politics of cruelty" that is indicative of a "pathological mindset."
Table of Contents
Preface
Part One: The Background to the Harris Revolution
Chapter 1: Prologue
Take Cover, The Worst Is Yet To Come - Ruth Cohen
Tories Tipped the Cards In Ontario Election - Robert MacDermid
Ontario's 1999 Provincial Election Revisited - Gordon Garland
Chapter 2: How Did We Get Here?
The Ideology Driving the Common Sense Revolution - Ruth cohen
The 'Big Lie' Is the Hallmark of Corporate Totalitarianism - John McMurtry
With a Good Deficit You Can See Forever - Adrian Adamson
Manufacturing Consent, Canadian-Style - Ruth Cohen
The View From Fraser Peak - Ann Emmett
Part Two: Re-engineering Ontario
Chapter 3: True Believers
The True Believers - William Kennedy
The Harris Kremlin: Inside Ontario's Revolutionary Politburo - Guy Crittenden
Moving and Shaking the Tory Powerbase - Ian Urquhart
The Man Behind Mike - Ted Schmidt
Queen of the Park - Kevin Donovan and Moira Welsh
Mr. Fix-it - Judy Steed
Chapter 4: The Harris Record
The Omnibus Bill - Caledon Institute
How the Whiz Kids Screwed Up - John Ibbitson
1,460 Days of Destruction - Ros McClellan
Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! - Ian connerty
Monopoly Man: Beyond the Free-Market Rhetoric, is Mike Harris really a Central Planner? - Gut Crittenden
Contamination: The Poisonous Legacy of Ontario's Environmental Cutbacks - Ulli Diemer
Of Caterpillars and Butterflies: Reading Snobelen's Infamous Speech - Bill Greaves
"The Caterpillar Speech" - John Snobelen
Charter Schools: Charting a Course for Social Division - Murray Dobbin
A Lesson from the Protest - Charles E. Pascal
Re-engineering and the Harris Agenda - Bruce Allen
Regina v. Harris: The Case Against the Tories - Greg McGillis and John McEwen
Part Three: Essential Reading
Chapter 5: The Harris Tories In Context
Welcome to the Brave New World - Ian Angell
Is This For Real? - victor Milne
A Short History of Neo-Liberalism - Susan George
Financial Warfare - Michel Chossouduvsky
The Global Economy: Can It Be Fixed? - David C. Korten
Chapter 6: What Can Be Done?
Tips On How to Oppose Corporate Rule - Jane Kelsey
BASIC Democracy - Ken Ranney
Part Four: Conclusion
The Madness In the Method of the Common Sense Revolution - Ruth Cohen
Index
Subject Headings
