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Last week, Canadian folk musician, and Environment Canada employee Tony Turner wrote a protest song about why “Harperman” shouldn’t be in power any longer, and its catchy chorus has made the song go viral.

Harper’s reaction? He has suspended Turner, and is investigating him for recording the song. “Investigating him?” For what, saying what everyone is thinking? Harper suspending the man is a disgusting, alarming abuse of power. In fact, it’s approximating the kind of dictatorship North America accuses its enemy countries of … when it needs to declare war. Because this is a black & white assault on freedom of speech.

We live in a country where it’ll cost you your job to write a protest song. And since when is that Canada? Please consider that at the polls in October. We cannot call this a free country, if our leader will threaten the jobs of those who speak out against them.

Harper doesn’t own our scientists. Yet he’s muzzling those who try and speak to media about the serious eco-societal impacts of our leader’s decisions, and now suspending the ones who speak out anyway.

Nothing in the song is wrong. If Harper finds the song embarrassing or damaging, he should change his ways. You don’t threaten the jobs of your dissenters, Stephen Harper. You learn from them. Or better yet, you don’t inspire protest songs in the first place.

According to the Youtube page for the song, “We are organizing a cross-Canada singalong of Harperman on September 17, just a month before the expected date of the Canadian federal election.” Read more about that here.