{Posted at Bene Diction Blogs On May 25, 2011]
Is the advent of the new, majority, Tory government the "millennium" for dominionist minded-Christians in Ottawa?
Here at BDBO, we were discussing this before the election. As Bene D and I noted, opinions varied. But whatever you believe is on the Tories own minds, dominionist Christians like Faytene Grasseschi of MYCanada (the former Faytene Kryskow) seem to see them as the pony to ride.
For now. I'll explain.
What brought this to my mind are posts that Faytene Grassechi put on her Facebook Wall during the run-up to the federal election earlier this month.
A week before the election, she flew into Ottawa to vote in an advance poll.
On April 25, she posted:
Just voted! My guy is going to win and this seat is going to change colour for GOODness sake :).
April 25 at 9:46am via Twitter · @Faytene on Twitter
Somehow, I don't think she was talking about the riding going to the NDP. Given that her riding has been held by the Liberals since 1935 and has never elected a New Democrat.
On May 1, the day before the election, she let slip that she voted in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier, where Mauril Belanger of the Liberals was MP. The timing of her post on her Facebook Wall was shall, we say--interesting.
She wrote, and then attached several comments for those who were interested.
Her post:
Faytene Grasseschi
I have gotten this very interesting information in my inbox several times this week (see my first comment here). This is definitely something to consider when voting tomorrow...wow.
May 1 at 2:46pm
And then she commented:
Faytene Grasseschi Most Recent 12 month on-line report on Expenditures (excluding salaries). This is based on the Parliament of Canada's site information.
NDP: Jack Layton - $628,913
Olivia Chow - $530,304 ( Jack's wife!)
LIBERAL:Michael Ignatieff -$570,984
...BLOC QUEBECOIS:Giles Duceppe - $316,595
CONSERVATIVE: Steven Harper - $281,255See More
May 1 at 2:49pm · 25 people
25 people like this.
She then added three more comments, which run like this, with a comment from one of her friends included:
Faytene Grasseschi Dude....my incumbant MP (who is a Liberal and has no cabinet staff) spends $100,000 more than the Prime Minister....what!!!!? That is out of control. Numbers speak loud. Mauril Belanger: $383,875.12
May 1 at 2:58pm · 1 person
Faytene Grasseschi I am stunned!...seriously. Mr. Belanger lives in Ottawa and does not even have to buy airfares to go to his constituency....how in the world does he spend that much of our money. Olivia Chow is pretty nutty too....I am shocked by this. I hope this info gets out today...wow.May 1 at 3:00pm · 2 people
[Faytene's friend] I recently read that Jack Layton says his expenses are mostly for travelling back and forth to see his constituents in Toronto, which would make the 400km (250 mi) trip cost more than $10,000/week (based on a generous 52 weeks of travel a year)
May 1 at 3:04pmFaytene Grasseschi Oh my. Rent a car for $80 please and thank you. I would rather have that money go to clean water on First Nation's reserves....this information is absolutely stunning....wow. I can't believe the national media has not picked it up. Some of them read my wall sometimes so here is the tip off perhaps. Wow...still stunned.
May 1 at 3:07pm · 4 people
I dislike government waste too, but I would hasten to predict that lots of Stephen Harper's expenses are buried in the budget of the "Office of the Prime Minister", which is why the media doesn't jump at this story which Faytene thinks reflects positively on the Tories.
Targeting a Liberal MP on the day before an election when its too late to refute what she says if it becomes a Facebook meme? Priceless.
And not un-partisan..
It didn't work, by the way. Mr. Belanger was
re-elected.
Faytene posted on election day as well. On election night, she rooted for Western voters:
Faytene Grasseschi
Get out there and vote BC, AB, Sask and MB. It is all up to you now (and prayer)...so keep praying Canada. Watch the election coverage live - http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/
What was up to us out here in the West? Well, by that time of day, it was looking like the Liberal vote was dropping and the NDP vote was rising. Being from the west, Faytene would understand that the Prairies tend to historically vote Tory or conservative. It would not be likely, given current voting patterns and barring a pleasant surprise for progressives, that what would be at stake would be an NDP government.
So what was up to the west was whether the Tories would get a majority government. Can we guess that that was what she was praying for?
We can when we read what she posted a few minutes later:
We declare the most righteous government we have ever seen as a nation...praying in the Holy Spirit for the last hour of the election....please join me.
Once the Tories won a majority, Faytene noted the fact, which led one of her friends to comment this:
[Faytene's friend]: >"Behold my new government!" God is good!
[I didn't know that God was Canadian. What riding does He live in? ;) ]
Faytene wasn't done commenting yet. She added, a little later:
Faytene Grasseschi
Mark Holland just fell....I feel bad for the guy but can't say I am not happy. That was a great upset. Will pray for his career as...something else :).
[Mr. Holland, Liberal MP for the Ottawa-area rising of Ajax-Pickering, lost his seat.]
A post shortly after midnight was a doozy. I need to explain that in "charismatic-speak", giants are often thought of as people or influences that must be overcome and defeated. In their hearing, a "giant" isn't usually good.
Faytene posted:
Faytene Grasseschi
so many giants have fallen this week: Bin Laden, Ignatieff, Holland, Duceppe...more to come...this week is apparently an era shifting week.
May 2 at 8:48pm
[I wouldn't roll these well-meaning politicians in with Osama bin Laden, but that's just me ...and most people.]
Was Faytene being entirely partisan? To be fair, not entirely, as she posted this link to a CTV news story a few days later.
Faytene Grasseschi
I found this CTV interview great and level headed - worth the watch.
Tory backers push for 'truly conservative' government
www.ctv.ca
After trying for more than half a decade, the Conservatives finally have a majority government, and now the party's longtime backers -- including the religious right -- are hoping their concerns will get the government's attention.
From Faytene's point of view, this a very prudent thing to note and push for.
Meanwhile on the MyCanada website, Faytene's group perceives "A Day of Mass Shift for Canada" as Bene D earlier noted.
In the afterword to the paperback edition of The Armageddon Factor, Marci McDonald notes a more recent initiative of Faytene's, and writes that she thought that Faytene did it because Faytene had "a sense of betrayal" by the Tories.
Betrayed? Too early to say, perhaps. I remember reading about Brad Trost's moment of frank honesty in my local paper, which titled their story "
No no never, Harper says."
Would Harper bend, or want to bend, on such issues from such a stance during an election. Faytene and her Ottawa allies, we can say, want that to happen. And that is perhaps where voteprayserve.ca and the
upcoming The Cry rally in Ottawa might come in.
Whatever results actually came from the voteprayserve initiative, Faytene can argue that it was one of things that gave Mr. Harper his majority.
And she, and her allies, can drive their point home at their upcoming rally outside his office--if they are permitted to gather on Parliament Hill.
The Cry in Ottawa can point to either the Tories plans to help with the agenda of Ottawa dominionists, or can prod the government in the "right direction".
Even if they choose to "honour" the new government, would there be perhaps an undercurrent of asserting the strength of the youthful theo-cons? "We are here and we won't be ignored" is a constant message when you gather on Parliament Hill.
"Nice majority voting coalition you got here. Wouldn't want nothin' to happen to it..." could be a message that they may want to deliver, without explicitly stating the words.