I ditto the following remarks:
You say that he’s not the guy who opposed universal health care or that once wanted to build a wall around Alberta. He’s the guy that governed carefully from the centre.
No, the guy that governed carefully from the centre was the guy that had no choice.
You say he steered us through the recession. We made it through despite him, not because of him. You at least gave Paul Martin credit for the surpluses that have since been squandered. You might also have mentioned that Martin prevented deregulation of the banks, something that Harper would have dearly loved to have done had he had the majority necessary to do so.
Now we'll see the true Harper, the majority Harper, Harper unchained, unfettered by a pesky opposition.
It gives me complete nightmares and the last person on earth to change FPTP.The only time he would, if could, change the way of voting would be if it were another kind of voting,and change it back to FPTP,
ReplyDeleteThe media is always saying how he is milder and wiser and won't do all those things. How much have they been paid?
First big change -- Auditor General. Shelia Fraser's term ends this month. (She won't even be there for the G8/G20 report release.) Parliament votes on the next Auditor General, but since the Conservatives have a majority....
ReplyDeleteHey, I for one am looking forward to Harper gutting every social program the NDP holds dear. After 4 years of that, maybe the dippers will finally figure out who their enemy really is.
ReplyDeleteTo KW, go away and disappear with some dignity. The Canadian Liberal Party is a corpse, and if you don't bury dead things, they begin to stink. Which perhaps explains your remarks.
ReplyDeleteHarper has deployed a massive superiority in advertising and considerable press favoritism to get what? A shift in the vote of about 2 per cent. I think we can fairly say that the 60% who voted against him are fairly solid in their convictions.
And he's going to go all far-Right on us? If he does, he will piss off enough of the 50% or so that didn't vote this time to make himself the second Kim Campbell. He has absolutely no margin to work with, having squeaked in by maximizing all his chances. But he also has a considerable nut wing that can no longer be held in check by the "shut up and sit down before you lose it all for us" argument. They want their unicorn now.
Am I saying Harper is a moderate? Nope. I think philosophically he's as hard right as any of them. But he wouldn't be where he is if he were not a fairly competent politician as well. Let's see how he keeps his nut wing tamped down now. If he lets it rip the way this post suggests he might, good-bye Conservatives.
Sunsin, I'm not sure how much Harper will do, but he's not entirely handcuffed to the centre.
ReplyDeleteOne menthod governments use on passing controversial pieces of legislation is to pass them early in the term and hope that people's anger fades after a few years. Their crime bill, to be passed within 100 days of the election, may be an example of this since it contains some laws that may violate people's privacy on the internet.
Another way, which we've seen already, is to chip away at programs that don't directly effect most Canadians. There have been cuts to NGOs and immigrant groups. They have made it harder for refuggees. Right now there are planned cut to Environment Canada. I expect more cuts along these lines -- especially since they promised to be more aggressive with the deficit now that they have a majority.
I far prefer a Harper majority to a Liberal NDP coalition run by the Svend Robinson wing of the NDP. And that explains why ridings like mine went from Liberal to CPC.
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