normanchateau

According to our Prime Minister, there is a right and wrong determined merely by religious faith: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/fp/Re...6754/story.html

Yet another reason for Harper to cut the budget of the budget watchdog.

Speaking of promoting doom and gloom, "economist" Harper stated: http://redtory.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/ha...-a-possibility/

Looks like the slimy Harper has found a place to save a few dollars...cutting the budget of the budget watchdog: http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotian/1111410.html

"Canada lost a whopping 129,000 jobs in January and followed that up with a surprisingly large 82,600 contraction in February - a two-month total that when the different sizes in population are factored in would translate into a loss or more than two million jobs stateside. By comparison, the U.S. actually lost about 1.3 million in the two months. Trade figures released late last week also did not flatter Canada. While Canada's trade deficit grew to $993 million in January and exports fell nine per cent, in the U.S. the trade deficit narrowed more than expected to US$36 billion from US$39.9 billion the prior month. The same trends appear to be forming in other key indicators, including retail sales, which have been dropping sharply in Canada but rising modestly south of the border despite the weakness in the housing market." http://www.570news.com/news/national/more....ontent=n031513A

So you think October was a better month for buying opportunities than February? Hmmm, must be a Harper supporter.

Religious fundamentalist Harper left his parent's mainstream church when he was born again and joined an Evangelical church which believes "that Christians who have been adulterous do not have a right to remarry ... and opposes stem-cell research, euthanasia, the use of marijuana and ordained female clergy." http://www.gregfelton.com/canpol/2007_08_2...%20article.html

"Faith in all its forms teaches . . . that there is a right and wrong beyond mere opinion or desire." I'm sure most imams and reverends would agree. In making that comment, I wonder if Stephen Harper puts scientific evidence in the category of "mere opinion". And I wonder if his votes against same sex marriage reflect his religious "faith...that there is a right and wrong."

Peter MacKay was not the only Conservative who Conrad Black controlled. Did you know that Brian Mulroney was a former employee of Conrad Black's? Via his newspaper, the National Post, Black also championed Alliance leader Stephen Harper.

Ignatieff is a centrist. Positioning to the centre is consistent with his beliefs. For Harper, a former Reform/Alliance/Northern Foundation/National Citizens Coalition member and current Missionary and Alliance member, to move to the centre stretches credulity. Do you seriously think conservatives would vote for Harper if they sincerely believed that he was a centrist like Ignatieff?

Yes, that must be exactly why "centrist" Harper did it. Because he keeps promises. Here's some that he didn't keep: http://mikewatkins.ca/tags/broken-promises/ http://harperslies.blogspot.com/ http://www.promisebreakers.ca/

The Conservative government is advocating it but I know plenty of Conservatives who actually favour legalization or decriminalization of marijuana. The problem is that CPC leader Harper is a loony so-con who believes that a mandatory six month sentence for selling one plant is perfectly reasonable. When SES Research conducted a nationwide poll in 2003 to see who favoured or opposed decriminalization of marijuana, only 38% of Canadian Alliance voters opposed decriminalization: http://www.sesresearch.com/library/polls/POLNAT-W03-T113.pdf So-con Harper has positioned himself to the right of even former Canadian Alliance voters on this issue. I'm sure it's no coincidence that Harper's fire and brimstone Evangelical Missionary and Alliance Church fervently advocates against marijuana use: http://www.gregfelton.com/canpol/2007_08_2...%20article.html

Unlike his "twin", Ignatieff has not revealed homophobic, socially conservative tendencies. Only a socially conservative twit like Harper would find it necessary, in the midst of a catastrophic world recession and growing Canadian unemployment, to introduce legislation imposing a mandatory six month sentence, up to a maximum of 14 years in jail, for selling one marijuana plant. This same socially conservative twit found it necessary during his first term in office to "revisit" legislation allowing lesbians to marry. Harper's recent attempts to portray himself as a social moderate and environmentalist who has abandoned fiscal conservatism seem like a futile attempt to mimic Brian Mulroney. Canadians tend to be social moderates. Why would they vote for a hypocritical, social conservative who pretends to be what he is not in order to retain power? The latest Harris Decima poll suggests that even some Harper supporters have had enough of him.

Perverse by our standards. In China, the age of consent is 14. In Japan, 13.

The same Harper who described October, 2008 a "buying opportunity". When this clown exits government, he certainly won't be working as a financial advisor. Hands up those of you whose mutual funds are worth more today than they were in October.

Your direct quote provides no more information than the link provided on the first page of this thread, i.e., http://cannabisfacts.ca/mandatoryminimums_chart.html The point is, whether it's your direct quote or the link above, the social conservative Harper is proposing a mandatory six months in prison, up to a maximum of 14 years in prison, for selling one marijuana plant. While the world economy crashes and hundreds of thousands of Canadians continue to lose their jobs, so-con loony Harper decides that this is a good time to imprison Canadians for selling one plant. Has this lame brain completely lost sense of priorities? What's next on his social conservative agenda? Mandatory jail terms for viewing pornography or not attending his Evangelical Christian Missionary and Alliance Church?

Given the backbone MacKay exhibited when he sold out the PCs to Harper, he'd fit right in.

The PCs chose MacKay because he promised not to merge with Harper's Alliance. Here's the deal MacKay made to become PC leader: http://www.davidorchard.com/online/campaig...hard-mckay.html If Harper wants to get rid of a potential backstabber lusting for his job, this NATO job is perfect. And for MacKay, he gets to chair a few important-sounding committees and mingle with senior diplomats and military brass while living the lavish life of a coddled dignitary.

Here's a list of Christian leftists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_left Current NDP MP Bill Siksay probably can be described as a Christian leftist.

Interesting that fiscal conservative Herb Grubel was cited. Both Preston Manning and Herb Grubel strongly believed that cutting personal income taxes was an effective way to stimulate the economy. Apparently Harper has yet to figure this out. No wonder Manning fired the inept Harper as Reform's Finance critic and replaced him with Herb Grubel, an economist. Unlike Harper, Grubel was actually employed as an economist and has trained other economists.

I see no problem with Harper's attack ads as long as Ignatieff responds with attack ads. Among Dion's many strategic errors was not allowing his campaign workers to engage in negative advertising: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescoloni...8a-140b3068208f Harper will fire in desperation with all the ammunition he has. Ignatieff's challenge will be to fire back. Given Harper's long history of boneheaded decisions and hypocrisy, it should not be a difficult challenge. Perhaps Canadians will finally learn of Harper's membership in the Northern Foundation.

"VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Canada's Conservative government proposed a new law Friday that would raise jail sentences for drug crimes, following a surge in gang-related violence in this city as it prepares to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said the new law was intended to address an unprecedented wave of violence that has seen six people gunned down in the past month. The proposed changes would increase the maximum sentence for marijuana production to 14 years, from seven..." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29432204/ Whenever one thinks that Harper can't possibly demonstrate more irrationality than he has in the past, he proves us wrong. Who in their right mind believes that gang-related crime will decline if the maximum penalty for producing marijuana is 14 years instead of seven? Stupid, stupid Harper. He continues to derive his anachronistic drug policies from George Bush and Richard Nixon.

Wasn't Bernier an important figure in his party not too long ago?

And Harper too has never earned as much as he has at the federal trough. By contrast, Ignatieff took a pay cut when he joined the Liberals. In 2006, the average Harvard salary was $US168,700. http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/...tml?jst=s_cn_hl This was the average for all ranks, i.e., Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Full Professor. Ignatieff was a senior Full Professor which would have placed his salary between $US200,000 and $US300,000 in 2006.

So you support him despite the fact that he's a social conservative. What's left to support? He's not governed as a fiscal conservative. Just look at his ridiculous spending in the 2007 budget: http://andrewcoyne.com/columns/2007/03/fla...ig-spenders.php