Harper's Tea Party NORTH?

[Topaz]

In this following article, the author seems to say the agenda that Harper has had was to wipe out social programs, which he has already started on. He also doesn't like data that give info to anyone, especially the media to report on. I don't think this PM is really good for the country and the sooner the election comes the better off we won't see his face in Parliament. This article hit the nail on the head. http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2010/08/12/TeaPartyNorth/

[bush_cheney2004]

...and the beat goes on:

It hopes to hit two home runs. Killing the long form compulsory census simultaneously rallies the Conservatives'

"Tea Party North"

libertarian base and propels dismantling "the octopus-like configuration of arms-length organizations" created by previous Liberal administrations that "mine" Statistics Canada data to demand social programs.

No charge for yet another American import and association for political objectives. Funny, but they don't like 'Gitmo North for describing the Milhaven prison at Bath.

[Shady]

In this following article, the author seems to say the agenda that Harper has had was to wipe out social programs, which he has already started on. He also doesn't like data that give info to anyone, especially the media to report on. I don't think this PM is really good for the country and the sooner the election comes the better off we won't see his face in Parliament. This article hit the nail on the head. http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2010/08/12/TeaPartyNorth/

You seem to be contradicting yourself. A couple months ago, you were a deficit hawk, insisting that Harper's spending too much money. Now, you're insisting that he's wiping out social programs.

[capricorn]

In this following article, the author seems to say the agenda that Harper has had was to wipe out social programs, which he has already started on.

No surprise here. The Tyee seeks out authors that are revolted by the Conservatives and gives them ample room on their pages to air this revulsion. I found this interesting.

University of Ottawa political scientist Paul Saurette says the Harper decision defines Canadian post-modern populist conservatism. It hopes to hit two home runs. Killing the long form compulsory census simultaneously rallies the Conservatives' "Tea Party North" libertarian base and propels dismantling "the octopus-like configuration of arms-length organizations" created by previous Liberal administrations that "mine" Statistics Canada data to demand social programs.

Unlike British Red Toryism, which accepts a role for government in reducing structural inequality, Canadian post-modern populist conservatism considers inequality as natural, the outcome of individual free choice. Individuals, not governments, must "bootstrap their way up," Saurette continues.

Saurette notes that from the day it was sworn in, the Harper government was determined to eliminate government funding for any and all forms of social advocacy, their agencies and research, at home and abroad.

Many other casualties so far

The elimination list is long and getting longer -- and it is stunning. Here's a small sample: the Court Challenges Program, the Status of Women, the Canadian Council on Social Development, the Canadian Council on International Cooperation, StatsCan's workplace and employer survey, which tracks job vacancies, benefits, and private pensions; StatsCan's survey of financial security, and StatsCan's longitudinal survey of immigrants to Canada.

Those casualties are not social programs. Evidently, not one of the bodies or processes listed above administers or extends any social programs to Canadians. A government body, arms length or other, or processes that cannot substantiate their existence, that can't provide measurable goals and results, that have obviously outlived their usefulness or that are clearly duplication have to be chopped.

It's all very interesting to declare that Harper wants to axe social programs. But after almost 5 years in office, I can't think of one social program that has been taken away from Canadians. Maybe Topaz can.

[PIK]

Does the left hide under their beds at night worrying that evil harper might be hiding in the closet.

[eyeball]

Those casualties are not social programs.

They do however "kill key tool(s) for social advocacy". Especially the Supreme Court Challenges Program.

Human beings are the casualties.

[eyeball]

Does the left hide under their beds at night worrying that evil harper might be hiding in the closet.

Harper is gay?

[Jack Weber]

Mr.Falange must be wetting his crypto-Fascist pants with glee.He has openly advocated for a Canadian Tea Party movement to foment his civil war to crush the treasonous socialists and bring on the Francoesque Fascist dictatorship he desires...

Of course,all of this happens after the gay porn producer stuff fizzles out....

[charter.rights]

Take a look at "the Family Compact" movement that Canada started with about 1836 and operated until the 1880s. I see a number of similarities.....

[bloodyminded]

Mr.Falange must be wetting his crypto-Fascist pants with glee.He has openly advocated for a Canadian Tea Party movement to foment his civil war to crush the treasonous socialists and bring on the Francoesque Fascist dictatorship he desires...

Of course,all of this happens after the gay porn producer stuff fizzles out....

It's rational to have a back-up plan. Good for him.

[Jack Weber]

It's rational to have a back-up plan. Good for him.

I'm confused as to which one is the back-up plan...

Fascist Aparatchik and fomentor of civil insurrection?

or

The Cecil B. De Mille of gay street porn?

[kimmy]

Canada's right-wing populist movement predates the Tea Party movement by about 20 years.

Labelling it "Tea Party North" is a lame attempt by a left-wing crybaby to come up with a new bogeyman. I guess referring to the Conservatives as "Refoooorm" (in Preston Manning drawl) just doesn't scare people anymore.

Sad statement about the Canadian left's level of desperation, really.

-k

{Tea parties.

In Canada's cities.

We're not making this up.}

[Jack Weber]

Canada's right-wing populist movement predates the Tea Party movement by about 20 years.

Labelling it "Tea Party North" is a lame attempt by a left-wing crybaby to come up with a new bogeyman. I guess referring to the Conservatives as "Refoooorm" (in Preston Manning drawl) just doesn't scare people anymore.

Sad statement about the Canadian left's level of desperation, really.

-k

{Tea parties.

In Canada's cities.

We're not making this up.}

I agree...

It's much easier to say right wing nutters and be done with it...

[bush_cheney2004]

Sad statement about the Canadian left's level of desperation, really....

Well, we all know how "Harper = Bush" worked out. Time for something new (old).

[capricorn]

Well, we all know how "Harper = Bush" worked out. Time for something new (old).

Now, the mantra is the Conservatives are extreme right wing. Canada's Conservatives have taken over the middle ground of the political spectrum. The Liberal claim that they are at the exact centre of politics is false because in truth the Liberals are veering left in order to win over NDP supporters. Ignatieff, the unelected Liberal leader, has recently reached out to unionized auto workers to win them over. The Liberals are all over the map and that tells me they are desperate.

[bush_cheney2004]

Now, the mantra is the Conservatives are extreme right wing. Canada's Conservatives have taken over the middle ground of the political spectrum. The Liberal claim that they are at the exact centre of politics is false because in truth the Liberals are veering left.....

It sure looks that way from the "outside"....after the sponsorship downfall, there has been a continued erosion for the Grits in the middle. An "extreme right wing" in Canada no longer has any meaning unless there is an explicit reference to American politics. Mr. Ignatieff has fallen far short of the assumed potential to lead his "natural ruling party" out of the desert.

[Jack Weber]

Now, the mantra is the Conservatives are extreme right wing. Canada's Conservatives have taken over the middle ground of the political spectrum. The Liberal claim that they are at the exact centre of politics is false because in truth the Liberals are veering left in order to win over NDP supporters. Ignatieff, the unelected Liberal leader, has recently reached out to unionized auto workers to win them over. The Liberals are all over the map and that tells me they are desperate.

I think the Conservatives had to go to the centre out of necessity.Otherwise they were doomed to being marginalized.I'll give the Prime Minister this...His autocratic ways are probably necessary because it keeps some of the more extreme types in his party muzzled.By doing that,it has made the party a little more palatable.I also think it's a function of being in a minority position for so long.However,like this census business,occasionally the nutters get to speak their mind.This allows people a glimpse into what a Harper majority might be like...

Along with the knowledge of previous governments in the province of Ontario,and a certain cadre of Harrisites in positions of prominence in Mr.Harper's cabinet.

The bullying actions of Mr.Baird last spring during committee meetings don't exactly instill alot of confidence that the edges have really been smoothed over...For example...

By the way,this idea that uniuonized workers always vote for the NDP is a canard.If that were the case,Southern Ontario would be an NDP stronghold and the Province would have had NDP governments for the last 40 years or so...The fact of the matter is that the NDP has never really delivered the union vote in the province at all....

Edited August 13, 2010 by Jack Weber

[DFCaper]

I don't believe that Harper has some secret agenda. I believe that these attacks on the census is purely to calm the Libertarian Conservatives, as Harper always appears to be more Authoritarian in practice. As such, he will no longer get my vote. He has been a terrible Conservative. I am not convinced that he has ruled much more to the right than Chretien, once you ignore the chatter. The only attempt he may have made to eliminate social programs I can see would be he is trying to spend us so far into dept that we will no longer be able to afford them. And to me that is not a true conservative move.

[Remiel]

Now, the mantra is the Conservatives are extreme right wing. Canada's Conservatives have taken over the middle ground of the political spectrum. The Liberal claim that they are at the exact centre of politics is false because in truth the Liberals are veering left in order to win over NDP supporters. Ignatieff, the unelected Liberal leader, has recently reached out to unionized auto workers to win them over. The Liberals are all over the map and that tells me they are desperate.

Even if the Liberals are trending left, that does not make the Conservatives centre. Not by a long shot.

[eyeball]

Canada's Conservatives have taken over the middle ground of the political spectrum.

Puritanism could be a winner

Mr. Harper’s priorities bring back images of a 1950s Canada. There’s a big focus on family values, pride in the armed forces, the monarchy, the Arctic, law and order, hockey, unintrusive government, low taxes. The vision is the true north strong and free and – with respect to its supreme ruler – on bended knee.

...unintrusive government...

Edited August 13, 2010 by eyeball

[capricorn]

Puritanism could be a winner

...unintrusive government...

I don't see the relevance of Martin's article to what I said.

“The left is a very lonely place to be right now in Canada,” said Turcotte.

But the pollster said it would be a mistake to believe the centre is a mushy-middle.

“There are a lot of commonalities but also a number of very important differences, and in some ways it's really about the conservatives – small ‘c’ conservatives—about how they use government to solve problems,” Turcotte said.

Turcotte said Canadians don't want an absolute minimalist approach to government. “The minute you go down that path, then the centrists get their back up and reject it,” he said.

“It's hard for partisans or believers to come to grips with the messiness” of Canadian political thought, said Gregg. “This ambivalence is not rooted in stupidity, it's rooted in the Canadian conscience.”

The pollsters concluded that the Conservatives “currently own the political centre,” said Turcotte.

He said it is a “surprising shift” from five elections ago, when 41 per cent of self-described centrists voted Liberal. In 2008, 47 per cent of centrists voted Conservative.

Another shift is anticipated when younger Canadians who want “even less of government” grow older, said Turcotte.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/779023--canadian-values-shifting-to-the-right-poll-suggests

The Conservatives have moved from the right to the centre. The strategy is to displace the Liberals as the natural governing party and to appeal to centrists. It's not a difficult concept to grasp.

Since his bus tour started, Ignatieff repeats time and again that the Liberals at the very centre of Canadian politics.

“We are the progressive, reforming centre of Canada. I can’t emphasize how much we are in the centre.”

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/michael_dentandt/2010/07/15/14727716.html

I find it difficult to take Ignatieff seriously.

[Topaz]

You seem to be contradicting yourself. A couple months ago, you were a deficit hawk, insisting that Harper's spending too much money. Now, you're insisting that he's wiping out social programs.

Well he is and its also on what he's spending the money on. The G20 was a waste of money and cost the city of Toronto thousand is loss income, plus damages. He wants to build new prisons when there's other ways to the solution. IF government wipes away social programs then the country is going to be very angry, and anger will grow knowing that these politicans, especially the seating government is growing richer themselves with their golden pensions. If you have a government that spends mostly on military, prisons, oil companies, and aid to other countries and reduces aid at home, you're in trouble.

[capricorn]

By the way,this idea that uniuonized workers always vote for the NDP is a canard.If that were the case,Southern Ontario would be an NDP stronghold and the Province would have had NDP governments for the last 40 years or so...The fact of the matter is that the NDP has never really delivered the union vote in the province at all....

In 2008, the NDP elected 37 MPs, 17 are in Ontario.

http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/elections/2008-ONT.html

Some of those 17 seats are located in areas where there is a large unionized workforce. Unions and their members are notably strong NDP supporters, of this I have no doubt.

Ignatieff's got his eye on those seats and he's actively trolling for NDP votes. That's part of his strategy to beat Harper in Ontario.

[Jack Weber]

In 2008, the NDP elected 37 MPs, 17 are in Ontario.

http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/elections/2008-ONT.html

Some of those 17 seats are located in areas where there is a large unionized workforce. Unions and their members are notably strong NDP supporters, of this I have no doubt.

Ignatieff's got his eye on those seats and he's actively trolling for NDP votes. That's part of his strategy to beat Harper in Ontario.

Yup...Some of them are...

Mostly now,the NDP does well in extremely poor urban areas.If it was the union vote that got the NDP power,40 years ago they should have been in government.And with the decline in unionized workers in the province of Ontario(and nationally),frankly,they should have been decimated.

The reason?

Union executives might support the NDP...The rank and file is another matter...They have simply never delivered the union vote en masse...And the party has reached out to other voting groups instead...

[capricorn]

Union executives might support the NDP...The rank and file is another matter...

Union leaders have a lot of clout, in that they have access to their membership's union dues to work for or against local candidates. I worked 13 years for the Public Service Alliance of Canada in Ottawa and I have seen how it works. Union members had zilch to say about it but at the workplace, shop stewards (a breeding ground for future union leadership) pushed the NDP platform.