As the Liberals Target the Left, Harper digs in the Centre

[M.Dancer]

Stephen Harper is flatly ruling out restricting abortion laws or eliminating same-sex marriages should he win a majority government.

Asked whether he’d make changes in these areas if he gained control of the Commons, the Conservative Leader said no.

“We will govern on the platform we are elected on,” he told reporters during a campaign stop in the Niagara region.

Mr. Harper said the Tories would proceed to scrap the gun registry if they win a majority because this is long-held party policy.

“The position of the party is the position of the party,” he said.

“The position of the party is the position of the party,” he said.

“The other subjects you brought up are not the positions of the party,” he said.

“They’re not in the Conservative platform. I have no intention of opening up those issues.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/majority-wont-spur-change-on-abortion-or-same-sex-marriage-harper-says/article1970073/

Good Bye secret agenda...good bye social conservative bogeymen....hello big tent Conservatives...

[Smallc]

Good Bye secret agenda...good bye social conservative bogeymen....hello big tent Conservatives...

Hello new natural governing party, if they keep their word (though, they're free to increase military spending and do more on the economic side than they're saying, I think).

[RNG]

Hello new natural governing party, if they keep their word (though, they're free to increase military spending and do more on the economic side than they're saying, I think).

I'm still waiting for the Liberals to re-release the ad showing military in the streets. That was so sweet. Probably bought the Cons a gazillion votes.

[ToadBrother]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/majority-wont-spur-change-on-abortion-or-same-sex-marriage-harper-says/article1970073/

Good Bye secret agenda...good bye social conservative bogeymen....hello big tent Conservatives...

Yup, Reform is dead. By the time this election is done, they might as well call the Tories the Progressive Conservative Party. A twenty year journey for the Right will land them right back where they were in the Mulroney era.

[Smallc]

Yup, Reform is dead. By the time this election is done, they might as well call the Tories the Progressive Conservative Party. A twenty year journey for the Right will land them right back where they were in the Mulroney era.

That's because Canadians in general don't want what rural westerners wanted. The PC party and the Liberal party were able to govern because they were the parties that did what the people wanted. Harper, I think, has now realized that.

[RNG]

Yup, Reform is dead. By the time this election is done, they might as well call the Tories the Progressive Conservative Party. A twenty year journey for the Right will land them right back where they were in the Mulroney era.

I seriously fear you are correct. Tax and spend Liberals, tax and spend conservative. They are all the same. Harper sold his ethics and economic principles for power. He fooled me totally. So we need a new honestly fiscally conservative party, or an armed coup.

[Jack Weber]

Yup, Reform is dead. By the time this election is done, they might as well call the Tories the Progressive Conservative Party. A twenty year journey for the Right will land them right back where they were in the Mulroney era.

Oh great...

Essentially a decade of a redux of Brian Mulroney when it's all over...

Yippeee!!!!

[ToadBrother]

I seriously fear you are correct. Tax and spend Liberals, tax and spend conservative. They are all the same. Harper sold his ethics and economic principles for power. He fooled me totally. So we need a new honestly fiscally conservative party, or an armed coup.

Harper is doing what's needed to sustain a Conservative government. The problem here isn't Harper, it's that most Canadians are not as right-of-centre as you are.

As to te last sentence, an armed coup? What the hell are you talking about?

Edited April 4, 2011 by ToadBrother

[Jack Weber]

I seriously fear you are correct. Tax and spend Liberals, tax and spend conservative. They are all the same. Harper sold his ethics and economic principles for power. He fooled me totally. So we need a new honestly fiscally conservative party, or an armed coup.

Did a con just utter the word coup???

Are you seriously asking for some sort of armed insurrection??

And where is this mythical insurrection going to begin??

[Battletoads]

I really hope no one is being tricked by Stevie and his sweater vest. There is no doubt he'll take Canada down the American-Conservative road should he be elected.

[ToadBrother]

I really hope no one is being tricked by Stevie and his sweater vest. There is no doubt he'll take Canada down the American-Conservative road should he be elected.

So what, he can be thrown out on his ear in four years? I don't buy it. I have my reservations about a Tory majority, but a vast ideological shift isn't one of them.

[M.Dancer]

Yup, Reform is dead. By the time this election is done, they might as well call the Tories the Progressive Conservative Party. A twenty year journey for the Right will land them right back where they were in the Mulroney era.

That was a good era. And now with 100% less Mulroney....a good prospect.

[RNG]

Did a con just utter the word coup???

Are you seriously asking for some sort of armed insurrection??

And where is this mythical insurrection going to begin??

You guys really need to lighten up. Can't you see a joke when it hits you in the face?

[WWWTT]

I do not believe Harper is stupid enough to takle gay rights or medle with abortion.

These two subjects involve Canadian constitutional rights.

If he did try to reverse supreme court decisions he would be up against a real battle of constitutional rights that he can not win.

This would push the conservative party back to the reform days and would give the opposition a lot of artillary.

Not just that I am sure at least more than one of his 80+ staff members has advised him against going up against the supreme court of Canada.

WWWTT

[fellowtraveller]

And Hrper will be loving the Liberals targetting the Left. Nothing better than the NDP and Libs in a deathmatch over left votes, he can slide right up the middle and win many seats with 40% of the vote in thse ridings. Hello Ontario!

[Oleg Bach]

Harper is a bankers henchman. He when it comes to money and power will do exactly what the banks do - pander to the left right and centre. If you want total power - You do not play favorites.

[August1991]

That's because Canadians in general don't want what rural westerners wanted.

I take offense at that comment, and I don't even live in the West.

-----

I see a big difference between Stephen Harper and, say, Joe Clark. To begin with, Harper gets along with MPs from rural Quebec. I also see a difference between Harper and Mulroney. Harper understands that he must go about confronting the so-called urban-centric Canadian left in incremental fashion.

Compare this campaign to those in 2004 and 2006. Harper is unabashed about talking of a majority now whereas before, he had to confront endless scare-mongering.

Harper is a typical WASP conservative. Canada has not had a leader like that in a long time.

[Smallc]

I take offense at that comment, and I don't even live in the West.

I do. That's how I know Canadians don't want what they (in general) want.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Smallc

[Battletoads]

So what, he can be thrown out on his ear in four years? I don't buy it. I have my reservations about a Tory majority, but a vast ideological shift isn't one of them.

He has been in for 5 years already, I don't think he will be running again in four years.

[Jack Weber]

He has been in for 5 years already, I don't think he will be running again in four years.

I suspect you maybe right...

After 10 years,we just might see Harper pull a Harris and Mulroney and slink off to let his successor take the elctoral brunt of what he probably will have coming to him....

[Oleg Bach]

He has been in for 5 years already, I don't think he will be running again in four years.

He looks pretty comfortable to me...and he is young and enjoying himself - maybe as Harper ages he will become great?

[William Ashley]

Hello GOP, if they keep their word (though, they're free to increase military spending and do more on the economic side than they're saying, I think).

[kimmy]

Yup, Reform is dead. By the time this election is done, they might as well call the Tories the Progressive Conservative Party. A twenty year journey for the Right will land them right back where they were in the Mulroney era.

The rise of Reform was never really fueled by a desire for small-c conservatism, as much as some would like to imagine otherwise. The wholesale changeover from PC to Reform in western Canada was driven by the intense feeling of betrayal that westerners felt toward the PCs.

That was the real message of Reform. The "right" now knows that if they take these seats for granted again, the west will smack the shit out of them like they did to the old PCs.

-k

[RNG]

The rise of Reform was never really fueled by a desire for small-c conservatism, as much as some would like to imagine otherwise. The wholesale changeover from PC to Reform in western Canada was driven by the intense feeling of betrayal that westerners felt toward the PCs.

That was the real message of Reform. The "right" now knows that if they take these seats for granted again, the west will smack the shit out of them like they did to the old PCs.

-k

Yes. The so called "red Tories" are the same as the RINO's in the states. And they are both wrong. The electorate proves it. And Harper should listen and heed.

[kimmy]

A real socially conservative party won't win anything in Canada. Pulling the Conservative party to the right, or starting a far-right alternative, is just going to guarantee Liberal victories for a long time.

-k