Should Stephen Harper Resign?

[maplesyrup]

CBC just announced that Harper is mulling over resigning as leader of the Conservatives. Apparently he is going to take a few days talking to people before he decides.

The Liberals were down for the count, and Harper couldn't deliver the knockout blow.

There could hardly have been a more opportune time for the Conservatives with the Liberals mired in scandal.

What happened?

Are Harper's views too extreme for Canadians?

[CanadianPatriot]

Is Stephen Harper resigns, he`s not the man I thought he was. I do not think he`s too extreme, in fact, I welcome his views. If he resigns he`s being a sore loser. What can he do to help Canadians-- especially COnservative Canadians, if he resigns??

[The Terrible Sweal]

...The Liberals were down for the count, and Harper couldn't deliver the knockout blow. ... Are Harper's views too extreme for Canadians?

Harper's and the Alliance's views just don't make sense to many Canadians. An Alberta firewall? Judges who shouldn't judge the law they're hired to judge?

[Cartman]

I also heard this report but I highly doubt he will resign. Either the media is trying to manufacture a story here or he is just seeking another mandate within the party... on the other hand, what happened to Stockwell?

[kungfusion]

A year from know, this whole thing about Harper will sound like a joke. I believe he will gain popularity. With 99 seats in the house, Conservatives will start to become more and more united. It is after all a new brand to all the Canadians, I say by the time next recall comes around, Stephen Harper will be a lot more exposed and well know, even popular than he is now with those who voted for NDP strategically will start to come back as Conservatives supporters. We'll see:).

[August1991]

This is the quote someone should show to Harper.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

[willy]

Harper's and the Alliance's views just don't make sense to many Canadians. An Alberta firewall? Judges who shouldn't judge the law they're hired to judge?

The election is over and the crap can stop. 1/3 of the voters chose Harper and the Conservatives. Liberal MP's David Anderson, & Hedy Fry are still spotting off about their manufacture concerns like the individual above. They need to grow up and stop being so divisive or we will have a problem again with western alienation. We have an elected government that needs to represent all Canadians, not just the 1/3 that voted for them.

[idealisttotheend]

Good quote August. The reality is though that Harper's past comments are too easy for the Libs to attack. As sad as it is, the Cons may need a leader from the East to make that breakthrough in Ontario. They are definately going to have to be more moderate.

I wouldn't be suprised if the knives aren't out in the CPC. They lost the biggest. As someone pointed out they had everything they could have wanted. A untied party, the Liberals reeling from the scandals and having been in power for three terms already, the Liberals divided and the NDP stronger in many areas. But they still didn't pull it off. Not really Harper's fault I will admit (White et al. helped quite alot though) but as they say in hockey when you can't fire the team fire the coach.

Harper knows the score. Notice how at the end of his speech he said no one when or loses "until one day" someone gets a majority. That may be a long time and a longer time for the Cons since the best chance for that is if the Liberals beat back the BQ in Quebec and retake some of those seats.

I expect I'll get raked over the coals for this one but what the CPC needs now is probably, wait for it, Joe Clark. A western moderate who can build real alliances among the centre and the centre right. But it will never happen.

[willy]

I expect I'll get raked over the coals for this one but what the CPC needs now is probably, wait for it, Joe Clark. A western moderate who can build real alliances among the centre and the centre right. But it will never happen.

Joe was campaigning for Anne in Edmonton. We don't want him back.

Harper will take his time and ensure we have a united party before we march forward.

The party can learn a lot from this one.

Need a policy convention (no more hidden agenda)

More candidates training on staying on message and clarifying platform

Kick back harder when you are being slandered

Harper is the man for the job but we needed an exhibition game first. When the party formed we thought it would be a two election process.

If we are guilty of anything it is to high expectation that emerged during the campaign.

We have 100 seats (Chuck counts). Time to go to work and earn trust with action.

[Cartman]

Harper is not gonna resign. But really, isn't the real issue the relevance of the NDP? They have never formed government and are not even represented enough to be the social conscience of Canada. They even had to bring back Broadbent in order to try and generate some momentum. Maybe they should just try and become the social wing of the Libs?

[idealisttotheend]

The NDP has indeed been rendered irrelevant. This election may destroy it unless it gets another seat or two in the recount. It is sad but true. Especially with the Greens coming up in BC and people on the centre, centre-left and left always being prone to vote Liberal to avoid a Conservative government.

The NDP, like the Conservatives, had a golden opportunity and it didn't turn into anything more than five extra seats. In my heart I hope for a resurgence but my head tells me that the bell might indeed be tolling for the NDP unless it can find a niche and solve the vote splitting problem with the Liberals and the Greens (neither of which it seems to be able to do). But then maybe the NDP is a party based on the faith of it's members, I don't know.

I wonder if the Liberal party isn't happy that it doesn't have enough seats to combine with the NDP to form a majority coalition. No one in the Liberal party wants PR (it would threaten their hegemony) and now they don't have to do it and they still won't get blamed by the public if another election has to be called in six months.

Oh well, I guess the good guys didn't win after all.

[JLarkin]

It is after all a new brand to all the Canadians

A new Brand... this makes me laugh. I heard a saying once... same $hit, different pile. This is an amazing spin by conservaties, almost a built in excuse for a poor showing -- or a potential way to make a victory even sweeter...

Win-win...

"aww, we only got 99 seats, this is a great showing for a first time party... it's a new brand to canadians"

"Conservative Majority, what an amazing and historic event for a first time party, canadians have accepted this new brand."

A Liberal v Conservative election... I can see how that is something new and unique to canadians.

Kungfusion - not taking a dig at you, just something that I've heard quite a bit lately, and you happened to mention it.

[Bro]

Mr. Harper too extreme?LOL.

He is from the Conservative Party,check the word conservative in the nearest dictionary.

Extreme is Liberals giving inmates permission to vote.

Extreme is the Bloc thinking they should have a place in the FEDERAL workings of this country.

Extreme is the liberals being voted in after the many scandals and unanswered questions.

Extreme is the NDP thinking they now ,with 19 seats,or 5.6% of the votes,can fulfill their agendas with the help of the liberals. The list of extremes are countless in this country especially from Ontario and Quebec,and I guess now from the Maritmes,but Mr. Harper is not qualified to be on the extreme list.

[takeanumber]

You lost the election Bro.

Time to suck it up.

It's not just Harper who's extreme.

It's 3/4 of the party, mainly the alliance rump, that's too extreme.

Red Tories just arn't going to vote them.

Myron Thompson told them (red tories) to get out of the party.

And they did.

So -- moderates extended their hand to the Harperites, and what did they do?

They spat in it.

So...the red tories spat back.

It's as simple as that.

[DAC]

It's 3/4 of the party, mainly the alliance rump, that's too extreme.

Red Tories just arn't going to vote them....

So -- moderates extended their hand to the Harperites, and what did they do?

They spat in it.

So...the red tories spat back.

Wake up, takeanumber. How many seats have the red tories won in the last 3 elections? The Conservative downfall began 15 years ago when the red tories (in your words) spat in the face of the social conservatives, & said, "We want your votes, but we don't want you in our party". So Reform was erected ... and before long the red tories party was toast.

[Reverend Blair]

2/3's of Canadians thought he was too extreme, Bro. The vast majority of Canadians know that Stephen Harper and his Reform/Alliance/Conservatives stand far to the right of where they want this country to go. That was very clear yesterday.

The NDP did not do as well as expected. Some of that was propaganda from the far right (we aren't communists, look it up and learn some manners), and some of it was strategic voting. A lot of NDP supporters were so afraid of Harper and his complete disregard for human and Canadian rights that they voted Liberal.

The Liberals did better than anybody else not just because of strategic voting and Fear Of Harper. They did well because they really haven't been doing a bad job. What was it Bill Clinton used to say? Oh yeah, it's the economy, stupid." The economy has been doing better under the Liberals than it did under the last Conservative government and there is still a memory of the Liberal party that was willing to talk to the USA on equal terms. That is not Paul Martin's version of the party, or wasn't until last night, but it did used to exist.

The Greens (and the Canadian Action Party) did more to hurt the NDP than anybody else. So what? The Greens are actually pretty far right and exist, just like every other "fringe" party, because people do not feel represented by the big three.

The Bloq. Oh, there's a lot of fear and loathing of the BQ again. They are, other than their separatist agenda, pretty far to left though. They are basically the reason why the NDP cannot make inroads in Quebec...they offer the same representation.

All day long I've been reading how the west (read Alberta and the red-necked portion of BC) should separate and how the rest of Canada can't exist without the west. I live in Manitoba where the west begins. I was raised in Saskatchewan. I have friends and relatives in Alberta and BC. You know what? If you guys are so damned determined to go your own way then get a party like the PQ and rename Harper's party the WQ and give it a shot. Have a referendum, Clarity Bill approved, and try to drag us out of Canada.

You've been screaming about Quebec for years though, how they keep using separatism and their own version of alienation as a threat. You only get one shot as a result. When you fail, and you will, just shut up and quit whinging like spoiled brats.

[August1991]

I'm surprised that a supremely confident with-it type of cool guy such as you TalkNumb would fall so easily for the Liberal spin and attack ads.

Do you know what kind of candidates the Tories fielded in Ontario and Quebec?

[iamcanadian]

Yes Reverend the Economy has done well under the liberals. However, what bothers me about the results of last nights election, is a large number of canadians decided that the liberals didn't need to be held accountable for there gross mis-management of public money. In the business world it's called misappropriation, and results in the guilty party going to jail.

[Stoker]

All day long I've been reading how the west (read Alberta and the red-necked portion of BC) should separate and how the rest of Canada can't exist without the west. I live in Manitoba where the west begins. I was raised in Saskatchewan. I have friends and relatives in Alberta and BC. You know what? If you guys are so damned determined to go your own way then get a party like the PQ and rename Harper's party the WQ and give it a shot. Have a referendum, Clarity Bill approved, and try to drag us out of Canada.

My God, we agree (somewhat) on another idea Reverend Blair........In all reality, I doubt a real Western separatist movement could take hold outside of Alberta until Quebec leaves, and the urban voters in the lower mainland see that it's possable. Thats not to say that we shouldn't start planting the seeds.......and who said anything about taking Saskatchewan or Manitoba?

[Slavik44]

stephen harper is a great leader, he is a great politician and he is very smart. Unfortuanantley he is to easily demonized, it is to easy to spread rumors about the guy, and the public is to suseptible to liberal lies about him. Nothing agianst harper I think he is a great leader, but if we are going to beat the liberals were are going to need someon that cannot be demonized by the liberals. With that said, Loyola hearn is the best candidate for that position; he was a member of the PC, He is an atlantic Canadian, He has been in politics since the 1980's, he has been the house leader for the Progressive conservatives, and the CPC, not to mention demonizing loyola hearn woudl be like demonizing Mr.Dressup. So while Stephen harper may be the best leader, perhaps conservatives should not be looking for the best leader. Thats just a thought, but i will be disapointed if he does resign.

[August1991]

However, what bothers me about the results of last nights election, is a large number of canadians decided that the liberals didn't need to be held accountable for there gross mis-management of public money.

To the extent people in Quebec care about this, I have seen several reports stating the same as you, iamcan. The general feeling is that Quebecers did the right thing; it was ROC that got it wrong.

[Bro]

A lot of NDP supporters were so afraid of Harper and his complete disregard for human and Canadian rights that they voted Liberal.

LOL LOL!!!

The only areas he might have infringed on human rights is saying the government should not force any church to marry gays if it was not in their doctrine.That is hardly denying human rights.

The other might be sticking up for Canadian Rights over those who do not believe in democracy or the kind of Canada that democracy built,which is being shortchanged by the liberals by giving in to every special interest group that knocks on the door.It works for buying votes though,doesn't it?The NDP I hope will never put Canadians second or treat them as second class citizens

to those who wish to buy their votes from the NDP.

[takeanumber]

Wake up, takeanumber. How many seats have the red tories won in the last 3 elections? The Conservative downfall began 15 years ago when the red tories (in your words) spat in the face of the social conservatives, & said, "We want your votes, but we don't want you in our party". So Reform was erected ... and before long the red tories party was toast.

It's called vote splitting.

In case you didn't notice, but the Con vote, if you added the PC vote and the Alliance vote from the last election, they didn't equate. In fact: it was way down.

Where did the red tory vote go?

The Cons lost.

It was their election to win. And they couldn't do it.

Face it.

Now, go home, wrap yourself up in victimhood.

Women of Eastern Canada: Good news: The Burqua stays off for another 2 years!

[Stoker]

Women of Eastern Canada: Good news: The Burqua stays off for another 2 years!

Who wants women to wear a Burqua?

[Reverend Blair]

The only areas he might have infringed on human rights is saying the government should not force any church to marry gays if it was not in their doctrine.

Wrong, that's what the Liberals said. What Stephen Harper said was that he would hold a free vote and might use the notwithstanding clause to over-ride the Supreme Court's ruling in order to keep gays from marrying.

Harper's party has also come out against abortion rights for women, the Supreme Court's duty to interpret laws, and they have spoken against hate crime legislation.

I've seen George Bush's Amerika. We do not need that up here, thank you very much.