Why Harper is so vulnerable

[August1991]

1. Harper allowed alot of spending. (I have no problem with the Keynesian Canadian Action Plan.) I object to G20 police overtime, and Tony Clement. Clement should be a backbencher.

Perception: Harper gives money to politicians, if they speak English.

2. Monarchy? royal Canadian Air Force? Huge mistake. We are Canadian. These people in Britain have nothing to do with us.

Perception: Harper is a WASP.

3. Gun laws. We are Canadians. We should compromise. We should have done the same as the Australian law - it's a good law. Harper could have done this.

Perception: Harper is a gun fanatic.

4. Crime law. Canada has more people, and likely more criminals. It logically needs more prison space. I agree that we must tell everyone that the State will punish criminals.

Perception: Harper is a hanging judge.

5. Quebec. The BQ died and the PQ is committing suicide. Harper appoints a unilingual judge to the Supreme Court.

Perception: Harper is a WASP, who hates Quebec.

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Meanwhile, I worry about how we in Quebec will manage with the $30 billion loss of the Caisse de dépôt.

Or, you in English Canada, how will you manage the promises of the CPPIB and Ontario Teacher`s?

----

In short, Harper is a politician like Chamberlain. He sugar coats the truth, and he does it badly.

Edited November 27, 2011 by August1991

[August1991]

PC? CPC? PC? NDP? CAQ? PQ?

----

NDP?

CPC? It is the Stephen Harper party.

And Stephen Harper's wife may promote him, but that doesn't mean the CPC will succeed.

[olp1fan]

I don't mind real conservatives and Harpers party is not conservative at all

they are the reform party imo

[Jack Weber]

1. Harper allowed alot of spending. (I have no problem with the Keynesian Canadian Action Plan.) I object to G20 police overtime, and Tony Clement. Clement should be a backbencher.

Perception: Harper gives money to politicians, if they speak English.

2. Monarchy? royal Canadian Air Force? Huge mistake. We are Canadian. These people in Britain have nothing to do with us.

Perception: Harper is a WASP.

3. Gun laws. We are Canadians. We should compromise. We should have done the same as the Australian law - it's a good law. Harper could have done this.

Perception: Harper is a gun fanatic.

4. Crime law. Canada has more people, and likely more criminals. It logically needs more prison space. I agree that we must tell everyone that the State will punish criminals.

Perception: Harper is a hanging judge.

5. Quebec. The BQ died and the PQ is committing suicide. Harper appoints a unilingual judge to the Supreme Court.

Perception: Harper is a WASP, who hates Quebec.

-----

Meanwhile, I worry about how we in Quebec will manage with the $30 billion loss of the Caisse de dépôt.

Or, you in English Canada, how will you manage the promises of the CPPIB and Ontario Teacher`s?

----

In short, Harper is a politician like Chamberlain. He sugar coats the truth, and he does it badly.

1. "Two Tier" Tony was simply being rewarded for being a Harris/Reform minion.Harper gives money to those who are loyal.That's not any different than any other politician anywhere.The issue in Muskoka was the wild overspending and the seemingly not so discret (sp) attempt to cover it up.

I assume you've seen the movie "Bullwark"?

Refer to this when dealing with money coming to Quebec,or Quebec's influence in federal politics, and why it is'nt getting alot of either at the moment.

2.Can't necessarily disagree with you,however,Tom Flanagan mentioned something on P&P about a month ago on this very subject.He said there were still alot of people (staunch conservatives) out there who feel agrieved at many of the things the Pearson and Trudeau gov'ts.Namely the flag debate and the removing of the name "Royal" from the divisions of the military...

You're right...Harper is'nt a French Catholic.

3.I believe Harper,and his rural friends,are infantile libertarians who salivate at the gun laws in the country directly to the South of us.

4.If Harper could get his way,he would bring back the death penalty.I think the "tough on crime" rhetoric is'nt terribly well thought out or does it contain alot of foresight.When states like Texas are saying the direction the Canadian gov't is taking is wrong,and they are intending to go ahead anyway,we're dealing with hard headed idealogues...

5.Who cares???

[MiddleClassCentrist]

WTB: Fiscally Responsible Government.

[WWWTT]

Ti me it seems as though Harper is digging in and shoaring up his base.

Maybe he believes the federal conservatives are in for a rough ride the next election.

I wouldn't be suprised if the conservates suffer the same fate in 2015 as the liberals in 2011.

WWWTT

[Cameron]

The big thing for me is his lack of compromise and inability to punish people who do wrong within the party. The omnibus crime bill has good provisions, but it's all not good. Marijuana laws should be dealt with by the Provinces, for example.

Other "items of interest" are the fact that he ran on being different from the Liberals and is slowly becoming what they were, bloated and filled with double-talk.

I don't like the lack of communication from the PM or the party. I HATE talking points and PR people making statements vs. the PM. He is acting like a closed-door manager that only speaks to people when it benefits him.

The lack of discipline is another area where I'm getting annoyed. Clement is a nice guy, but he should be sitting in the back. There are a lot of decent MP's that should have cabinet positions. They promised to be open and accountable but they seemed to have forgotten that platform promise.

[Tilter]

PC? CPC? PC? NDP? CAQ? PQ?

----

NDP?

CPC? It is the Stephen Harper party.

And Stephen Harper's wife may promote him, but that doesn't mean the CPC will succeed.

Seems that the CPC HAS in fact succeeded--- they have a stranglehold on the HOC and Senate and likely will for at least 3 terms.

Edited November 27, 2011 by Tilter

[Keepitsimple]

4.If Harper could get his way,he would bring back the death penalty.I think the "tough on crime" rhetoric is'nt terribly well thought out or does it contain alot of foresight.When states like Texas are saying the direction the Canadian gov't is taking is wrong,and they are intending to go ahead anyway,we're dealing with hard headed idealogues...

I haven't gone through the whole thread yet but this comment just makes me want to tear my hair out. This is the CBC talking point - nothing more and so outlandishly irrelevant that it's infantile. Since when does anyone from Texas even know where Canada is? We're talking about a state that has been led since 1995 by George Bush and Rick Perry - Staunch republicans and far-right politicians? Texas has incarceration rates that are SIX TIMES that of Canada. Of course they are starting to go down the road of rehabilitation. They are 100 years late to the party - Canada has been trying to balance incarceration with rehabilitation for the last 50 years......unfortunately, the pendulum swung a little too far and violent criminals and multiple repeat offenders have become a clear and present danger to society. So we're tweaking the system to address that fault and still maintaining our rehabilitation principles. Texas? - c'mon Jack - give us all a break.....and give yourself a shake.

Edited November 27, 2011 by Keepitsimple

[Keepitsimple]

Other "items of interest" are the fact that he ran on being different from the Liberals and is slowly becoming what they were, bloated and filled with double-talk.

Interesting....that younster OLP1FAN seems to think they are the Reform Party.....and you think they are becoming the Liberals. I guess they're doing something right......I'll start to shiver and shake when people start comparing them to the NDP. There's 4 more years for the opposition parties to come up with a realistic alternative.

Edited November 27, 2011 by Keepitsimple

[Argus]

1. Harper allowed alot of spending. (I have no problem with the Keynesian Canadian Action Plan.) I object to G20 police overtime, and Tony Clement. Clement should be a backbencher.

Perception: Harper gives money to politicians, if they speak English.

And you will instead vote for whom? Presumably, politicians who will give money to each other so long as they speak French.

2. Monarchy? royal Canadian Air Force? Huge mistake. We are Canadian. These people in Britain have nothing to do with us.

Perception: Harper is a WASP.

Tough titty. The monarchy plays a huge role in the history of Canada, and English Canadians, as you have on previous occasions pointed out, lack points of reference to unite them. Harper is trying to do this by reviving the heritage the largely French liberals did away with. Don't like it, August? Seperate! Have your little Bangladeshi Frenchland and stop bugging the rest of us.

3. Gun laws. We are Canadians. We should compromise. We should have done the same as the Australian law - it's a good law. Harper could have done this.

Perception: Harper is a gun fanatic.

The long gun registry was the triumph of style over substance. All the stupid people defended it because they thought that, well, it had to do with, somehow or other, which they didn't actually understand, deterring gun violence... somehow. It didn't. Get over it. It was a massive waste of time and money.

4. Crime law. Canada has more people, and likely more criminals. It logically needs more prison space. I agree that we must tell everyone that the State will punish criminals.

Perception: Harper is a hanging judge.

Good. We need one. Crime, especially violent crime, needs to be adequately dealt with.

5. Quebec. The BQ died and the PQ is committing suicide. Harper appoints a unilingual judge to the Supreme Court.

Perception: Harper is a WASP, who hates Quebec.

Again, you reveal your separatist Quebecois mentality. You don't care if the judges are competent, so long as they speak French. And you certainly don't care if all the future judges on the court have to be from Quebec, or have to be Franco Ontarions etc. To you, that's only fair. To the rest of us that's BS. Don't like it? Go away. Separate. Please.

[Guest Derek L]

Time to Say Goodbye Building a Better Canada Without Quebec

[Cameron]

Interesting....that younster OLP1FAN seems to think they are the Reform Party.....and you think they are becoming the Liberals. I guess they're doing something right......I'll start to shiver and shake when people start comparing them to the NDP. There's 4 more years for the opposition parties to come up with a realistic alternative.

Not the Liberals in the form of policy, but in their 10+ years as running this country in the 90's/00's and how they because lathargic in how they governed.

[Guest Manny]

Not the Liberals in the form of policy, but in their 10+ years as running this country in the 90's/00's and how they because lathargic in how they governed.

Yeah well I remember those ten years. They did a pretty good job because that's why we are in such a good position now.

[Cameron]

Yeah well I remember those ten years. They did a pretty good job because that's why we are in such a good position now.

They benefited from GST, NAFTA and good relations with the U.S. They balanced the budget by cutting services moving health to the provinces and robbing EI, if I'm not mistaken. I was young back then and wasn't involved in politics.

[Moonbox]

Argus, that was one of the most brilliant posts I've seen on this forum in a long time. It was funny, concise and highlights how backward the OP was in a very obvious way. Well done.

[Guest Manny]

Argus, that was one of the most brilliant posts I've seen on this forum in a long time. It was funny, concise and highlights how backward the OP was in a very obvious way. Well done.

I thought what he said was dismissive and rude, in a way. But that is my opinion. The OP criticism is still valid. Just because the one guy is also corrupted, that does not excuse the other guy. Does it?

[Topaz]

PC? CPC? PC? NDP? CAQ? PQ?

----

NDP?

CPC? It is the Stephen Harper party.

And Stephen Harper's wife may promote him, but that doesn't mean the CPC will succeed.

Harper is the head of the CRAParty.

[olp1fan]

Time to Say Goodbye Building a Better Canada Without Quebec

How much do you want to bet that Quebec is going to leave Canada before Harpers next term is over?

or if Harper is re elected

Harper seems to love divisive politics

Edited November 27, 2011 by olp1fan

[olp1fan]

Good. We need one. Crime, especially violent crime, needs to be adequately dealt with.

Seems like you're fine with the Marijuana sentences being harsher than the pedophile sentences

Edited November 27, 2011 by olp1fan

[Guest Derek L]

How much do you want to bet that Quebec is going to leave Canada before Harpers next term is over?

or if Harper is re elected

Harper seems to love divisive politics

I’m really indifferent to the whole idea……If Quebec wants to leave, I say let them, if they want to stay, fine……PM Harper has shown that a political party can govern without Quebec, and once further seats are allocated to the Western Provinces and Ontario, governing without Quebec will be made easier……..Western Canada (Ottawa River west I suppose), based on economic and population growth, added to the growing importance of trade in the Pacific Rim is the future of Canada, or New Canada….Quebec and the Maritimes will further be marginalized, for being Old Canada……..I’m not suggesting this is right or wrong, but fact……..

I really question though, how economically viable a sovereign Quebec would be, surrounded by two Anglophone countries…

As was stated a few years ago by some commentator, in part in jest, perhaps Canada should have a referendum on whether we should let Quebec stay….

[Guest Derek L]

Seems like you're fine with the Marijuana sentences being harsher than the pedophile sentences

which is probably fine for the CPC base seeing as they like little boys

Grow up.

[olp1fan]

Grow up.

How else can you explain why Marijuana has tougher sentences than pedophiles?

what is the ideology in that?

Edited November 27, 2011 by olp1fan

[olp1fan]

As was stated a few years ago by some commentator, in part in jest, perhaps Canada should have a referendum on whether we should let Quebec stay….

Totally so all of the francophobes in the west such as yourself can vote them out

Edited November 27, 2011 by olp1fan

[MiddleClassCentrist]

I honestly think that the CPC will be in power for some time.

The CPC will need to have support erode in the west. The chance of that happening any time soon? Anyone want to wager?