Prime Minister Harper

[August1991]

Am I wrong?

The man once considered by many pundits and pollsters to be unelectable is firmly in control as Canada's 22nd prime minister. Whether for good or ill is in the eye of the beholder, but polls suggest roughly 40 per cent of voters approve and, in this period of minority instability, that's a unqualified Conservative success story.

Link

Forget the LiberalNDP/Left/Right/American issues. Forget the spinned political angles.

For the first time in a long time, not since Pearson, Canada has a typical Protestant English-Canadian PM whom honest French-Canadians accept.

For the first time in a long time, English-Canada can honestly but politely say what it thinks. And French Canada will listen, expecting a civilized, sympathetic reply.

Remarkable.

[Hicksey]

Am I wrong?

The man once considered by many pundits and pollsters to be unelectable is firmly in control as Canada's 22nd prime minister. Whether for good or ill is in the eye of the beholder, but polls suggest roughly 40 per cent of voters approve and, in this period of minority instability, that's a unqualified Conservative success story.

Link

Forget the LiberalNDP/Left/Right/American issues. Forget the spinned political angles.

For the first time in a long time, not since Pearson, Canada has a typical Protestant English-Canadian PM whom honest French-Canadians accept.

For the first time in a long time, English-Canada can honestly but politely say what it thinks. And French Canada will listen, expecting a civilized, sympathetic reply.

Remarkable.

And to think that if we were listen to the Liberals and NDP, we would think that we've got another hitler on our hands and that the country is about to fall apart at the seams as we speak.

I too think its remarkable. But I am also mindful that he's really yet to achieve anything noteworthy so it is as of yet too early to proclaim victory.

[Guest Warwick Green]

How can you say anything bad about a guy who develops gun registry and SSM positions that are acceptable to the bulk of the people and isolates the extremists; conducts a meaningless interview with a SCOC nominee; has selected votes in the HofC to embarrass the opposition; ignores Ontario since the denizens of Toronto will never vote CPC; negotiates a softwood lumber deal that the Liberals could have if they had had the gonies; dumps the Martin/Dryden day care policy and replaces it with Harper's Handout that has strong support; cancels a 5$ billion giveaway to aboriginals that annoyed the public and finally kills off that tired old whore, Kyoto?

And at the same time he will faced in the next election by:

a former hockey player

a failed premier

a tory turncoat who leaks info to his buddies on Bay Street

an arrogant academic.

etc, etc

[August1991]

Now, tell me that this will not play well in English-Canada, and tell me that a Liberal leader could do this the way Harper is doing it.

He is a sly man this John Howard, a conservative (tax-cutting) leader who ended his predecessor's 13-year, centre-left regime like, well, the guy who introduced him.

And to hear Howard tell it, we Canadians and Aussies are "kindred nations," virtually bred from the same bone. We are from the same founding stock. We've fought important wars together. We share the same Westminster institutions. (The same often-goofy federalism.) The only thing keeping us apart is geography.

CBC

The CBC no less!