It was the coldest day in a decade in Ottawa on Wednesday. "A cold day in hell," some might say. And it's not necessarily about the weather.
January 23 marks seven years since Stephen Harper was first elected Prime Minister of Canada. The man once linked to the party of Reform and intolerant rednecks evolved to a French-speaking, cat-petting, ethnic-vote courting leader of a merged Conservative Party. As the PM took the opportunity to pat himself on the back in tweeting his self-assessed greatest accomplishments, perhaps the seven-year itch is the right time to recognize PM Harper's biggest blunders.
- G8/G20 financial fiasco: The billion-dollar boondoggle and the fake lake scandal that begat a youtube video "If I had a billion dollars" (Apologies to BNL). One wonders if the fake lake hath frozen over by now.
- Death of science-based evidence: the heart of the census was carved out, the environmental scientists were muffled and/or turfed, and decisions based on ideology rather than facts have permeated public policy.
- Refugee health: PM Harper froze healthcare services for refugees, despite objections of medical doctors and others who lean on logic and common sense. Even conservative Premiers have chided Harper for his lack of compassion!
- Appointing unilingual supreme court judges: Harper's faux-pas hat trick was half-acknowledged when he voted for an NDP-led resolution to require all top public servants be fluent in both official languages before applying for the job.
- Federal deficit vs. fiscal prudence: Harper took office with a budget surplus. Now the feds carry a large deficit, compounding the national debt. So much for fiscal conservatism!
- The F-35 jets: Harper said the cost would be frozen at $9B. That promise evaporated. The fuzzy math cleared up to reveal a $45B price tag. Oops!
- The persistent Y-chromosome problem: the enduring discrepancies in the handling of MPs' gaffes depending on their gender continues to baffle. Faint suspicion of wrong-doing got a female MP frozen out of caucus and turfed. Meanwhile, the latest in a long line of Teflon dons, Dean Del Maestro, remains Parliamentary Secretary while under dual investigations from Elections Canada and RCMP. Adding to that the abortion-restriction issue repeatedly brought back on the table and you have a backwards, misogynistic pattern.
Narrowing the list to just seven items proves to be a challenge, just as it must have been difficult for the PM to list just a handful of accomplishments and favourite photo ops via twitter.
Canadians know that the the Arctic freeze never lasts forever. Eventually, the cold spell yields to Spring. Perhaps the country can return to its normal temperature -- a climate that a majority of Canadians can feel comfortable with.
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7. Strong, Stable Majority Government
Majority governments are by definition strong and stable, so this talking point essentially means nothing. Do the Tories really think they'll win another majority by reminding us they already have one?
6. The NDP's Illegal Union Donations
Curious about the questionable campaign fundraising done by Tory ministers <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/tag/peter-penashue">Peter Penashue</a> and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/dean-del-mastro">Dean Del Mastro</a>? Well the Conservatives have an answer for you. The NDP is much, much worse. While the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/08/27/ndp-union-sponsorship-donations-returned-elections-canada_n_1834802.html">New Democrats did pay back nearly $350,000 in sponsorship money from unions</a> after Elections Canada found the party guilty of violating campaign finance laws, that doesn't give the Tories the right to ignore legitimate questions about their own fundraising practices. Then again, why answer questions when you can just blame the other guy?
5. Alexandre Boulerice's Separatist Past
When NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice asks the government something in question period he usually already knows the Tories' answer. 'Remember when you were a separatist?' <a href="http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2012/06/08/19854701.html">Boulerice has long since admitted he used to sympathize with separatists</a> and it's time for the Tories (we're looking at you Pierre Poilievre) to let this one go.
4. Liberals Are The Only Ones To Be Found Guilty Of Misleading Robocalls
Instead of answering questions about allegations of misleading robocalls during the 2011 election, the Tories generally pivot and remind people the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/08/24/liberal-robocall-fine-guelph-crtc_n_1827915.html">Liberals are the only party that has actually been found guilty of phone-call shenanigans</a>. While this is true, it doesn't erase the fact that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/robocalls-scandal">Elections Canada's investigation seems to have a fair bit to do with the CPC</a>. Canadians deserve to know what really happened on election day, but the Tories seem content to remind us of their rival's misdeeds. Let's hope all that ends in 2013.
3. No Money Has Been Spent On The F-35 Acquisition
No answer regarding the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/f-35">now-scuttled acquisition of the F-35</a> is complete without reminding the audience that no money has been spent on the purchase. Well, as long as you don't count <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/05/opposition-parties-hammer-conservative-government-over-f-35-press-conference-that-cost-taxpayers-47000/">all the cash spent on the flashy press conference in 2010 when Peter MacKay got to sit in the cockpit</a> right? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say plenty of money has been spent trying to replace Canada's ageing CF-18s, it's just that none of it has actually been on new planes? The Tories aren't fooling anyone here. It's time to admit mistakes were made.
2. One Of The Strongest Economies In The Developed World
Concerned about a housing bubble? Worried about Canada's shift toward a more resource-based economy? Put those fears to rest, things are much worse everywhere else. At least, that's what the Tories keep telling us. But are they really? Two problems: 1. Were the Tories responsible for the relative stability of Canada's banking system after the crash? Not so much. The <a href="http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/ban-on-bank-mergers-helped-canada-withstand-crash-imf-says/article4600686/?service=mobile">IMF has credited regulations introduced by former Liberal finance minister Paul Martin in the 1990s</a>. 2. Things are now <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/12/01/canada-us-economy-gdp_n_2220164.html">better in the U.S., at least in terms of GDP growth, than they are here</a>. The U.S.'s GDP grew nearly 5 times faster than Canada's in the third quarter of 2012. It's time for the Tories to admit that while Canada weathered the economic crisis well, the country now faces new problems that will require new solutions and not more tired talking points.
1. Job-Killing Carbon Tax
Even though the <a href="http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/09/21/a-rough-guide-to-the-conservatives-carbon-tax-farce/">NDP has never proposed a carbon tax</a>, the Tories continue to hammer this talking point home every chance they get. Got a question about the F-35? Remind them about the carbon tax. Allegations of misleading robocalls? Did we tell you about the carbon tax? The phrase has become such a predictable refrain that it has <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/11/08/conservative-ad-carbon-tax-video_n_2092524.html">inspired one of the most dangerous drinking games in Ottawa's history</a>. Let's hope this one evaporates in 2013.
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Canada has weathered the recession better than most Western Decomocracies and our Banking system is still intact. Compared to US or our friends in Europe we look like the poster boys for how to manage a governemnt during a fiscal slow down.
The opposition parties were actually pushing the governemnt to spend more on stimulus during the recession and chided the government on not doing enough, yet 5 years later try to punish the government for running a deficit. Oh ye who have short memories! Imagine what the deficit would be today if the government bowed to the opposition pressurre to spend more during the recession.
The Canada we knew is long gone.
42 frozen Canadians on the street more cut off EI every year, Social programs crumbling, retiring Boomers scrambling for jobs youth could have done. A government the people can't trust on anything at all. Attacking other Nations without reason.
Now there's something no Prime Minister has ever done before. Isn't that noteworthy as the #HarperTWATbot brags on in it's little echo chamber?
-Cutting the GST. If any tax should be cut, it's employment or corporate, not sales.
-Auto bailouts and continued federal spending on the sector. Government's job isn't to save businesses.
-billions in corporate welfare. Like the other one, it' not government's job to pick and choose businesses to give money. The only fair way is to cut corporate taxes across the board so they can keep that money and invest as they see fit.
-massive spending. The bureaucracy has increased over 50% during his tenure. Program spending is up in almost all areas. There are even too many bureaucrats relative to soldiers in DND. with soldiers being assigned as bureaucrats.
-Not cutting CBC funding, but instead increasing it while party members repeatedly call for its end, and non-partisans making the case that we don't have need for a state funded broadcaster in the 21st Century.
-not reforming the Senate into an elected body.
-Keeping that "Hidden Agenda" so hidden, people doubt its existence. How disappointing is that? Some of the things Liberals accused Harper of having in it would have been fun to see implemented. lol
I am surprised by that number.
It also shocks me that the author doesn't realise how much the civil services has grown over the last 10+ years. I guess its easier to say the government is in a deficit without understanding the root casues of that deficit; namely slow to no economic growth resulting in much lower to negative tax revenue.
His one accomplishment, appointing Kevin Page. Easy