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Supriya Dwivedi

J.D. Candidate, Policy Analyst

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Is the Harper Government More Romney Than Obama?

Posted: 10/23/2012 8:39 am
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A funny thing has been happening lately: Americans of all political stripes have been getting mighty defensive about the political discourse that has been surrounding the current American Presidential debate. As a quintessential Canadian, I understand. It is downright embarrassing to be presenting Barack Obama as a progressive, under any circumstances.

Yet, here we are, whereby Canadians are taking to Twitter and Facebook to justify the very policies that Barack Obama has endorsed. Obama has somehow managed to come across as a socialist during this election -- a man who believes in subsidizing insurance companies, who is consistently violating international and domestic law by killing people via drones, and only recently came to the epiphany that all people should be free to choose the person they marry, is being painted by the GOP as a socialist.

More alarmingly, however, is the ease in which the Conservative base in Canada has managed to sympathize with Romney. To them, Obama is indeed a "socialist," hellbent on derailing American off track.

This of course brings a very important debate to the forefront: is the Harper government much further to the right than they would like to let on? After all, it seems rather odd that Canadian Conservatives could find anything in common with the current Republican Party of today. And yet, my Twitter and Facebook feeds increasingly seem to be filled with pro-Romney Canadians.

Either Conservative Canadians don't believe in marriage equality, women's rights and health care for all, or they truly deem these issues to be "up for debate," even though no other civilized society has questioned any of these notions. Regardless, it is more than enough reason for the Canadian public to question the agenda of our Conservative government, especially considering the fact that so many of its supporters are blind Romney supporters.

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  • US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

    Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gestures beside his wife Ann following the third and final presidential debate with US President Barack Obama at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, October 22, 2012. The showdown focusing on foreign policy is being held in the crucial toss-up state of Florida just 15 days before the election and promises to be among the most watched 90 minutes of the entire 2012 campaign. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

  • US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

    Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gestures following the third and final presidential debate with US President Barack Obama at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, October 22, 2012. The showdown focusing on foreign policy is being held in the crucial toss-up state of Florida just 15 days before the election and promises to be among the most watched 90 minutes of the entire 2012 campaign. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Barack Obama, Michelle Obama,

    President Barack Obama, left, gives a thumbs-up as he is joined on stage by first lady Michelle Obama, right, at the end of the last debate against Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

  • President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney smile during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pool-Rick Wilking)

  • President Barack Obama greets members of the family of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney after the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pool-Rick Wilking)

  • Barak Obama, Michelle Obama

    President Barack Obama kisses his wife Michelle after the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

  • Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Ann Romney, Michelle Obama

    President Barack Obama, right, and first lady Michelle Obama wave as they walk off stage as Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and his wife Ann, say goodbye to the crowd before departing after the third presidential debate on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

  • President Barack Obama and First lady Michelle Obama kiss after the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pool-Michael Reynolds)

  • Mitt Romney, Barack Obama

    President Barack Obama greets members of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's family after the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

  • President Barack Obama and First lady Michelle Obama wave to the audience after the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pool-Michael Reynolds)

  • Barack Obama, Mitt Romney

    Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, and President Barack Obama, left, greet members of the audience at the end of the final debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

  • Barack Obama

    President Barack Obama shakes hands with the audience after the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pool-Win McNamee)

  • Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, right, and President Barack Obama shake hands with audience members following the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

  • President Barack Obama and Michelle wave to members of the audience following the third presidential debate with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Barack Obama, Mitt Romney,

    Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama walks past each other on stage at the end of the last debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

  • Ann Romney, Mitt Romney,

    Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, laughs as she pulls her husband away from the edge of the stage after the third presidential debate with President Barack Obama at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

  • President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney meet family members after the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pool-Michael Reynolds)

  • Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left, shakes hands with President Barack Obama following their third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

  • President Barack Obama, left, hugs his wife Michelle while Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney kisses his wife Ann following the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Barack Obama, Mitt Romney

    President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney pass each other after the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

  • President Barack Obama, right, and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney shake hands following their third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

    US President Barack Obama (R) greets Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (L) following the third and final presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, October 22, 2012. The showdown focusing on foreign policy is being held in the crucial toss-up state of Florida just 15 days before the election and promises to be among the most watched 90 minutes of the entire 2012 campaign. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left, shakes hands with President Barack Obama following their third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

  • President Barack Obama makes his closing argument during the third presidential debate with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Obama And Romney Spar In Final Debate Before Presidential Election

    BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 22: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (L) speaks during a debate with U.S. President Barack Obama as moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS (R) looks on at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. The focus for the final presidential debate before Election Day on November 6 is foreign policy. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

  • Obama And Romney Spar In Final Debate Before Presidential Election

    BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 22: U.S. President Barack Obama debates with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (not seen) at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. The focus for the final presidential debate before Election Day on November 6 is foreign policy. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

  • US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

    US President Barack Obama debates Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the third and final presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 22, 2012. The final debate before the November 6 election is focusing on foreign policy. AFP PHOTO / Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

  • US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

    Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during the third and final presidential debate with US President Barack Obama at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 22, 2012. The showdown focusing on foreign policy is being held in the critical toss-up state of Florida just 15 days before the election and promises to be among the most watched 90 minutes of the entire 2012 campaign. AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

  • President Barack Obama, right, speaks to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Mitt Romney, Barack Obama

    Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama react to moderator Bob Schieffer during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

  • Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left, and President Barack Obama laugh after being interrupted by moderator Bob Schieffer during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Obama And Romney Spar In Final Debate Before Presidential Election

    BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 22: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a debate with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. The focus for the final presidential debate before Election Day on November 6 is foreign policy. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

  • Obama And Romney Spar In Final Debate Before Presidential Election

    BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 22: U.S. President Barack Obama debates with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (not seen) at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. The focus for the final presidential debate before Election Day on November 6 is foreign policy. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

  • Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney makes a point during the third presidential debate with President Barack Obama at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • President Barack Obama speaks during the third presidential debate with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

  • President Barack Obama smiles as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pool-Rick Wilking)

  • Mitt Romney, Barack Obama

    Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama answer a question during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pool-Win McNamee)

  • President Barack Obama listens as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Pool-Rick Wilking)

  • Obama And Romney Spar In Final Debate Before Presidential Election

    BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 22: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (L) debates with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. The focus for the final presidential debate before Election Day on November 6 is foreign policy. (Photo by Rick Wilking-Pool/Getty Images)

  • Obama And Romney Spar In Final Debate Before Presidential Election

    BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 22: U.S. President Barack Obama debates with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. The focus for the final presidential debate before Election Day on November 6 is foreign policy. (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

  • Obama And Romney Spar In Final Debate Before Presidential Election

    BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 22: U.S. President Barack Obama (L) listens as moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS speaks during the debate with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. The focus for the final presidential debate before Election Day on November 6 is foreign policy. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

  • US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

    Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney debates on October 22, 2012 during the third presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. The final debate before the November 6 election is focusing on foreign policy. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

  • US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

    Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney listens during the third and final presidential debate with US President Barack Obama at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 22, 2012. The showdown focusing on foreign policy is being held in the critical toss-up state of Florida just 15 days before the election and promises to be among the most watched 90 minutes of the entire 2012 campaign. AFP PHOTO Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

  • President Barack Obama speaks during the third presidential debate with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

  • Obama And Romney Spar In Final Debate Before Presidential Election

    BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 22: U.S. President Barack Obama (R) debates with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. The focus for the final presidential debate before Election Day on November 6 is foreign policy. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

  • US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

    US President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney participate in the third and final presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 22, 2012. The final debate before the November 6 election is focusing on foreign policy. AFP PHOTO / Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

  • US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

    US President Barack Obama debates in the third and final presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 22, 2012. The final debate before the November 6 election is focusing on foreign policy. AFP PHOTO / Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

  • President Barack Obama speaks during the third presidential debate with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Obama And Romney Spar In Final Debate Before Presidential Election

    BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 22: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a debate with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. The focus for the final presidential debate before Election Day on November 6 is foreign policy. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

  • Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks during the third presidential debate with President Barack Obama at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

  • Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left, listens to President Barack Obama during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)


Tommy Douglas, the inventor of socialized medicine, was voted as "the greatest Canadian," and yet Obamacare remains a dirty word amongst Republicans and Canadian Conservatives alike. Socialized medicine, a noun, can be defined as the provision of medical care for an entire population with the use of public funds. Canada's health care delivery system is designed to ensure that all Canadians have reasonable access to medically necessary physician and hospital services, all on a prepaid basis through taxation. That is socialized medicine, or as the rest of the civilized world calls it, medicine. Obamacare, also a noun that has found its way into the American vernacular, does not fit the definition of socialized medicine. Conversely, Obamacare is a system that is based on state-sponsored capitalism.

In mandating private insurance for all Americans, President Obama has effectively tilted America's already socialist system -- uninsured individuals being covered by the mercy of the hospitals, who in turn transfer this cost onto the insurance companies, who subsequently hand off this cost to the insured, who then effectively absorb this expenditure through increased premiums -- to one where people are forced to take personal responsibility for themselves and purchase insurance.

Thus, I would ask that the public please stop referring to Obamacare as socialized medicine. It isn't. I wish it was, for America's sake, but as long as Obamacare keeps being confounded with socialism, it makes the actual delivery of socialized medicine look bad.

Additionally, I consistently fail to comprehend how Americans can deem themselves the pinnacle of democracy when the country still struggles with the concept of affording its gay community the basic civil right of being able to marry the person that they have fallen in love with.

The Romney-Ryan ticket would seek to amend the Constitution to redefine marriage as being between a man and a woman. This proposed Constitutional amendment would put America on the same footing as countries such as Latvia and Liberia. Gay marriage, or simply, marriage, has been legal for all Canadians since 2005, and oddly enough, raining toads or plagues of locusts have not befallen Canada. The denial of gay rights is the denial of human rights, and the sooner the American people in general, and the GOP in particular, begins to realize that, the better.

Moreover, as the GOP attempts at eradicating a woman's basic right for jurisdiction over her own body, with as much gusto as many of the same theocracies the GOP claims to despise, Canada looks on with dismay.

I get it. Republicans love choices (except when it's a woman choosing) and they also cherish their individual liberties (even if it means watching their uninsured neighbour die, and prohibiting same sex couples from marrying). But isn't it time the GOP get with the times and stop trying to pull the country back into an era whereby June Cleaver served as the model woman, "Chinaman" was an acceptable term, and white males wielded absolute power in politics (instead of the overwhelming majority of it).

The problem lies with the fact that the Republican Party has been moving increasingly right since the 1980s. Nobody is saying Canada is some sort of utopian country to serve as an archetypal model; Canada has many of its own failings. However, as long as Canada holds true to the notions that access to health care is a fundamental human right, the love between two women or two men is no different than the love between a man and a woman, that women should be free to exercise dominion over their own bodies, and that regulations in the financial sector does not qualify us as de facto Communists, I'll drink to that. Canadian Club, of course.

 

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A funny thing has been happening lately: Americans of all political stripes have been getting mighty defensive about the political discourse that has been surrounding the current American Presidential...
A funny thing has been happening lately: Americans of all political stripes have been getting mighty defensive about the political discourse that has been surrounding the current American Presidential...
 
 
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deebeck7765
166 Fans
02:31 PM on 10/23/2012
Badly written...all over the place...point got lost.
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markinthedark
79 Fans
03:22 PM on 10/23/2012
as usual.
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NoStress
17 Fans
01:43 PM on 10/23/2012
I think Harper would love nothing better but to have a seamless interaction between Canada and the U.S. I'll always remember that secret conference he had with Pres Obama in that out-of-the-way office the day the President came for a visit to Canada. I always thought it was a strange way to behave with an honoured guest, to lock himself up with him in private quarters.
Can't you just picture Harper on bended knee, saying "I'll do anthing - anything - just say you'll make us the 51st State"
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sordo44
87 Fans
 
12:57 PM on 10/23/2012
There is a very strong connection between the christian evangelical faction in the Republican Party and the christian evangelical faction that exerts undue influence in the Conservative Party. This connection, both philosophical & financial has been brilliantly explicated by Marci McDonald in her book THE ARMAGGEDON FACTOR. It's a chilling read for which she was attacked forthwith by the Conservative attack machine.
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max ish
15 Fans
09:38 AM on 11/02/2012
this might be up your alley http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/supriya-dwivedi/sandy-canada_b_2058185.html
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Natural Dog
I'll need another pint
104 Fans
12:33 PM on 10/23/2012
I agree with you completely in principle and on most of your points. I do think however that there is a massive gap between our Conservatives and U.S. Republicans. I think that Harper would be considered a centrist or moderate democrat by the Americans. As you already mentioned, this should be a good indication just how far right the Republican party actually is.

The fact that there are many Canadian conservatives that are pro-Romney is more a function of people choosing their "team" than actual policy issues. Many of those same Canadian conservatives would disagree with Republican policy when asked about it item by item.

I have always been shocked at the use of the term socialist to describe Obama, he is hardly that.
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quax
49 Fans
12:26 PM on 10/23/2012
When I left the US six years ago for Canada it was exactly for these Canadian values that, as your are correctly pointing out, are shared values of the rest of the civilized word. I find the encroachment of Republican insanity up here deeply worrying.
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conductor274
123 Fans
12:25 PM on 10/23/2012
Proof of Harper's extreme swing to the far right was in the last provincial election in Alberta. Harper and his one time main strategist Tom Flannigan, did everything in their power to get Danielle Smith of the Wild Rose party elected to run their province. Her party is made up largely of extremists from the tea bagger movement that mirrors the tea baggers in the Republican party in the US. They almost pulled it off too but different people in her party (including Smith herself who claimed climate change isn't real) started saying publicly what they believed and intended to do if elected. That scared even the most die hard conservatives in Alberta and Smith lost a huge lead at the last minute and lost the election.
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Djimcintosh
44 Fans
12:02 PM on 10/23/2012
The extreme right has been slowly taking over the Republican party for 30 years now, and now that they are in complete control they have convinced everyone that theirs is a legitimate point of view. I don't believe Romney believes any of the things he said in the primary, but he had to say them to get to this point. I firmly believe he will enact them all, though, whether he believes it is for the best or not. Harper actually does believe it all, having bought the hype, assuming it is a legitimate point of view. It is not, and we need to get back to the centre where it is acceptable to care just a little bit about someone other than yourself and billionaires.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Nickskitz88
Alea iacta est
58 Fans
11:56 AM on 10/23/2012
I'm sorry, no other civilized society has questioned the notions of marriage equality, women's rights and universal healthcare? So Canada wasn't civilized until 2005 when gay marriage was legaized? And America and the UK are NOT civilized? I think that's a pretty ridiculous assertion that the measure of whether a country is 'civilized' is it's stance on some of the most contentious issues of the day.
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markinthedark
79 Fans
02:01 PM on 10/23/2012
I caught that one too. Canada was an uncivilized backwater until 2005 but now we're civilized because we allowed same-sex couples to have access to an institution whose legal purpose was to treat women as property.
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islander800
69 Fans
11:25 AM on 10/23/2012
Let's face it - Harper and his ilk are literally snakes in the grass. He doesn't dare "come out" with his true beliefs and intentions because he knows that, in Canada, his closely-held extreme views just won't wash in Canada.
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David Mayes
14 Fans
 
10:38 AM on 10/23/2012
Duh! Climate change denial and all.
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Joel Racicot
257 Fans
10:34 AM on 10/23/2012
Beware the social conservative movement that is the Conservative Party of Canada. The difference between them and the Tea Party in the US is that they managed to get elected to a minority and pander to the moderate conservatives in the country long enough to convince them to give it a crack. The crack they've gotten has lead the country on a turn to the right. An example of this is the recent vote on abortion that was permitted by the PMO. Make no mistakes, in Ottawa, Stephen Harper rules with an iron fist and nothing comes from his backbench members without approval from the PMO. The "free" vote on abortion is just the opening salvo. Reductions in science funding, defacto deregulation of the environmental file, attacks on the public service, changes to OAS, etc. are just the beginning of the government's turn toward social conservatism. This is the "hidden agenda" that Harper claimed didn't exist prior to getting a majority. It's out in the open now and becoming more visible every day.
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Helgardh
42 Fans
09:44 AM on 10/23/2012
They seem similar, but I have to give some points to Harper that he seems smart enough to understand that banning abortions and birth control and same sex marriage and medicare would lose him the country, and so he actively avoids facing those issues.
I don't think Romney would be smart enough to realize that. I think (even if he were in Canada), he'd still try to get those banned.

I think they may both be as far right in their ideologies, but Harper realizes that Canada puts strict limits on how far right he's allowed to act.
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rr78
60 Fans
03:46 AM on 10/24/2012
I don't trust Harper as far as I could throw him, and that ain't far. He knows if he says he supports usurping women's rights that he's in big trouble. No, he'll do it gradually and sneakily, letting his trained seals do the work, who will come up with regressive bills, then he'll claim democracy is speaking and let the seals pass their backwards laws.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ProgressiveCDN
A Progressive Moderate
317 Fans
 
09:41 AM on 10/23/2012
Harper's a Republican. His mentor Flannigan is an actual American Republican. These guys worship Romney's party. Their entire playbook is modeled off the Republicans.
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artbbcramer
361 Fans
09:17 AM on 10/23/2012
Thanks for making the points. Well known, but appreciate. I'd join you and even buy you a round; I suspect it'd be an interesting conversation. However, Samuel Adams for me. Can't help it, a sailor learns to love Ale, and its hard to break old habits. You nailed this one!
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GrantS
I'm liberal through and through.
2282 Fans
09:14 AM on 10/23/2012
I understand the social policy similarities of Canadian and American conservatives but the rest is a yawning gap.

I take it as an indication that the republicans have too much influence on Canadian society.
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