Prime Minister Nudging Canada to the Right
- Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:09pm by
Scott Baker
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TORONTO (AP) — Back in the days when he was an out-of-office lawmaker with uncertain prospects, Stephen Harper did not need to pull his punches. His caustic verdict on Canada still is remembered 14 years later: “a welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it.”
Yet as prime minister and Conservative Party leader, he has gone on to do what many would have thought impossible: He has won two elections in a row, and despite never commanding a majority in Parliament, has managed to nudge an instinctively liberal country ever further to the right.
Now Harper looks set for a third term when Canadians go to the polls on May 2, and this time he is asking voters to give him a majority in the 308-member house; he has been loath to do that previously lest he be accused of right-wing overreach. Most polls predict he again will fall short, although one has said he will get his coveted majority this time.
Either way, thanks to luck, a fractured opposition and a sharp, strategic mind, the 51-year-old prime minister has put a distinctly more conservative face on the nation of 34 million.
He has gradually lowered sales and corporate taxes. He has forthrightly promoted the potential of Alberta’s oil sands, the world’s second largest oil reserves, despite environmental objections. He has increased spending on the military and staunchly backed Israel’s right-wing government. He has extended Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan.
The only area that has not felt his conservative touch is the social one: he has said he will not tinker with Canada’s liberal abortion and gay rights laws.
Former colleagues of Harper say his long-term goals are to kill the widely entrenched notion that the Liberals — the party of MacKenzie King, Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau — are the natural party of government in Canada, and to redefine what it means to be Canadian.
“He’s trying to dampen the idea that the Liberal Party is the party of Canada, that they invented the flag. You can be a patriotic Canadian and not be a Liberal; you can actually be a Conservative. That’s a lasting contribution, and that is a change,” says Ian Brodie, Harper’s chief of staff from 2006 to 2008.
Gerry Nicholls, who worked under Harper at a conservative think tank, says “His main goal, his obsession, is to destroy the Liberal Party.”
But he says defeating the Liberals also has meant co-opting some of their fiscal policies, expanding government and befriending Quebec nationalists, whom he impresses with his fluency in French and his regular public use of the language.
In that 1997 speech, Harper decried “the fact that we have very low economic growth, a standard of living substantially lower than yours (America’s), a massive brain drain of young professionals to your country, and double the unemployment rate of the United States.”
Things have improved greatly since then — Canada survived the global financial meltdown in relatively strong shape and has recovered almost all jobs lost during the recession, while its banking sector remains intact. Harper likes to take the credit, but here too he owes a debt to his Liberal predecessors; it was they who installed the banking regulations that did much to shield Canadians from the recession.
“The banks would have been just thrilled to do what Wall Street was doing, but the previous Liberal government wouldn’t allow them to do it and Harper takes credit for that,” says Robert Bothwell, a professor at the University of Toronto.
Harper grew up in the tony suburbs of Toronto. After high school, he dropped out of the University of Toronto and made oil-rich, highly conservative Alberta his adopted home. He worked in the mailroom of petroleum giant Imperial Oil, then got his masters in economics at the University of Calgary.
In 1991 he married Laureen Teskey, an Albertan graphic designer and motorcycle enthusiast. They have two children, Benjamin and Rachel.
Once a member of his high school’s Young Liberals Club, Harper’s politics changed as he matured. He became a founding member of the populist Reform Party, serving in parliament from 1993 to 1997, before leaving to head a free enterprise think tank.
He returned to politics to forge an alliance of old and new Tory parties to form the Conservative Party of Canada. In his first election as party leader, in 2004, he lost to the Liberals; in his second, two years later, he became prime minister, but without a majority. Harper called another election in 2008 but another minority government resulted.
Harper is accused of being a controlling micromanager, but Tom Flanagan, his former campaign manager, says tight control is essential in a minority government.
Lawrence Martin, a political columnist for The Globe and Mail newspaper and author of “Harperland: The Politics of Control,“ calls him ”the most autocratic and partisan prime minister Canada has ever had,” and believes it is the reason he cannot win a majority.
Martin accuses him of bringing “a degree of malice that you really don’t see with other prime ministers. He’s a highly skilled prime minister, but people who worked with him were just struck by his hatred for his political opponents.”
Former colleagues describe Harper as a shy policy wonk who prefers working in his office to travel, campaigning or working a room. He stirred controversy with his resort to powers that allowed him to suspend Parliament temporarily and was censured for failing to brief Parliament fully on critical financial decisions.
That and his determination to cut corporate taxes led to the motions that brought down his government and forced the current election.
In recent years he has sought to lighten up in public, singing and playing the piano at a gala at Ottawa‘s National Arts Centre and performing with a rock band at the Conservatives’ Christmas party.
Despite their political differences, Brodie says, Harper gets on better with Barack Obama than he did with George W. Bush, possibly preferring the current U.S. president‘s cerebral style to his predecessor’s backslapping Texas charm.
Bothwell, the professor, says some Canadians have warmed up to Harper but he still has a “chilly personality.” Polls have long put support for the Harper Conservatives at 35 to 40 percent.
“He’s had the luxury of a divided opposition,” Flanagan said. “Four parties are splitting up the left and center vote and he’s able to triumph from that basis.”
The Conservatives have built support in rural areas and with the “Tim Horton’s crowd” — referring to a chain of doughnut shops popular with blue-collar Canadians. They also have blitzed the country with TV attack ads, running them even during telecasts of the Academy Awards and the Super Bowl.
To last in office through the longest period of minority government in Canadian history, however, Harper has had to engage in a constant balancing act.
David Emerson, who was a Liberal government minister before defecting to Harper’s government, says his former boss has deliberately avoided sweeping policy changes that could derail his government.
Harper, he says, “has focused on issues that are bite-sized and achievable. But when you add them all up you could argue that he does have a long-term vision and we’re inexorably marching in that direction.”
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Comments (123)
grahampink
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 2:06amSeriously? Stephen Harper a member of the illuminati?
Parlimentary/republican democracy may not be perfect, but they’re a heck of a lot better then the other systems.
I agree that citizens should be more engaged in elections, but it is what it is.
“Canada could have enjoyed English government, French culture and American know-how. Instead, it wound up with English know-how, French government, and American culture.”
(Author/anthropologist J. R. Colombo)
Stephen Harper is trying to change that.
Report Post »Aunt Diana
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:42amI am glad to hear about Harper…he sounds like a much needed conservative voice of reason in an otherwise wasteland of leftwing idealists.
Report Post »I spent many a summer fishing off the coast of Nova Scotia and I watched first hand what happened to the fish population there, after the clubbing of baby harp seals had been banned. Over the years, the seals had re-populated and over populated, because they have few natural predators in that area. Fishing industry died in that area, because the seals were eating all the fish. Apparently there has also been a dwindling of cod in the waters off of New England, as well as many other varieties of fish. The images of the clubbing of the little ones are horrific, but the damage to the fisheries has to be reversed. And the people who survive off the pelts of the baby seals are needy too. It seems whenever man deliberately tampers with nature for other reasons than survival, something goes awry and worse damage follows.
Psychosis
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 2:49amhey MAPLESYRUPIDIOT
GO troll somewhere else
Report Post »superzentredi
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:38amGlenn was looking for a Churchill, I think it may be my Prime Minister Stephen Harper, look up the speech he gave a while ago in support of Israel I believe I saw it on the new zeal website. Any fellow Canadians out there we need to get a Conservative majority on May 2.
Report Post »grahampink
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 2:17amDarn Right.
Report Post »Troy DeSouza (Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca) For The Win.
Nervous Investor
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:52amHope that it happens. Actually will pray for it too.
Report Post »dinadp
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:46pmI’m hoping Harper wins on May 2nd. Any other candidate would be disastrous, especially Michael Ignatieff. I was disappointed to learn that Harper prefers Barack Hussein Obama to George W. Bush though. Eeesh.
Report Post »miles from nowhere
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:44pmCanada has been left for so long and getting nowhere, it might want to go right for awhile just to see if things improve, sure could not hurt anyworse then they are right now.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:54pmAINT THAT THE TRUTH LOL
(required lower case)
Report Post »MapleSyrupSocialist
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:58amThanks Billy Bobs/Bobettes
We’rredoing just fine
Report Post »Randyrocker
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:43pmCanada will play it safe once again and vote into power another minority government, until the Liberal Party finally elects a leader that is right for not only the party but the country as well. As it stands right now Stephen Harper although Prime Minister is a dull, lack luster leader, with an egotistical mindset that’s more concerned with his own personal interests, than that of the country. The Liberals had an opportunity to elect Ken Dryden, but they played parlor games behind closed doors and rather than elect someone who would be best for Canada as their leader, they chose Ignatieff. A major mistake if ever there was one, and because of it, they are wasting the years away losing elections that they should easily be winning while they still play political parlor games.
Report Post »I noticed Harper trying to play off of the last Olympic Games by wearing a Canada Jacket, when his whole shtick is trying to change the name of the ‘Government of Canada’ to the ‘Harper Government’ how ironic, and how phony can he get. Another thing is that Harper is selling out Canada to the elitists who like Soros are trying to create a new currency and a NEW WORLD ORDER. Harper a regular attendee of the Bilderberg crowd and one of Obama’s lap dogs, as Obama is himself also a puppet to the same Money Trust of Bankster Gangsters that are presently de-stabling the world right now, so nothing but destruction and depression can come from these political hacks. Hopefully the Liberal Party will wake up or else Canada will end up with nothing but more of the same.
Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:56pmSo you are waiting for the Canadian the next Version of a Big eared Muslim /socialist to step up and sing Kumbya with Barry Satoro down south?
Report Post »Randyrocker
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:28amOil_Robb
Report Post »You are so wrong. I can’t stand Obama, and I can’t stand Harper or Ignatieff, they all worship the same New World Order Deity. The tragedy of our time is that the leaders of the day are pathetic right down the line and it doesn‘t matter much anymore which party we’re talking about. The real tragedy is that while the United States and Canada are trying to get their houses in order, a hell of a lot of bad people are trying to wedge in exploit and destroy the system from within, ‘spooky dudes’ like George Soros and a whole lot of other troublemakers. Harper isn’t the answer, right now he‘s really become another one of Canada’s problems. The problem isn’t so much with the politicians as bad as they may be, the problem is with the unthinking uninformed people who are repeatedly voting these undeserving characters back into office over and over again. Once entrenched getting rid of them is a difficult thing to do.
Oil_Robb
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:42amRandy…when you put it that way…I agree 100% with you
Report Post »Wragie
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 3:44pmI think you have this just a bit wrong. Soro’s funds socialist or liberal concerns Not conservative. Pretty sure he hasn’t spend a dime at Fox for instance but he has for the Democrats.
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:40pmFuddle Duddle!
Report Post »edged25
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:48amfuddle duddle ..pierre trudeau and his just society . A naked marxist if ever there was one . He would have loved obama . we are still paying for this jerks policys with two official languages and his human rights causes which seem to give a lot of power to people who should never have it. I hope Mr. Harper gets his majority so we can get this country straightened out a little more .This progressive crap will take years to fix
Report Post »Nervous Investor
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:48amTrudeau was another of the products of the London School of Economics (The Fabian Socialists’ school). He and so many others of those who became “leading lights” in the former British Empire … not so much the light at the end of the tunnel but the headlight of the train coming to smash us all flat.
Report Post »GreatAmericanBeckFan
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:35pmI sure hope Canada continues to move more and more toward a conservative mindset. I sure hope they do not make any where near the mistake that we made in electing Obama. I say we but I sure did not vote for him (not in a million lifetimes) but if we continue waking up in each of our countries we can defeat this one world garbage Soros and his puppets are trying to force down our throats.
Report Post »Nervous Investor
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:25pmA good thing about Canada; the Federal Government kinda eased off getting more indebted some years ago and I don’t think that they run a Federal deficit any longer. Not saying that he Federals have no debt but that they are not growing that debt like wildfire. Part of that I think has to do with using proper accrual accounting rules rather than Cash based accounting in the Government system.
Report Post »grahampink
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:23amOur present national dept is $560 billion and counting. In world rankings, Canada is 86th in debt percentage/annual gross domestic product (34%).
Report Post »America is 36th (58.9%). (CIA’s World Factbook 2010)
We went into annual deficit spending several years ago with the $50 billion stimulus bill.
That is projected to be paid off in 5 years, Harper says 4 with program spending review and reduction.
Then we start paying down the national dept.
Nervous Investor
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:15amGrahamPink – Ooops, I wasn’t aware that Canada had gone the “Stimulus” route. Seems however that the right attitude is there viz “Pay down the debt”. If the Federal debt is only 34% of GDP, then it really is not so bad; that is a manageable load especially at today’s extra low interest rates. Apart from the Stimulus pop has the debt as a % of GDP been growing or going over the last say 20 or 30 years?
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:24pmi guess im one of the lucky ones………….i get to choose!!!!!!!!!!!!
my biological parents still live in Canada, and i have dual citizenship eni meeni mini moe to which country shall I go next week lol
Report Post »drattastic
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:19pmMaybe Canada is seeing the light.Traditional thinkers are realizing they are not alone.Thanks to new media.
Report Post »Nervous Investor
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:17pm@cognitivedissonance – nope I do not think that a single payer system is the best ….. I know what happened to relatives of mine in hospitals in Ontario in recent years – a horror show of delays, being ignored, mis-diagnoses, lying in the hospital bed in their own feces and so on and so on … the tragedy continued for several years. I also know folks who have had to wait extended periods for procedures like Bypass Operations because they did not quite match the prescribed degree of blockages that would make the treatment “necessary” … and to heck with their quality of life in the meantime. Reluctance to use more expensive drugs even when these are indicated – trying older drugs again and again whilst the patient suffers. Refusal to use some newer and expensive drugs which I suppose some panel of bureaucrats has determined are too expensive for the plan – I suppose that these are akin to the so called “death panels” that Sarah Palin has called out in the Obamacare plan. The Obamacare plan is a highway to a single payer system pretending to be otherwise in the interim; people briefing Doctors on the required changes (and what changes they are !!!!) in medical systems in the USA are making that quite plain already.
Canada does have enormous natural resources and a very small population and so is in fact able to consume more than they produce to some extent. However, Canadian employment is heavily dependent on exports to the US – if the US does not or is unable to buy these exports the unemployment north of the border will gallop away since the cost of production in Canada is high versus other industrializing countries (BRIC for example).
Lovely country however.
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:22pmlolo…thats a lie…
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:30pmTrue…the USA is Canadas life line we are an export nation.geographicaly speaking the second largest on thi planet 16% larger than the USA..we have more Oil grai lumber and iron ore and coal than we could ever use in the next 10000 years at our current population…USA loves this and thats why the USA has military bases here …its a nieghborly win win for both countries
Report Post »VanGrungy
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:33pmOil_Robb..
no, it isn’t..
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:39pmya um oil robb
im not sure what world you live in but im fully aware of both systems in both countries, and i can say without a doubt your not being completely honest
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:50pm@ VANGRUNDGY
no it isnt what?…second largest country?…Russia is the largest Canada is the second largest country in the world
Report Post »Nervous Investor
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:03am@Oil_Robb – It is not a lie. It is factual.
BTW, Ontario is the only place in the world where I have been physically assaulted on the street in an unprovoked attack … has happened twice. Another BTW, Ontario is where a cousin of mine was murdered in the underground car park of his apartment building as he arrived home one evening – he was shot (no help from gun control there) – the perps wrote a rap song about the event – they were caught by the Police yet neither of the two were convicted despite the evidence – no debate whether they were the ones at the scene – yet each pointed to the other and said “he pulled the trigger”.
I still love Canada. Like most marriages however, it just ain’t perfect.
Report Post »TheAmericanRifleman
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:15pmGood for Canada. Maby there will be a place to run to when Old Glory fails, aay. Beter sharpen up on the french
Report Post »Broncobuster
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:14pmOil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:35pm
I have 4 fire arms…true we have to take a course (2 hrs..50$) but other than that its all the same as the USA
How can it be the same ? I own an AR15 assault rifle and an FNX40 semiauto pistol and can open carry either one in my state. In Canada you can’t own either.
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:20pmTrue…we cant own automatic files (big deal) I hunt deer with a bolt action…
Report Post »Broncobuster
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:51pmYou have no second amendment rights as we do here. Your government can come and confiscate your rifle any time it sees fit. Your long gun registry is a disaster that has cost your country millions of dollars for nothing .Yes it is a big deal that you can’t own hand guns or rifles of your choosing .
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:21am@Brocobuster…..the reason we dont have your out rageous killing fields in Canada is because we dont have 40 million Blacks and 2 we have stricter gun controls….sorry to be blunt but the statistics are statistics………………..is it perfect NO…but we dont have a culture of guns up here unless you are a hunter…no one ever talks about arming themselves for saftey
Report Post »north 49
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:24amwe also cannot open carry, pistol permits are a nightmare
Report Post »and gun owners are considered extreme
Alky
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:07amIn Canada we don‘t need no stinkin’ second amendment, all criminals can carry guns!!
Report Post »pavnvet
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:30am30 years ago here in the good ole United States I never saw a reason to even own a hand gun. Today, I carry concealed (legally). Why? I kind of agree with Oil_Robb, the social and political dynamics of the United States has changed. Instead of strict sentences when someone is caught illegally using a gun or having one in their possession, unless they kill or rape someone, they are released and back on the streets within a few years to do it again. Our criminal penalties and enforcement is a joke, ergo the criminals have guns. If there was a criminal penalty of 30 years and no parole if you had a gun illegally, I bet that would deter a lot of these punks.
Report Post »CanDan
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:11pmCanadians think they have the perfect socialist capitalist country.
The only reason we can afford the generous socialist programs is because we rely on the Americans to defend us
The residential tax rate has to be 70% in Ontario, eco fees and taxes on taxes add up.
Eventually they have to quit raising taxes
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:17pm@CANDAN
Thank you for admitting that Canada “expects’ the USA to defend them (friends and relatives have told me this) .. now with OBAMA as PRESIDENT would be a GOOD TIME TO RETHINK THAT!
Report Post »grahampink
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:44pmAnd who exactly are they protecting us from now, the Mexicans? I’ve heard that line for the past 40 years, it’s getting old. Russia? To old to be of harm to anyone. The Chinese? They just buy what they want, and they have thier own problems with the one child, kill all the girls population control scheme. And don’t get me started on Aphganistan, where we’ve waisted untold billions. lost 155 brave Canadians soldiers, 2 aid workers, a diplomat and a journalist. If that’s your idea of defending us, I’ll pass.
Report Post »MapleSyrupSocialist
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:53amDude
If you think the tax rate is too higth
Piss off
You’ve never had it so good
70% Try 12%
Report Post »farmerpat42
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 4:58amThat should be a leftist campaign slogan for Canadian elections:
“Vote for socialism, it‘s the only way we’ll get Obama to like us!”
Report Post »grahampink
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:11pmIt’s good that The Blaze is checking in on our election every three weeks or so.
Report Post »Americans should know more about what goes on in the attic, we are your
largest trading partner and supplier of energy, and until you get your $%^ together and start
becoming energy independent, you Yanks want a strong, stable centre right party in
power in Ottawa (nation’s capital). That may sound counterintuitive about energy independence, but there is no fear here of losing our largest energy customer, lots of other markets in the world ie China & India.
As for the Liberal Media Industrial Complex in Canada, they are trying to make Count Ignatieff
out to be our saviour from the scary Stephen Harper. So far the narrative hasn’t stuck, but they keep trying, bless there little hearts.
sooner12
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:02pmNot to speak ill of our northern boarder brethren, but I just don’t see how a predominately socialist country can change their stripes. I wish Mr. Harper well, but I’m not optimistic of him achieving his quest. Once socialistic, you’re gone forever.
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:13pmOur schools are no different than yours.(except grades)…Its public…In the city of Calgary there are over 50 private/charter schools…its applied to your property tax (just like American) Other than Health care where we did this 60 years ago when the gov. could buy up the buildings for pennies on the dollar its all the same except the Provincial gov. is the middle man and not 5 layers of burocracy all taking a cut like in the Sates. The Provinces set the rates per proceedure and all the the doctors bill the Gov accordinly…no muss no fuss.. The gov supplies the MRI machine and instead of it costing 3000$ per scan in the states….your private doctor books a time and other than for the doctors cosultation fee there is no charge because the machine is sitting nthere
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:16pmlolol…look at all your social programs in the states …other than health care you are just as social. We have all the freedoms you do…
Report Post »CanDan
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:59pmHere in Canada my 4 year old granddaughter is $35 000.00 dollars in debt
Yes as a resident of Ontario the combined Federal and Provincial debt equal $35 000.00 dollars of debt per man woman and child
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:03pmsorry to hear that..In Alberta we have a Rainy day fund and are 30 billion dollars to the good…then again you keep voting in socia;ist gov and have all the facey programs
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:53pmThe difference is…we set limits and dont let our doctors rip people off, for example in Montana a doctor charges 16,000 to deliver a baby our doctors charge 2,000 to the gov. there are no employer cost there is no insurance middle man and we dont pay $17 dollars for a tongue depressor when you can buy a thousand of them from China for $17. doctors dont pay for hospital time they dont need big accounting staffs ect. I watched the debate last fall and Obama kept the max corporate rate at 35% our max rate is 19.5%….America is the highest taxed nation in the world because America is the most wastfull nation in the world. The falacy that we have people dieing because a lack of care is just that a falacy….however unless its an emergencey you might have to wait a week for elective surgery.
Its all good though 2 years ago our dollar was at >70 cents and now has surpassed the American dollar and sits at 1.06 and like the article says we have the second most Oil reserves in the world and unless Obama gets his act together China is willing to build a pipline to Vancouver and take it all
Report Post »Wragie
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 3:58pmActually Rob if you look around there are lots of people being denied care. Just had a friend tell me on Friday that they were being denied a heart valve replacement. So basically they were told to go home and see how long they would last with congestive heart failure. Or you have people being told they have a brain tumour and need a mri and are put on the “emergency” list and 14 months later they get the mri. (That was me btw and they tried to tell me how much of an improvement 14 months was. I can go get my dog or cat mri’d this afternoon by comparison) Six hours waiting in emergency bleeding on the floor with no one else in the waiting room waiting for the doctor to show up because they had to get someone in (no one on staff was there) Things like a elderly retired gent falling then waiting on a gurney in the hallway for 4 hours given 4 pain pills and told to go home (without examination)
And I live in a fairly large city out west. So this isn’t some place in the boonies. There they have to deal with hospital closures that force emergencies to drive for an hour or more to get help.
I agree the system is great if you are healthy or all you ever need is bandaids for your booboo but for sick people the cost cutting and hugely overworked staff is less that a bad joke. You do realize that the system consumes about 40% of the federal budget and that is is actually funded at about 20% of what it supposed to be.
Report Post »CanDan
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:52pmThey are called the Progressive Conservatives for a reason
The Conservatives are the New Liberals
The Liberals are Communists
God Help Canada
Report Post »VanGrungy
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:35pmThe National Party dropped the “Progressive”..
please stay current..
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:51pmthe national party dropped “ progressive” because it became obvious it was a bad word
kinda like it is here, next to liberal, and COMMUNIST
:)
Report Post »Polish_Sensation
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:43pmAs a proud Canadian I have to admit thet Stephen Harper is a literal GOD-Sent. Politics and this election are going to be extremely interesting in Canada, as we have a Harvard Grad, communist/socialist Liberal leader running for the PM’s office. He has already managed to cause a lot of mayhem by forming a coalition government (combigning three seperate parties: NDP,Bloque Quebecois and the Liberals), still he lost. His name is Michael Ignatieff and I hope you Americans take a lesson from PM Stephen Harper on how to handle a Harverd bred Commie like Obama.
Report Post »MapleSyrupSocialist
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:48amIn what dimension did he mange to form a colaition to do this????
New toime.
Try sucking down some maple syrup – maybe mixed with the vodka
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:39pmAnd to think I used to live close enough to walk there. But why do they invade us with so much snow? That’s one import we can do without cold snow!
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:59pmMost Canadians live with in 100 miles of the American border…we have the same winters that NY and Mich and Montana have
Report Post »Sam Brown
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:27pmYou will know it is real when they get a Second Amendment.
Sammy
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:35pmI have 4 fire arms…true we have to take a course (2 hrs..50$) but other than that its all the same as the USA
Report Post »Sam Brown
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:20amOil Rob
How many AR 15s and high cap handguns do you own. It isn’t about need but the freedom and the right.
Sammy
Report Post »expatinontariocanada
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 3:59pmOil Robb, you don’t know much about the Second Amendment then. What’s the Long Gun Registry all about? Knowing where to go to confiscate all the hunting rifles whenever the heck they want, that’s what. Sure Harper has promised to do away with the registry a couple times, and likely will once he gets a majority in Parliment. But do you really think it will ever really be destroyed? Hardly. I read last fall that if you added up all the hunters in five states (OH, MI, PA, WVA, WI), who own one or more rifles/shotguns you’d have the biggest standing army in the world (like ten million). Please forgive my faulty recollection. Long Live the Second Amendment!
Report Post »lcassavaugh
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:20pmwow – Canada is looking better to me (sorry to say…)
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:19pmAs a Canadian we have to thank the American Righ Wing…Through Avenues like Sirius 144..145…and Fox news we are standing up. True we have a mega amount of natural resources and our debt is still under a trillion dollars, but we see whats going on and we are emboldened to balance the budget.
True we have social health care but it doesnt resemble anything Obama is trying to do
Report Post »delhoghe
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:38pmROBB….what do you think of the N.A.F.T.A. provisions that allow the U.S to get first dibs on your oil even if Canadians are freezing to death in the winter ?
Report Post »cognitivedissonance
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:38pmCanada‘s healthcare system right now is more progressive by miles than Obama’s plans will ever be. Obama’s plan keeps private insurers intact with higher regulations, while Canada uses a single payer system where there are no private insurers (except for smaller expenses such as prescriptions). I live in Canada, I prefer the single payer system and I bet you do too.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:40pm“Harper’s politics changed as he matured.”
Funny how that happens .. way to go Canada ..
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:43pmNope .. I prefer a health system where my doctor and I make the decisions .. I have paid for my own health insurance for over 20 years and I have seen what happens under the Canadian system if you get a “botched operation” unless you are going to die from it (and maybe even if you are) they do NOTHING. … my aunt lived with horrible pain for years and years because the government didn’t think her operation “necessary”. (she died without EVER getting an operation that would have been no problem here) Single payer government healthcare is fine .. as long as you don’t get old or sick.
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 10:46pm5.20 a gallon for gas in cobourg ont. 1.30 a liter!
Coming to a gas station near you!
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:13pm“Canada’s 2011 commercial harp seal hunt has begun, and the government of Canada has sanctioned the slaughter of 400,000 baby seals”
Tell Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to protect, not slaughter, Canada’s beautiful wild seals.
I remember when Canadians were talking about this in the 1970′s .I can’t believe they are still doing it .. it is BRUTAL.
Report Post »REVerse
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:14pmThe days of cash paying Canadians coming to the US for premium healthcare are soon to be over.
2014 or bust
Report Post »theonefromabove
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:22pmThis is good news for Canadians.
http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos
Report Post »joseph Fawcett
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:25pmOIL_ROBB, can we borrow your PM for a few years. It sounds like the type of guy we need here. I am pleased to hear our nieghbor is don’t well and better than we are in many ways. I hope to be able to say that we are joining you after 2012, hope we can find someone to elect that is a match for the task at hand. We need a lot of new faces in DC to support the NEW President that will be elected. We the people are the ones responsible for this mess by allowing most of these jokers to be in office. I truely hope that we have a majority of God fearing people in the goverment in 2012 that will protect this nation from the on slaught of the One World System/Goverment. I pray that your Country will be spared the One World Goverment too. However, Canada with the strong Left and lib’s that have been so much a part of her history, will more than likely cave into the OWG. Stand Strong Brother!!
http://www.josephfawcettart.com western artist
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:35pm@ cat
i can understand your opinion, but the numbers of these seals are becoming unsustainable and this needs to be done
not too keen on the wack to the head myself, but to help allay your squeamishness, it is usually quick and painless ( if done right )
and they do taste yummy
Report Post »gman46
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:36pmAs a Canadian living in the U.S. I have to say I’m impressed by Harper. When I left Canada the dictator Mulroney had created the VAT Tax, GST. plus 33 other taxes not including countless tax hikes. No I never preferred the single payer system, it gives Government to much power. When my mother had Cancer the doctor literally let her die, even though they caught it early. Would have cost to much. And when I pressured them, they said they had the right to decide the medical treatment or non treatment over what the family wanted. So ya death panels. Trying to be somewhat comforting the Doc tells me, “Well how long would she have had anyways?” It’s sad truly, this is what the future holds for America if they don’t watch out.
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:45pmCATB…..so USA Kills cattle for Mcdonalds and Canada kills seals for furs and to save our fishing stock….whats the difference?
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 10, 2011 at 11:59pm@JOSEPH…I sent $300 to the Montana TEA PARTY last Sept….and Im A Canadian….Its that Important for us all to get our continent back in order
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:00amWatching Huckabee with little rockers right now! Don’t know who his band was, But please!
Please!!!!!!!!!!! Shoot Me!
I’m feeling liucky today!
Report Post »staythecourse
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:19amcognitivedissonance
You obviously DIDN’T read the health care act. The health care act is pure deception. It WILL collapse our entire health care system. There is absolutely no doubt about that. It is designed for a single payor system (and all those IRS agents will be in place to be sure you pay your new Health Care TAX …not your insurance bill). The health care act is also ALL ABOUT TOTAL CONTROL OF CHILDREN and takes the raising of children away from parents and gives them to the state (Adult formation of children clauses). AND FINALLY…. the most insidious thing about the health care act is that it is all about unlimited research in which voluntary informed consent is not any longer a protection. The most interesting thing about the health care act is that it can not be defunded because it’s funding is actually in all of the other acts that were passed since Obama got into office. The other thing about the health care act is that in planning for this takeover of health care, they knew that it would be fought tooth and nail. AND they are allowing the perception that strides can be made in overturning the health care act….while they very very very busily go about building the complete infrastructure that will be in place when the current health care system collapses.
REPEAL AND REPLACE the health care act…but do it quickly….before it is too late. Your medical information is already on its way to the feds (read your new HIPA statement…it doesn’t say what it used to say!)
Report Post »jblaze
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:30amI’m a Canadian and am happy with Harper for the most part! Extremely greatful for where Canada stands compared to most nations economically! Very proud that we stand for Israel even with the protests to the contrary! I like how he is a strong military supporter, too. Hope he get a majority this time round.
Report Post »GIDEON612
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:35am@cognitivedissonance
Annoyance is the name you may think about using instead. This person in the white house has already used the term “fat cat insurance companies.” If you you could see anything at all you would know that every industry that that phrase has been used on has or is being systematically attacked and phased out. He is all for single payer.
Here it is in a nutshell.
I make tires.
I am the only one that makes tires.
You wish to go anywhere, you buy my tires.
I don’t care about quality, safety, or you.
You don’t like my tires, don’t buy them. No one else makes them.
I charge what I want because you want tires you can only get them from me.
You don’t want them? So what, someone else will buy them.
No competition, no progress, no research, no new development, no quality, no problem.
Report Post »This is what you just said.
CatB
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:35am@OIL…
I don’t condone any BRUTAL killing .. I am not against “harvesting” it is the method they use.
Report Post »Cake
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:30amHarper isn’t bad. Of all the governments I’ve seen in Canada, his screws me the least. Although I dislike some of the liberty killing initiatives hes put through with the help of the opposition parties (oh hey, did I mention that the leader of the opposition is a close George Soros buddy?), and I definitely dislike our single source ordering of 65 F-35s for est. 16-30 billion dollars when we should be spending less on better equipment (SU-35 with westernized avionics anyone?), he is a far better alternative to the opposition parties who will bankrupt us. The opposition parties as of 2 years ago were all calling for a 700 billion dollar climate change strategy with carbon taxes and the whole works, not to mention shutting down the evil oil patch in Alberta. Half the time I think the best thing for us would be to secede with the other western provinces, creating a new national boundary at the eastern Saskatchewan border.
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:36amThe Canadians are getting good leadership for a change, I hope they don’t screw-it-up!
Freedom Jamboree…
Report Post »The Tea Party Revolution Continues…
http://www.AmericasTeaPartyNews.com
Marcobob69
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:41amAnd don’t sell all your precious metals and other precious assets to the Chinese; use them YOURSELVES!! You will be needing them in the future!
Report Post »avenger
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 2:10pmabout time ! rock on …http://the912project.com
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