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Posted by Scott Tribe on August 4, 2011, at 11:50 am |
A day or so ago, Harper came out at the Mayor of Toronto’s private picnic calling for a defeat of the Ontario Liberal government, which was published on Youtube. Some folks are a bit perturbed at Harper’s intervention into provincial politics, but it’s not like he hasn’t done it before. He issued the same call 4 years ago in a more public show of support for then PC leader John Tory, so his partisanship isn’t exactly (or shouldn’t be) surprising. I’d have been shocked if he hadn’t, quite frankly.
I’m more surprised the Youtube video was quickly taken down (still is down the last I had looked earlier this [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on July 11, 2011, at 7:43 am |
Prime Minister Harper is obviously feeling very good about himself right now. He (and Canada) hosted an immensely successful Kate and Will tour (which thankfully came a couple of months into his mandate, not immediately before an election, else he might have rode it to a bigger majority). Now, we see that he has declared the “end of Liberalism” and the claim that Canadians are turning more Conservative and that “Conservative values are Canadian values” etc, and that they needed to woo Quebec, because the honeymoon with the NDP would soon be over and of course, they’re the only party who could do that.
Some of this was probably [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on June 8, 2011, at 10:58 pm |
Harper really needs to stay away from sporting events.
Posted by Scott Tribe on May 27, 2011, at 6:56 am |
It seems a new poll is out that says Canadians are more then willing right now to re-open the Constitution to do such things as Senate reform:
After almost two decades of constitutional peace, Harris-Decima survey conducted for The Canadian Press indicates a majority is now willing to risk re-opening the constitutional can of worms to accomplish some specific goals…For instance, 61 per cent said they’re prepared to re-open the Constitution to reform or abolish the appointed Senate. And 58 per cent said they’re willing to offer constitutional amendments in a bid to finally secure Quebec’s signature on the Constitution. Fifty-eight per cent also said they’re willing to open [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on August 5, 2010, at 2:58 pm |
You think Harper might have said something with regards to the Census controversy today when he talked to his national Conservative caucus; particularly in light of his poll numbers dropping as a direct result of that (at least in the Ekos poll, if not Decima’s earlier this past week as well). Harper’s been out of the spotlight for some time after all.. so.. maybe a vigorous defence of Conservatives trying to stop tyranny, or an attack on ‘special interest groups’, or Liberals, or both?
Nope, it was all everything’s peachy in Canada!
My interpretation of Harper’s speech? This:
Harper to his caucus and to the public/media: “There’s no [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on August 2, 2010, at 5:41 pm |
We find out today that 25 million of the 30 million extra dollars that the Conservatives are spending on making the mandatory longform census a voluntary survey is actually going to be used to explain to potentially confused people how they screwed the census up because of their ideological idiocy on the census. Some of the background to that is revealed by this Canadian Press report, albeit from the Conservatives insider(s) point of view (no surprise either that the PM is solely responsible for this debacle).
The only surprise to me is how Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz managed to convince his boss that farmers should continue to suffer under [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on July 29, 2010, at 10:15 am |
Briefly, My colleague the Jurist at his blog details some more blanket condemnations of the Conservatives bone-headed/ideological move to kill the mandatory longform census, but he did miss one article that should be read – C.E.S Franks at the Globe and Mail explains why Munir Shiekh resigned, and the probable chain of events. He isn’t impressed:
The problem Mr. Sheikh faced was not the choice between voluntary survey or mandatory census, but that the minister went public with inaccurate claims about the advice he had received. Mr. Clement was selective to the point that his public claims have not accurately reflected the advice given by Statistics Canada and its [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on June 17, 2010, at 12:47 pm |
On this particular day, it’s the Economist’s editors who decide to ask the question about what Harper was thinking about when he put together the Billion Dollar Boondoggle known as the G8/G20 Meetings. Rather stern stuff here:
A loonie boondoggle: Ostentation in a time of austerity
…The prime minister has become the butt of jokes for commissioning an artificial lake, complete with mock canoes and recordings of the call of the loon, for the G20 summit’s media centre—which sits just yards from the real Lake Ontario. In Muskoka taxpayers are on the hook for a refurbished steamboat that won’t even float until the summit is over, and new outdoor [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on May 21, 2010, at 4:13 pm |
“Meeting celebrities isn’t my shtick. That was the shtick of the previous guy.” -Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007 when asked why he refused to meet Bono to discuss funding for AIDS research and prevention in Africa.
Pictorial evidence seems to contradict that statement however:
Some selective shtick.
I’m thinking the more accurate statement from Harper would have been to say: “Meeting celebrities that don’t agree with my political point of view or don’t offer the potential to increase my popularity or my electoral chances is not my shtick”.
H/T to my liberal friend D.
Posted by Scott Tribe on May 21, 2010, at 11:45 am |
There are two traits of our newest Conservative Senator, David Braley (who, by the way, owns 2 CFL teams – the Toronto Argos and the BC Lions. I still don’t get how he’s allowed to own 2 different teams in the same league – conflict of interest anyone? – but that’s another story).
The first trait, as noted by Kady O’Malley, is that he already has the Conservative trait of deny, deny, deny, even when faced with facts:
From today’s Globe and Mail:
As the Prime Minister’s Office announced Mr. Braley’s appointment, opposition Liberal researchers said he personally donated $16,500 to Mr. Harper’s 2004 leadership campaign and that his [...]
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