We now know that the Reform Conservatives' attacks on the Canadian people during the parliamentary crisis, were a complete load of crap; so maybe it's now time to rethink some kind of coalition to fight this horrendous neo-conservative movement.
It is absolutely wrong for Canada, but since the Ref-Cons continue to make politics in Canada ugly, in order to bore us into giving them a majority; columnist Michael Byers has come up with a suggestion for the next election.
However, I would like to take this one step further. I think that the opposition parties, whose policies are not that different, should form a loose coalition now.
With no new confidence motions on the table, they could simply band together to make sure that none of the Ref-Con horrendous bills get passed. Now I know our government has resorted to blackmail, not that we should be surprised, but we can't let that stop us.
The opposition parties must also quit fighting each other. This is getting us nowhere. We have to take our country back, and let Harper know that Leo Strauss ideology is not welcome here.
Ironically in 2005, 62% of Canadians claimed that they would never vote for Stephen Harper, and that's exactly what happened last election. However, vote-splitting is hurting Canadians and threatening our existence as a sovereign nation.
Liberals and New Democrats together could unseat Harper: Electoral ceasefire would put nation's centre-left majority in political control
Negative ads have prejudiced voters against Michael Ignatieff, and brought Stephen Harper within reach of a majority government. The Conservatives
now lead the Liberals by about 10 percentage points. The situation seems unlikely to improve. The Prime Minister's divisive partisan tactics have diminished the public's respect for politicians in general. In just four years, he has changed the tone of media coverage and public discourse, shifting the mood of the nation toward cynicism and selfishness.Liberal infighting has not helped, while the NDP has missed two opportunities – on climate change and macroeconomic policy – to capture the national imagination with bold ideas. There is only one surefire way to prevent a Harper majority. The Liberals and NDP should agree to not run candidates against each other in the next campaign ...
Right. So you're assuming that right-leaning Liberals will vote for the NDP, and that the NDP should just forget what the Liberals did the last time they won a majority government during a time of recession.
ReplyDeleteMichael Byers is an idiot. You ought to think this through before clapping too hard.
Did you mean the Liberals cleaning up Brian Mulroney's mess after the last recession?
ReplyDeleteMr. Byers just presented an option. A life line for those of us concerned that this neo-conservative movement is destroying our country.
Margaret Thatcher claimed that there was no such thing as society. For the neo-conservative movement to succeed, they must remove the human element in the same way that Thatcher did.
But once the 'Canadian' identity has been removed from this country, what's left? I shudder to think.
Right. The mess that Pierre Trudeau left for Brian Mulroney in the first place.
ReplyDeleteCould that be the mess you're talking about?
Sheesh. You folks are so dramatic. "This neo-conservative movement is destroying our country."
Nooooo. This neo-conservative movement is destroying the ideological vision people like yourself laid out for it, and steering back from the far left and toward the centre.
The Canadian government stops funding a variety of left-wing pet projects, and you think this is the "end" of Canada? Or of Canadian identity?
Get a grip. A left-wing monopoly on political power has never been integral to the Canadian identity, nor will it ever be.
The "option" Byers presents is not realistic, nor would it ever be. What, precisely, would induce the number of right-leaning Liberals for whom their second choice is not the NDP but the Conservative party to vote for the NDP? What in this plan would convince the number of NDPers who remember the Liberal party slashing education, slashing healthcare and downloading its deficit to the provinces to vote for the Liberals, as opposed to simply staying home on election day?
It's evident that NDP voters shifting to the Liberals is crucial to Byers' plan. I know that as high-profile an NDP thinker as Jamie Heath would tell Byers to take his proposal and go fuck himself with it.
I broke my own rule to publish your comment but normally I won't when they contain profanity.
ReplyDeleteYour arguments are not unlike those presented when the right united.
What people need to remember is that this is not the traditional conservative party. Not the conservative party of Sir John A. It is brand new based on American style conservatism, as Stephen Harper has admitted several times. And yes it is absolutely wrong for Canada.
The fact that it does not recognize a Canadian identity says it all. Margaret Thatcher claimed that there was no such thing as society. That very much defines neo-conservatism.
Maybe the plan is not realistic, especially since it doesn't include the Green Party, but those in the centre and centre left have to find some way to fight back because Canada is not a right-wing country. It's that simple.
I always welcome debate and publish comments contrary to my own opinions, but only if they are respectful and without the 'f' word.
Rants allowed. They're good for the soul.
"What people need to remember is that this is not the traditional conservative party. Not the conservative party of Sir John A. It is brand new based on American style conservatism, as Stephen Harper has admitted several times. And yes it is absolutely wrong for Canada."
ReplyDeleteMore and more Canadians don't seem to think so.
Have you not been paying attention to the polls? More and more Canadians have slowly been coming around to smelling what the Conservative Party's been cooking, and they seem to think it smells better and better by the month.
There wasn't nearly as much ideological diffusion amongst Canada's conservative parties as there is within the Liberal party alone. Conservative-leaning Liberals will bail on that party in a heartbeat if they make an arrangement such as this. And that's a pretty big portion of that party.
Whereas the Conservative Party has yet to recapture the vote of small portions of Reformers and left-leaning Progressive Conservative voters -- but each seem to be returning to the party fold.
I think you're actually right to describe Canada as "not a right-wing country". But that doesn't, by extension, mean that Canada is a left-wing country.
Canada is a non-ideological construct with a deeply embedded state that has allowed various left-wing politicians to pursue their pet projects and self-interest.
But that's changing. Even Byers admits this. Why else do you think he's pushing that panic button so hard?
You're absolutely right. Canada is not a left wing country but very much in the centre. That's where my politics always laid, which is why I found my comfort zone with the Progressive Conservatives.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Stephen Harper is not a centre thinking politician. He's about as right wing as you're going to get without tipping over.
When with the NCC he bragged that his organization had all but killed universality. Canadians liked universality in terms of public education, health care, multiculturalism, etc. Our dictinct rights culture is what helps to identify us.
As to the polls, I think Harper's piano playing kicked him up a notch but the latest EKOS has him at 37, and with his latest report card from the Auditor General, mishandling of H1N1, using blackmail to the kill the gun registry that will not play well in urban Canada and the mess of infrastucture accounting; we could very well see a further dip.
When Ernest Manning was approached years ago by the corporate elite to start a new party and told money would be no object, he suggested instead that they hijack the PC's since they were already firmly established. They just had to wait for the perfect time to tap into 'white hot anger'. They found it with the NEP and his son Preston, with Harper as his lietenant, rode that anger to Ottawa and were eventaully successful in hi-jacking those PCs.
My question has always been, if Harper really thinks he knows what's best for Canada, why not lay it out there and let the people decide? Why all the secrecy? Instead he's trying to lull us into complacency beleiving he's moving to the centre, while anyone who's followed his career knows it's all smoke and mirrors.