Stephen Harper to be Traded for a Minor Leaguer and a Snickers Bar

The Civitas Society is a secretive, ultra right wing group, founded by Tom Flanagan. One of the directors is Ian Brodie, former Harper Chief of Staff, and the membership is drawn from Canada's corporate elite, conservative and libertarian academics, think-tankers, lobbyists and journalists.

In many ways it might be considered to be the vanguard of individuals and groups that make up the infrastructure of the neoconservative movement.

Members include Brian Lee Crowley, president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, a conservative, free-market think tank in eastern Canada, and a member of the advisory Board of the Frontier Institute for Public Policy in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

In one of those 'knee bone connected to the thigh bone' things, the Frontier Institute also has connections to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the Fraser Institute through Tasha Kheiriddin, co-author of Canada’s Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution.

Harper's new speech writer, Nigel Hannaford also has ties to the Fraser, Frontier and Civitas. He is a columnist for the Calgary Herald and has always written strong social conservative rants, denying climate change and attacking the gay community.

Montreal Economic Institute president Michel Kelly-Gagnon is also a member of Civitas and Maxime Bernier was plucked from this institute to run for the Conservatives in Quebec. The group’s current president is Lorne Gunter, a columnist with the right-wing national paper, National Post, launched by media mogul Conrad Black and now owned by the Asper family, which also owns the CanWest Global media empire in Canada. (once just morally bankrupt, but now in receivership)

In May of 2006, at it's annual meeting, the Civitas invited the high-profile Republican pollster Frank Luntz, to coach the group on how to achieve a majority for Stephen Harper. The relationship between Luntz and Harper goes back a long way. They worked together with Preston Manning to achieve a landslide in 1994, for the Republicans and Newt Gingrich.

So what does any of this have to do with Stephen Harper's new found love of hockey?

Be patient, I'm getting there.

As I mentioned, Frank Luntz was invited to the meeting and the topic of discussion was Harper tricking the Canadian public into giving him his majority. Who knew at the time that he didn't need a majority to dismantle Canada after all. He could just maneuver himself into a dictatorship.

Kick the Liberals as they're down
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government should do its best over the coming year to dig up embarrassing information on the former Liberal administration and portray it as corrupt, a prominent Republican pollster counselled an influential group of Conservatives yesterday.
By The Ottawa Citizen
May 7, 2006

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government should do its best over the coming year to dig up embarrassing information on the former Liberal administration and portray it as corrupt, a prominent Republican pollster counselled an influential group of Conservatives yesterday.

Speaking a day after meeting with Mr. Harper, Frank Luntz described the Conservatives as allies of the Republicans and urged them to discredit the Liberals so thoroughly that it will be years before they make it back into power...

"... Mr. Harper dropped by unannounced Friday for the opening reception, which featured a speech by federal Treasury Board President John Baird titled "The Way Forward for Conservatives."

Among the Conservative MPs spotted at the conference were Scott Reid and Maurice Vellacott. MP Garry Breitkreuz, a vocal opponent of the gun registry, was a panelist in a session on property rights, with a speech titled "Why Property Rights Should be Constitutionally Protected in Canada."

... Introducing Mr. Luntz yesterday, former Reform party leader Preston Manning praised the work Mr. Luntz had done for him several years ago. During his speech, Mr. Luntz mentioned that he had met with Mr. Harper -- whom he referred to on a first-name basis -- Friday and had posed for a picture together.

I know, I know. Get to the HOCKEY ALREADY!

During his speech, titled "Massaging the Conservative Message for Voters," Mr. Luntz drew a communications roadmap to bring the Conservatives to a majority government -- a roadmap that Mr. Harper's government already appears to be following in several respects. Focus on accountability and tax relief, said Mr. Luntz. Images and pictures are important.

Tap into national symbols such as hockey. "If there is some way to link hockey to what you all do, I would try to do it." (Didn't I tell you!)

So with Harper on the ropes and Canadians penalizing him in the polls, he has all of a sudden become Canada's number one hockey fan.

His accountability act was a sham and his tax cuts have almost bankrupted us, so this is the only option left.

But as Susan Delacourt says for the Star:

It's not about hockey

The gender divide may be re-emerging in the Conservative-Liberal battle, as noted in a story I have in today's Star. I find it intriguing the way in which the Conservatives have chosen to respond to the Liberals' big announcements this week on child care and abortion -- by trying to turn voters' attention to... hockey.

Now you might ask, so what's the big deal. So what if Luntz is a Republican pollster?

Well it's a very big deal, because like two other Republican pollsters, who have played a huge role in the success of this party, Karl Rove and Art Finklestein, he is not above using unethical means to obtain results. You will see in the following video, how he has placed the same actor in two separate locations, to give the appearance of a broader discontent with the Democrats.



So the next time you hear Harper nattering on about hockey, remember what this is really about and give him a misconduct penalty. And you can do that by VOTING in the next election and making sure that everyone you know does the same.

She shoots, she scores!