True blue (oops that should be 'red') Canadian Liberals

just a 'rider' to go with the topic;

all suggestions from anywhere on the planet are welcome!

i myself, would represent myself as a Libertarian Socialist (so there!), but Harper's agenda threatens to send Canada into a Bushesque tail spin in which human rights are summarily abandoned, and the tenor of the country will shift back into the 'dark ages'!

what to do, what to do???

Gosh! If you are serious in your assessment of the threat of a Harper victory, and this is not just the typical Libertarian Socialist (an oxymoron if there ever was one)hyperbole, what choice do you have but to assassinate him?

every time he opens his mouth he virtually "ass", "ass", inates himself

What can you say about a man who sends a letter to a Native Canadian group congratulating them on their liberation from Britain?

Well, I'm miffed! Where's our letter congratulating us on our liberation from Britain?

Don't worry foxfyre, if Harper gets elected, and Bush gets re-elected, he'll have his head stuck so far up Bush's ass, you'll get all the letters you want, as long as Bush approves them first.

"we" are still composing our letter to Britain liberating them from Bush.

I hate cut and paste, but this article from the Toronto Star will most likely expire and be inaccessible in a day or two:

Tory official quits over Harper's social positions


CATHERINE PORTER
CITY HALL BUREAU

The president of the Conservative Party's riding association in the heart of the city has resigned over Stephen Harper's stance on social issues.

Trinity-Spadina's Conservative association president Tamara Kronis says Harper's stance on abortion, capital punishment and hate-crime protection for gays and lesbians has "shaken beyond repair" her confidence in the party.

"Though I have been a Tory since I learned to walk, I feel that I can no longer support a Conservative Party led by Stephen Harper," Kronis wrote in her letter of resignation.

"The willingness of Stephen Harper ... and others within the Conservative Party to turn back the clock on gay rights, to reopen painful debates on abortion and capital punishment and to override Charter rights designed to protect minorities flies in the face of moderate, centrist Canadian values."

Kronis' public resignation is a blow to already weak Conservative chances in Trinity-Spadina, a downtown Toronto riding that has traditionally been a tug-of-war between Liberals and the NDP.

"It's regrettable that she's made this decision," said Conservative Party spokesperson Mike Storeshaw. "And it's disappointing she hasn't taken the time to actually read and listen to the responses Mr. Harper has given to the specific issues she has raised, because he couldn't have been more clear."

Earlier this week, Harper vowed to modify the law granting homosexuals protection from hate crimes to better protect "freedom of expression and freedom of religion." On the issue of abortion and capital punishment, he said he had no plans to alter the current laws but would allow private members to introduce bills on them in the Commons.

"What I'm worried about is a trend that will dilute minority rights over time and over time will transform Canada into place ... where people start to look at other people as the `other,'" Kronis said in an interview.

Storeshaw said Harper's stance on permitting private members' bills is no different than the Liberal party's position. As for the protection of homosexuals from hate crimes, "Mr. Harper has said there are absolutely no plans to repeal that legislation; he said it should be strengthened to ensure religious freedoms are protected. That's the position of the party."

Incidentally, Harper is full of crap, and has no intention of making good on any of these promises, IMO. He's just trying to avoid further scandal before the election.

fox; i would like to pass along the congratulations of the people of Canada to you and your compatriots, on your earning complete liberation from the 'chains of homage' to the British Empire;
a little late, perhaps, but heartfelt i assure you!

my concern here is that Harper (not sure how familiar everyone is with this) represented a second 'arch' conservative party prior to their merging with the 'Progressive' Conservative party which has been around since confederation. This (Alliance) party was highly Bushesque in their radical reactionary approach to issues, plus a heavy helping of religious interference which held little support with most Canadians many of whom came here to escape religious persecution of one kind or another.
My greatest fear is that there seems to be a political alzheimers infection spreading about caused by a spat of very poor and questionable Liberal screwups involving mismanaged money wasted on nationalist propaganda in Quebec.
While this is reprehensible, it does not justify 'selling the farm'!

Bogowo, bowing and humbly thanking you.

Honestly, with one or two exceptions, I am madly in love with you Canadians. And it's hard for me to imagine that you have a hard core conservative running for office and being taken seriously. It almost seems like an oxymoron.

But then I live near our state capital where a woman purporting to be channeling the spirit of a dead artist ran for mayor and got votes.

Well, in terms of Harper being an oxymoron, you're half right there, foxfyre.

I'll tell you what is great about Canada. As this thread, although still short, has shown, we can bash our politicians all we want and nobody gives a crap. Compare that with the ire raised by the countless number of Bush-bashing, or Bush-related threads on A2K. Yep, we are gods of fair and balanced debate.

But would you not feel a bit peeved if an American--and believe me most Americans know far less about Canada than the average Canadian knows about us--presumed to smear and bash the guy you thought really was doing a good job?

A bit more...

The sharp swing to the right that occured under both Reagan and Thatcher also occured in Canada under Progressive Conservative leader Brian Mulroney. The three were quite chummy.

Canadian voters became so outraged at the corruption, arrogance, and radical policies of Mulroney's government that they threw his party completely out of power (where it had been one of the two main parties for a couple of hundred years). The party never recovered.

A far right party developed in Canada coincident with the rise of Christian fundamentalist activism in the US. This party remained marginal largely because the large majority of Canadians found their policy positions and philosophy abhorrent. It had several incarnations.

As their press releases and strategies demonstrated, they were already well linked to the American religous right. Following strategies developed in America of gaining power at the local level, they had some success (usually temporary) in stacking hospital boards and school boards and gaining control at that level. The predictable attempts to curtail or eliminate abortion and evolution/sex ed had limited success, but some success.

Also associated with this party were a number of people who had been to the far right of the Progressive Conservative Party on matters of size/proper function of government. Mainly from the business and media communities, they held to the more extreme ends of Reagan's playbook.

About a year ago, that more radical party managed to overpower the traditional elements in the Progressive Conservative party who had resisted amalgamation of the two. Steven Harper became the leader of this new amalgamated party which dropped the term "Progressive" and became the Conservative Party.

Again, they are well linked to American groups and are attempting to use the same playbooks. For example, attempting to minimize or disquise just what they would really do when in power re social programs, for example, and what part fundamentalist religious notions are at play in underlying philosophies.

What traction they've managed to gain with the Canadian voter is a consequence of such disguised philosophies and as a consequence of everyone's tendency to think that such extremism couldn't really happen in a major canadian party.

And in Canada, as in the US, the major newspapers are controlled by a very few individuals/corporations who (like Conrad Black) figure the fundamental function of a news entity is to make money.

Not really, as you so succinctly stated, because Americans don't know anything about Canada, so why bother? If Harper gets elected with a minority vote, he will have an incredibly hard time passing a lot of law as the House of Commons will most likely be heavily biased towards the Liberals and the NDP (I think you Americans call them "Communists", but that's not really true). Maybe it's because we never started any wars that we can take a step back and actually look at our political system in a stoic way. Also, Canadian politicians often don't mind having fun poked at them. Many have participated in the antics of the politically motivated comedy show "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", just as an example.

http://www.22minutes.com/index_2.asp

Thanks blatham, I was going to get into 'The Mulroney Years' but you beat me to it.

For those in Ontario, the Mike Harris years were not a dreamland either. Thankfully, he resigned from stress. Maybe it had something to do with closing all those hospitals just before SARS hit Toronto.