Recent polls and by-elections suggest that Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are edging towards a majority government.  Although it is obvious the Liberals keep shooting themselves in the Foot, is this enough reason to give Harper a free hand to run Canada, given his track record? (See below)

Remember Canadians kicked the Liberals out of power in 2006 after the Sponsorship Scandal broke, because they wanted to “punish”, “teach a lesson”, “send a message” etc.  At that time, I thought it was a rash reaction, since the economy and other aspects of government were in good shape and the money involved - $100 million plus - was insignificant compared to the many billions the federal government spends annually… which accelerated under the “fiscal conservative” Harper..  It was clear to me that Harper was an ideologue, who admired not only the Bush-Cheney free market/ de-regulation/ military might policies, but the bullying and divisive tactics they employed.  Thus far, Harper has acted as I though he would and has been politically cunning, outwitting the divided, cash-strapped and inept Liberal leadership.  Here is a brief summary of Harper’s “legacy” so far.

• The Economy. This seems to be Canadians’ main priority and they trust Harper with it.  Harper inherited from the Liberals a budget surplus (like George W Bush and the Democrats) of over $13 billion and a reasonably well-regulated banking system.  Even before the economy crashed at the end of 2008, Harper, who regularly rails against “Big Government” spending and regulation, had already exhausted this surplus on his own right-wing agenda: tax cuts, the military and “pork” projects for his power base – Alberta and the rural areas. Harper denied the economic crisis late into 2008 and then did a massive U-turn in order to hold on to power. Les Whittington recently wrote in the Toronto Star, “The Conservatives, having nearly lost their hold on power in the backlash against their do-nothing mini-budget last November, threw open the spending taps…. On Jan 27 (2009)….Flaherty unveiled a hastily crafted $35 billion, 2-year stimulus package.  Flaherty’s largesse brought down the curtain on Canada’s long-entrenched fiscal prudence and ushered in an era of cash shortfalls that will run up the national debt”.  Remember the threat of an anti-Tory alliance a year ago had Harper begging the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until Jan. 27, 2009, immediately after Obama’s inauguration?  He knew Obama was proposing a stimulus package and was buying time in order to get on board and cover himself with his own package thereby putting Canadians further in debt.  Not very fiscally conservative!
• The Environment.  Not so long ago, Canadians made the environment (including global warming) a high priority and were admired worldwide for their efforts. Harper tied his environmental policies to Bush’s and Canada became a major foot-dragger along with the USA. Even though Canadians think Harper projects “leadership” qualities, he is increasingly tying Canadian policies in many areas to those of America.  In supporting the Alberta oil sands, he is at once catering to America’s insatiable appetite for oil and at the same time favouring Alberta. Al Gore, recently in Toronto, warned, “Gas from the tar sands gives a (hybrid) Prius the same carbon footprint as a Hummer… a lot of money is at stake, but a lot of lives and the future of human civilization are also at stake”.
• Standing up for Justice.  As with the environment, Canada’s reputation for fairness and justice under Harper has taken a dive. He has refused to help Canadian citizens who have fallen foul of America’s security and military organizations, including those who have been tortured directly or “rendered” for torture.  Recently, widespread accusations have surfaced that his government ignored reports that the Canadian military in Afghanistan turned over prisoners to Afghan authorities despite reports of widespread torture. The Harper government reaction? Attack the whistleblower!… which in this case is the highly respected diplomat, Richard Colvin, supported by colleagues in the international community and  organizations like Amnesty and the Red Cross. Maybe the Tories were just emulating the Bush administration which “outed” (blew her cover) CIA agent, Valerie Plame, the wife of diplomat Joe Wilson, who contradicted Bush’s claim that Iraq was getting nuclear material from Africa.  This was before the Iraq war started. It turns out Wilson was right.
• Government and Democracy.  Harper has set out to deliberately weaken the Federal government (“Big Government”) by spending its surplus, cutting taxes, de-regulating and giving the provinces more power.  He is weakening the democratic process (not necessarily deliberately) by polarizing politics and taking more power into the PMO’s office, making it almost Presidential. Think of how forceful and partisan Harper has been, even with a minority government!  His government’s tactics are echoes of Bush-Cheney – attack ads, controlling what his ministers say (akin to Bush’s “talking points”, punishing his “enemies”, and becoming more secretive, despite his calls for “transparency” while in opposition.   As in the USA, these bully tactics are working for the right wing….but at a huge eventual cost to us all in terms of our Quality of Life.

PS Regarding deliberately weakening the government, See Star article Nov 30,2009 entitled "Big-spender Harper true to his neoconservative roots". Also forgot to mention above, Harper, having demonized China these past few years over human rights and torture, has belatedly recognized that China's economy will overtake the USA's soon..and is now sheepishly going off to China to beg for trade scraps.