By arthur Weinreb
January 7, 2005
Recently, Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party wrote a letter to the editor of the National Post, lamenting the fact that Canada no longer has a national conservative newspaper. Harper’s comments made absolutely no sense in the context in which he said them. according to the Conservative Party leader, the Post was not a conservative newspaper because it criticized him for not being conservative enough. Stephen Harper seems to be possessed with the ability, somewhat unique, to make Paul Martin look good.
as nonsensical as Harper’s reasoning is it does not necessarily mean that his conclusion about the National Post not being conservative is wrong. The newspaper is not the same one that Conrad Black began back in October 1998. When the aspers and Can West took control of the Post, conservative columnist Mark Steyn wondered in amazement about the fact that he was still there. Then he was gone. Slowly but surely, the newspaper is edging closer and closer to the big "L" and small "l" mushy middle where the vast majority of Canada’s mainstream media can be found. The way the paper is going, it is not likely to become a national edition of the Victim’s Daily, otherwise known as the Toronto Star. But if the present trend continues, apart from the newspaper’s positions on Israel, the National Post will become indistinguishable from that other national newspaper, the Globe and Mail.
an example of this trend can be found in the column recently given to
ex-Liberal MP Sheila Copps. Now, the fact that a newspaper offers a liberal point of view in a column does not necessarily mean that it is not conservative. But there are many writers who are much more competent to put forward divergent views than is Copps. For the most part, Sheila’s columns are about Sheila and her glory days in the party of the asper family. Despite her apparent inability to come to grips with reality, Sheila Copps is no longer relevant. We all heard too much from her when she was in office; her column serves no useful purpose other than it give the impression that the aspers’ owe her. Does anyone really care that Copps "rediscovered a passion for sailing with [her] husband"? They probably don’t.
Despite his irrational views on the Post, Harper, if not correct about the National Post not now being conservative, is not totally off the mark. It is only a matter of time before the National Post makes the full transition away from conservatism and conservative principles.