by Klaus Rohrich
June 3, 2004
Is Stephen Harper ready to govern? as we head into the June 28 showdown some strange things are happening. The chatter on the talk radio stations around Toronto is getting more bizarre each day. There was a discussion that centered around the question of whether or not Stephen Harper was ready to govern. Countless callers identified themselves as Liberal voters, claiming that the only party responsible enough to successfully carry out the business of the nation is the Liberal Party.
Huh? No wonder the rest of the country hates Toronto with a purple passion. It’s the Liberals’ greatest source of strength. a lot of Canadians, myself included, complain about how for the past 50 years it’s been one steady stream of Prime Ministers from Quebec blithely running the country into the ground. Yet it’s been Toronto that’s essentially elected them. I say let’s kick Toronto out of Canada and all our problems will be solved.
Oh yes, the answer to the question of whether Stephen Harper is ready to govern is "who cares?" With what the Liberals have done to Canada for the last decade and to Ontario for the last seven months, I don’t think Stephen Harper could do any worse.
Is Paul Martin on Drugs? Given what the polls are saying about the Liberals, one wonders why Paul Martin and his campaign staff seem so sanguine on the campaign trail. Do they know something the rest of us don’t know? Could it be that the elections are rigged and the campaign is a mere sham that will culminate in a Liberal victory no matter what the voters say? It’s not too much of a stretch to think this, given that Martin cut his political teeth in Quebec and had Mo Strong as a mentor.
The other possibility is that our Prime Minister is taking a cocktail of drugs that keep him in a rosy daze. This could be the reason that little of what has come out of his mouth of late makes any sense. "Health care? Yeah, we ruined it over the last 11 years, but if you give me a chance I know I can fix it." This seems to be one of the messages making the rounds on the hustings.
Then there are the american-style negative ads attacking the Conservatives as wanting to americanize Canada. I don’t know about you, but I think a touch of americanization might be just what the doctor ordered. I think all of us would feel better with a lower tax burden and fiscal policies that won’t result in Canada becoming a third-world nation.
according to Martin and his team, if Stephen Harper and the Conservatives form the next government, they will abolish health care, give away the Great Lakes, send the remaining three soldiers in our army to Iraq and accelerate global warming. So the question stands: is Paul Martin on drugs?
Has Jack Layton Climaxed Prematurely? I’m not sure that Olivia Chow would admit this, but rumours were rife last week that maybe old Jack has peaked and is now heading for the valley, given the plethora of socialist gobbledygook he’s been ejaculating of late. True enough, the most recent polls put Jack Layton down three points from where he was two weeks ago. But that was because two weeks ago Jack hadn’t rolled out his election platform as yet. Once the voters had an opportunity to look closely at his giant-sized, blow-up social program platform, those who didn’t pack their bags and move out of Canada decided that maybe Jack was just a little too loopy for them, thank you very much.
Can Jack recover? Will his NDP do any better than the fabled alexa McDonough’s NDP? These and other pressing questions will be revealed in due course.
The Bloc-Heads are coming! I’ve always thought it curious that the Bloc Quebecois would run in a federal election. But then, not much coming out of Quebec makes much sense, does it? For instance, the Bloc’s ultimate goal is the emancipation of Quebec from the yokes of federalism. The Bloc wants no interference from the feds on anything. Just leave the money at the front door and go away. We’ll pick it up later.
as for their election platform, it has its moments. For instance, the Bloc takes credit for keeping Canadian troops out of Iraq. Does this mean that Chretien was a member of the Bloc Quebecois? The Bloc also favours the immediate implementation of the Kyoto Protocol with a massive print run of green stamps to pass out to worthies. They also would like for Ottawa to cough up more dough so that wind energy can be viably produced in Quebec. Given the number of windbags that have come from Quebec in the past half-century, I’m inclined to believe that if wind energy will succeed anywhere, it will be in Quebec.
Green with envy. The Green Party is undertaking a concerted effort to run as many candidates as possible. From the sounds of their platform, I’m sure that their back-room boys all own stock portfolios heavily laden with buggy-whip manufacturers and ox-yoke producers.
What are the Conservatives waiting for? a very important part of an election campaign is a platform. Somebody please tell Stephen Harper that he will need this in order to win. Rolling out one initiative a day while out on the hustings, seems to be a really cumbersome way to let people know what you stand for. That’s not to say that I haven’t liked what I’ve heard so far, it’s just that I think there should be more.
Harper’s idea to increase the Canadian military from its present anemic 55,000 to over 80,000 is a step in the right direction, but then what? Will they be as ill equipped as they are today, or will he commit to the necessary spending to keep those troops safe? also, I think his idea to include Parliament’s involvement in defense matters is a dud because that’s how we got here in the first place. In case he’s forgotten, John McCallum, the Minister of Defense under Jean Chretien was so out of the loop, he couldn’t remember whether the Canadians took Vimy Ridge or Vichy Ridge. His qualifications for the job of Minister of Defense were limited to a stint in the air cadets as a teenager.
Harper also wants to take $100 million out of the Gun Registry and use it to create a criminal registry. That sounds like a good idea to me. I’m really concerned that if the Liberals get re-elected, they might create a cutlery registry, lest someone use their silverware to commit a crime.
So, if the Conservatives expect to really form the next government, I think they’re going to have to work a little harder, be a little quicker and do a little more to negate the undue influence exercised by Toronto. To me they look like they still might be on Calgary time.