So the Cons are exploiting our elections laws by running an ad the week before Harper officially calls an election. The ad is false on so many levels, but honestly it’s a well done ad to be tailored to an audience that they are hoping has never actually seen Stephen Harper in action over the past 2.5 years. I guess the Cons just hope people watching this ad haven’t seen the Stephen Harper who talks about everyone being screwed and who insinuates his opponents support terrorists. But if you watch CTV they are ALREADY completely swallowing the ad’s spin, so Liberals should be careful not to dismiss this and instead fight back. So what’s wrong with this ad? Well essentially every line. But it appears the Liberal media has struck again so it’s left up to others to do the real analysis. So let’s cover each of these “ordinary Canadians”…
“Stephen Harper knows where he stands, he’s a straight up guy”
- Should we be saying that about a guy who’s broken upwards of a hundred promises from the last election, from income trusts, to accountability, to his own fixed election law? Does “knowing where you stand” and being “straight up” mean lying to Canadians to get more votes or changing where you stand based on political convenience? Or lying repeatedly in the House of Commons?
“He’s doing a good job”
- Seriously? How’s the economy these days? How’s our standing on the world stage?
“He’s the steady hand we need when the world’s economy is so uncertain”
- Even more ridiculous. They spent the cupboard bare and put us back into deficit. Meanwhile Harper has NO economic plan to put us back on track. Is that the hand we want?
“I like the fact that he’s lowered taxes for all of us”
- Except NO ONE thinks they were the right taxes to lower and the GST cuts are what put us back in deficit (yes I know we are not currently in deficit, but we were quite recently and would be again with another Harper mandate)
“I appreciate the support for our troops”
- Yes, like cancelling crucial contracts for the Navy
“Finally someone has toughened up our justice system”
- Yes because building more prisons, following the U.S. mold and putting 10 years olds in prison is the way of the future
“I’ve never been more proud to be a Canadian”
- I would be shocked to learn this guy didn’t either work for the party or was a paid actor (well maybe all of these “ordinary Canadians” are but especially this guy). But I’d love to know what makes this guy so proud – is it our “leadership” on the environment? Human rights? Foreign aid? At the last G8 Summit? Personally I’m not proud that we’ve become an international pariah.
“I like the idea that he’s a family man with young children”
- Apparently Stephane Dion can’t be trusted because he’s a family man with an older child!
“He’s in it for the right reasons”
- Yes just as Tom Flanagan says, I’m sure that’s what this girl meant.
Proud guy again: “He’s on the right track”
- If you count having no plan for the environment or the economy the right track sure.
Picture of Harper with slogan: “Stephen Harper: Strong Leadership On Your Side”
- If they were really gonna go all out his cat is missing from the picture, I think that really might have sealed the deal. More on the slogan below.
“I’ll be voting for the first time and I’ll be voting for Stephen Harper”
I hope that girl lives in Calgary Southwest or she might have some trouble doing that... Newsflash to Conservatives: we don’t have a Presidential system as much you might wish we did.
But back to the slogan “On Your Side”, how can anyone who has paid any attention (I’m looking at you media) hear that without laughing? Is he on YOUR side when his government is busy meeting with oil executives, pandering to to his base, and mocking a serious health crisis that is the ultimate result of his “leave it to the market” ideology? When his government attacks provinces, doctors and anyone else who challenges them even when all the evidence says the CONSERVATIVES are the ones that are wrong?
Stephen Harper is NOT on your side unless you are in one of his key target demographics that he is hoping gets him enough votes to eek out a majority so he can do whatever he wants. Even then Harper would surely throw any group that helped him win under the bus if what he promised them didn't fit his ideological vision. It's very telling I think that the ad features mostly men and the main woman featured just speaks of tax cuts and crime - makes the picture very clear that Harper's record on the major women's issues and advancing gender equality has been abysmal and that he doesn't even care to put on a front that he's a friend of women (as we know the rest of the ad was full of enough fabrications).
Liberals must get the message through in this election that only they want to govern for ALL Canadians and I’m sure when both the Conservative and Liberal platforms are released it will be clear who has more Canadians’ interests at heart. Stephane Dion has shown consistently that he will put his country before his party and Stephen Harper has consistently shown he will do the opposite.
So who’s really on YOUR side?
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11 comments:
I cannot believe this..Harper is not at all as he seems in the ad.... quite the opposite. The Libs should have a clip of one of his explosions in the house and use it, just to see how he really is. He is trying to get rid of the Liberal Party..who does he think he is? I think the majority of Canadians are modrate and the centre to left, politicaly.
I noticed Dion is showing up more and he is not weak as they still try to portray. He is reaaly smart and truthful.
Good troll!
Too bad you are wrong on many accounts.
1. Deficit? We are not in deficit.
2. Yes navy contracts canceled, but you missed everything else he got. (new ice breaker, new air planes, new helicopters, new tanks etc). And that money will go to the Navy, but they need to redesign, the ships they had designed were not realistic.
3. Our standing is pretty damn good. Any facts to back up your claim?
4. His own fixed election law? He hasn't even called an election yet.
5. You link to Dion's opinion for proof of our poor standing on the world stage?
Anyway, good troll, you got me to respond.
1. I said they put us into deficit – see here. I still suspect the fall fiscal update would be quite ominous, another reason Harper wants an election now.
2. The ice breaker is also less than promised and they said repeatedly those navy contracts were long overdue so now they’ll have to wait longer either because they’ve badly managed or finances or the whole contract was badly planned by this government
3. WOW, did you read ANY of the links in the post aside from the one you quote on #5?
See here , here , here, here, and here
4. Come back next week. You really think he would have released this ad otherwise? So yes another broken promise.
5. See #3
Nice try troll.
“I’ll be voting for the first time and I’ll be voting for Stephen Harper”
Remember. The Conservative Party is essentially the Stephen Harper Party. In Harper's mind, leadership matters because he doesn't trust his team. He is the captain and centre of his hockey team. He is a puck hog. Anytime one of his players has the puck, he or she must pass it to Harper.
1. Danielle, I admit, I am no accountant but you can't claim we are back in deficit based on 1 month. It is 12 months.
Where I work we have some months that the expenses are greater then revenue but at the end of the FY we still make money.
Also, see here for another take on that whole shebang. In summary, Q1 is in the black, and the surplus could be bigger then expected over the year.
2. What? Be happy that the government realized it was making a mistake and stopped itself. The Navy contracts are long overdue, but let's get it right. Let's not through good money after bad.
3. WWF meh, more interested to see the trend. Are we improving? Hard to say, the oil sands are dragging us down. Amnesty International, agree on the Taliban, disagree on the the death penalty and indigenous people. Natives should be covered under the Canadian Charter. Death penalty in democratic countries with fair trials are fair game. The fact that people on the left even argue against that is illogical based on their arguments on Iraq and Afghanistan. Third link is another lobby group, oh, and it says one of many countries trying to change the language. How many millions as Harper put into AIDs? What about Bush? How many billions as he put in? You could say that AIDs funding is his sole legacy. Even more so now that he has gotten rid of some of the more so-con restrictions. 4th link, why would Canada want to agree to something it can't meet? 5th link, but did they I don't remember and am too lazy to search. Don't forget though, a big part of the reason for this failure would be our pro-Israeli stance. A stance that started with Paul Martin.
4. I am not in favour of an election, but don't forget that the Conservatives have been running negative/attack ads for what a year? There was no election then. This could all be brinkmanship...
Most people vote for the party and it's leader not the local candidate.
Yes I know there are exceptions, and yes I know that is not how it is supposed to work.
Just some direct quotes from the Right Horrible Steven Harper himself:
"In terms of the unemployed... don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance."
- Speech to the Council for National Policy From a speech to the Council for National Policy, a conservative American lobby group, June 1997, as reported by the CBC
"Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status. National Post, Dec. 8 2000 p. A18
I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans."
- Report Newsmagazine, March 25 2002
"On the justification for the war, it wasn't related to finding any particular weapon of mass destruction. In our judgment, it was much more fundamental. It was the removing of a regime that was hostile, that clearly had the intention of constructing weapons systems. … I think, frankly, that everybody knew the post-war situation was probably going to be more difficult than the war itself. Canada remains alienated from its allies, shut out of the reconstruction process to some degree, unable to influence events. There is no upside to the position Canada took."
- Maclean’s, August, 25, 2003
"Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations."
- The Star, January 30, 2007
"Mr. Speaker, I am sure the picture of the hon. member of the NDP [Svend Robinson] is posted in much more wonderful places than just police stations."
- Hansard, October 23, 2002
"Human rights commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack on our fundamental freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society…It is in fact totalitarianism. I find this is very scary stuff."
- BC Report Newsmagazine, January 11, 1999
"It is imperative to take the initiative, to build firewalls around Alberta, to limit the extent to which an aggressive and hostile federal government can encroach upon legitimate provincial jurisdiction."
- National Post, January 24, 2001, 'Open Letter to Ralph Klein'
Stephane Dion, 20 months ago, Liberals leadership race:
'A carbon tax would be bad for the country.'
'We must get back into power as soon as possible'
'Our troops MUST get out of Afghanistan by February 2009.'
..spent the coupboard bare and put us back in deficit..
Danielle, you obviously didn't read Red Tory's blog today
The surplus will be ABOVE estimates for at least the next 2 years:
http://redtory.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/good-news-for-lucky-jim/
For Wilson:
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister
'I will not tax income trusts'
'There was no financial deal with Riddell'
'financial considerations were offered to Chuck Cadman'
'never again will a Prime Minister be able to time an election for political advantage'
'I promise electoral reform'
'I promise transparency and accountability in government'
'This government will not base its position on public opinion polls'
'Truth is very important'
Notice, those are only from the last election onwards. There are of course real whoppers if you include Harper's terms as opposition. But I think Harper's record as PM is most relevant to this election.
How is our standing on the world stage with Mr. Harper?
“Canadians soldiers are dying in Afghanistan while many NATO members are refusing to show up for the fight, says retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie says.”
It seems Mr. Harper is having a difficult time to convince our NATO allies to join Canadians on the front lines.
Would it be any different under Dion’s watch? Don’t know but it can’t be any worst
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