This story if true is quite telling. It says Harper will wait until Sunday to call the election, wasting the maximum of TAXPAYER’S money so he can spend the maximum of his PARTY’S money before an election call. Will the media call him on this? Doubt it. It’s not illegal of course, but it is a gross abuse of power and definitely unethical. How can Harper go into an election saying he’ll be the steady hand for the economy when he has such reckless disregard for taxpayer’s money. Even if Harper called the election today this concern would remain. With Stephen Harper every time it is party before country – he simply can’t be trusted to have the best interests of Canadians in mind.
Then there’s the other story of some of the stronger members of his team heading for the exits. Emerson was no doubt the biggest fish in a small pond, while Hearn was the only member of the team from Newfoundland deemed cabinet worthy. So the weakest bench in generations would be even weaker if re-elected – Can Canadians really afford that in tough economic times? There will be a big contrast between the Liberal TEAM and the Conservative lack of a team in this up coming election for sure. Not to mention Stéphane Dion’s integrity and positive vision will compare favourably against Stephen Harper’s constant deception and his appalling record. . I like how we stack up.
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8 comments:
... while Hearn was the only member of the team from Newfoundland deemed cabinet worthy.
That's a bit misleading. As near as I can recall, NL has only had 1 cabinet minister at a time, under both Tory and Liberal governments.
As a NL'er-in-exile, I'm sorry to see Loyola go. But he's been involved in provincial and federal politics for > 25 years (he was elected provincially in '82, and went into the NL cabinet in '85), so I don't blame him for hanging up the blades.
But as for your larger point: if these departures are a sign of trouble for the CPC, what about the greater # of Liberals who have either already quit, or who aren't running again?
Fair point about there usually only being 1 cab mininster from Newfoundland and Labrador, but he was obviously the strongest. My point was not about what this means about Con chances, but rather that it weakens an already weak team. The Liberal departures were announced quite some time ago and in most every case there was a personal reason for it. I don't doubt Emerson and Hearn have personal reasons too, but Hearn's case especially does seem a bit ominous for Conservative chances in Newfoundland since he gave every indication with his words as recent as last week he was ready to go. Emerson who knows for sure -it could because he sees a chance of returning to cabinet dwindling, but again you can't deny this makes the Conservative team weaker.
Absolutely re: Emerson. I'd rather he stayed. But keep in mind, one person's "personal reasons" may be another's "running for the exit", regardless of whether they're Liberal or CPC (or anyone else).
It would have been interesting to see if Loyola could have held on to his seat, even if Danny W did go all "ABC" on him. I think he could have; he was always pretty popular in his own riding, federally & provincially. And remember, he won as a federal PCer in 2000, when that party wasn't exactly at its strongest, so he has awam against the tide before.
As for the federal Tories in NL generally, I have no doubt that Danny can cause them grief - he's very effective. I would say that the sitting MP who is running again (Fabian Manning, Avalon riding) is also popular in his own riding and in fact, he has some experience with being on Danny's bad side - he was booted out of the provincial PC caucus before running federally, and still won. I wouldn't be surprised if he won again.
I'm also not convinced that the G.Shift will "sell" in a province where Hibernia and Hebron are the ongoing & next big things, but I've been wrong before.
I'm lost... how is Harper 'wasting' our tax dollars exactly? For one, all parties like to waste our tax dollars, the Liberals just as much as anyone. Is it really a 'waste' to let the people vote and finally get a majority government in place that can function without the pains of a minority set up? I for one welcome the election so we can see who the people truly want to rule. This time around it looks like the economy will be the biggest issue, so with Dion putting the majority of his eggs in the Green Shit plan it could be dicey.
Designisgood:
Every day the byelections run more TAXPAYER money is wasted because Harper is determined not to let those elections happen. Every day more Harper waits until the election call between now and Sunday is more money he can spend OUTSIDE the spending cap since only he knows when the election will be so he's the only one who can plan accordingly. As I said -abuse of power, unethical and WASTEFUL. Party before country. Care to dispute how waiting till Sunday to call an election means anything different?
Danielle,
Point take, and I did not know that. That said, what government doesn't abuse their power and put their party before country? I have yet to see one? Sure you can jump on Harper, and maybe he doesnt get elected, which I doubt, but Dion gets in instead, you're telling me that things are going to be so different under this politician? As if.
Designisgood: That is where you are wrong - Stephane Dion has a record of putting his country's interests before those of his party. For instance, Paul Wells wrote about how Dion refused to campaign against Jean Charest (when he was a PC MP) because he felt that would help the Bloc win. You think Stephen Harper would ever do such a thing? Stephen Harper would much rather the Bloc hold the ridings in the Montreal area than the Liberals and that was apparent in St. Lambert.
Well Danielle, I guess if he did that one thing then he must be a real stand up guy. Have any other examples?
Don't get me wrong, I don't love Harper, I don't any of them, my problem is that they are all non-inspiring, self serving and to be trusted as far as I can toss them.
Where's the Rhino party this time around? :P
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