Harper widens leadership advantage over Ignatieff: Nanos Poll (Completed September 11th)

Let's see, how has he undermined democracy?
Easy, let's start with the fact that the Conservatives have essentially killed Access to Information, at this point it can take nearly 1 year before you get a response that is almost completely blacked out.

How about the propaganda campaign against the coalition last December. I was not particularly interested in the coalition, but through half-truths and outright lies, Harper and his neo-con propaganda machine undermined a completely legitimate democratic option. One that happens regularly in parliamentary democracies across the world. But Harper used his the ignorance of his own followers to subvert completely democratic option. It was an effective political maneuvre, but it was completely distasteful from a democratic perspective.

[updated Tue Sep 15 21:46:31 EDT 2009]

If job number one is to keep Canada together hten you do not support Firewall Alberta separatist Harper. Iganatieff is exposing Harpers seedy underbelly for all to see and has trapped Harper in a corner. He is either going to trigger an election and get destroyed in an elction or he is going to form a coalition with the separatists and the socialist idealogues.

[updated Wed Sep 16 14:27:48 EDT 2009]

diagnostician - A couple of points -
First let me say I think you have articulated Harper's views for Canada rather well but the arguement regarding federalism will never change - Harper's kind of federalism is divisive. Some parts of the country attract more wealth entirely through luck - better climate, more renewable rescources - etc., and as always these Provinces will forever be weathier - then we have Prvinces who don't have these advantages and those people will never get the same treatment or care - it simply pits one Canadian against the other. If Harper goes too far in this direction there will continue to be smaller communities that fold completely. How do you keep some kind of balance here ?
I also think that your assessment of Harper 's vision for Canada may be accurate however the Harper philosophy misses out something huge. If his desire is to make Canada work best for Canadians and he is trying to look after us from the inside out so to speak, then why on earth doesn't he realize that Canadians love their land too. Doesn't he see that we are the envy of the world with our diverse flora and fauna, and awesome landscapes - if he cares about Canada why is he destroying it ? Canada is so beautiful - we should be stewards of this land so the whole world can see how we care for the gift we have been given - living in Canada is a privaledge so what is Harper's answer to this ? Oh sure you can say he's looking out for Canadians never mind the world stage etc., etc., but for Canadians - even those of us who live in cities - love the land - why would anyone want to live here when the beauty of the land is gone ? I grant you, he may think he is doing a grand job for Canadians but his miserable record on looking after Canada the country speaks volumes. Canadians and their county are one and the same - without the land there is no Canada.

[updated Fri Sep 18 18:23:25 EDT 2009]

Hollinm - You really have drunk the Kool-Aid.

Let's talk 19993-2006. Chretien and Martin got us out of Mulroney's deficit, they then paid down the national debt to a point where the ratio of debt to GDP was the envy of the industrialized world. They also granted the largest tax cut in Canadian history in 2000. At the same time they created the best performing economy in the G8. That said they certainly should have delivered a better national housing plan and a national child care strategy between 2000 and 2006, but they were more concerned with debt re-payment.

As for crime I am am fine with longer sentences as is the Liberal Party, who have voted for these measures. My point was that this doesn't reduce crime. Stats show very few criminals re-offend once released so longer sentances won't have much of an effect on new crime. The Harper government has done nothing to address poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, mental illness or any other issue that is causes crime.

As for infrastructure I work in the municipal infrastructure world and have watched this government stop infrastructure investment since they took power since 2006. As for the stimulus fund I have seen the analysis and less than 20% of projects have started. If they would have put the money through ther gas tax last April far more projects would have been started and they would have created thousands of jobs. However, they felt photo-ops and announcements were more important.

As for police officers there is a designated fund for these positions and none of the money has been spent. In fact, there was a story in Toronto in June announcing that the first 4 officers paid for by this fund will start in York Region in January 2010. Thats's 4 officers in 4 years, what a joke.

As for childcare, that's great that you and your wife didn't need two incomes, but that is not the reality today. Quite frankly the argument for more child care spaces is an economic and productivity argument, which may be too complex for someone whose argument against childcare is " my wife and I raised our own kids, so why can't everyone else."

Lastly, what did Chretien and Martin do - erased the deficit, reduced the national debt, kept us out of Iraq, created the gas tax rebate to cities and communities, build the fastest growing and best performing economy in the world. Not bad.

[updated Wed Sep 16 12:45:05 EDT 2009]

You are out to lunch on your facts. Its all spin and Harper talking points. "Canadians love Harper " fantasies.

[updated Wed Sep 16 11:26:55 EDT 2009]

That makes Harper a terrible failure as a conservative then.

[updated Wed Sep 16 16:33:33 EDT 2009]

Stimulus packages are strange animals. They don't create jobs the moment they are announced. Given the lag between an announcement and beginning of construction (they are usually directed toward muncipal or provincial infrastructure projects) caused by putting the criteria and approval mechanisms in place, the project selection by the authority implementing it, the application and approval process, the selection process for a design consultant, the design process, the public tendering process for construction, and material procurement and contractor mobilzation times there is usually about a year between the program funding announcement and any actual construction work beginning.

Generally, by this time the economy is starting to recover in a normal cyclical manner. When the money starts to be spent, it may somewhat accelerate the recovery. Most of those employed are construction workers who have been displaced from delayed/cancelled private sector projects.

Most of the projects undertaken are needed projects in the "core infrastructure" field or what I refer to as "quality of life" project (arenas, playing fields etc.). In this particular program there appears to significant spending in secondary education facilities.

In my experience, it is not all "incremental" spending. There are always projects that would have proceeded anyway, but why spend money from your own tax base (or in the case of public water/sewer systems, a "rate-supported" revenue base) when the feds are willing to write the cheque for it.

So you do wind up with the effect of cleaning some backlog of needed projects, and this in turn will support economic growth that needs the infrastructure to operate.

But if the question is "Does this type of spending assist the economy in recovering?" my answer would be probably a little, but not much. It does, however, provide the illusion that governments are "doing something" and that does give they typical Joe on the street some degree of increased confidence.

[updated Wed Sep 16 17:48:41 EDT 2009]

Lex, so in other words you are saying Harper has abandoned his principles to stay in power - right on

[updated Fri Sep 18 18:28:33 EDT 2009]

Here's some history no one forgets from our American right wing Republican lover Harper:

He doesn't really care about unemployed he is just using them to save his skin

"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."

He predicted that the Reform and Progressive Conservative parties would ultimately merge and "[o]ne party is going to win out.... And Reform is not going to lose that contest in the long term." He called the Reform Party a "conservative Republican" organization. We all know the CPC is run by Reformers.

Harper loves America and is the real American that dislikes Canada, some patriot:

"Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it. Canadians make no connection between the fact that they are a Northern European welfare state and the fact that we have very low economic growth, a standard of living substantially lower than yours, a massive brain drain of young professionals to your country, and double the unemployment rate of the United States."

"[Y]our country [the USA], and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world."

Harper the traitor and right wing idealogue, friend of Dick Cheney.

[updated Wed Sep 16 10:13:24 EDT 2009]

Well said.

[updated Sun Sep 20 03:42:39 EDT 2009]

My comments on planning ahead actually were in reference to things we can control ie. transit, infrastructure, adaptation to climate change, health care services, etc. Governments know in many instances what should be done but are generally unwilling to take that political step, often because the voters who are notoriously short-sighted would be up in arms over costs. Even though many ot these projects will eventually HAVE to be done and the cost will be greater down the road.

As for the recession, I agree it was out of our control but I am not sure what the Harper government has done to help us through it. Increased spending on the military, which I am happy about, has not helped us in the recession, particularly since most military contracts have gone to non-Canadian companies. The Harper government scrapped the $3B contingency fund which was there to help in tough times and the fact is the government was poised to run a deficit for 2008-9 before the recession even hit.

As for the banking industry, Mr. Harper loves to talk about its overall health and he consistantly tries to create the impression that his government had something to do with it. However, the banking regulatory system has been for the most part in place for a few decades and was strengthened by Mulroney, Chretien and Martin. To my knowledge the current government has passed no meaningful banking regulations. In fact if Harper had managed to win a majority in 2006 my guess is he would have de-regulated the banks, which he talked about doing on several occassions when he was in opposition.

The mortgage crisis was primarily averted due to the existance of CMHC and their refusal to insure high risk loans, which companies like Freedie Mac and Fannie May did in the US. The fact is that when Harper took office in 2006 his government began looking for ways to sell CMHC to the private sector (likely a US firm like GE Capital), luckily due to his governments minority instability he was never able to follow through or we would have had our own mortgage crisis.

As for tax cuts the GST has had no effect on stimulating the economy. You need to spend $1000 to save $20. No one is buying things now because of their GST savings and in fact the vast majority don't even notice it, particularly considering the fact that you don't pay it on food, rent or children's clothes, which eats up the lions share of many Canadians' incomes.

All in all, the Harper government has done little or nothing to guide us through the recession other than put forth a politicized stimulus package which has utterly failed at creating jobs and what's worse has absolutely no strategic direction or goal.

[updated Fri Sep 18 16:49:39 EDT 2009]

elf....of course Libs are above the fray and never call anybody names. Right. Hypocrite.

[updated Sat Sep 19 18:40:36 EDT 2009]

RonaldODowd.....there is nothing this PM can learn from the slimy Liberal party.

You can take as much credit as you like about Layton's position but the fact is it is not Layton that you guys have to beat. It is the PM who you know is a formidable opponent.

The fact remains Canadians are watching and they see an eltitist leader and his party saying that they will vote against anything the government proposes. Canadians will accept that from Layton but they won't accept it from the party who pretends they are the official opposition. Its called irresponsibility. Iggy has handed the fate of this parliament to Layton and he will milk it for all it is worth while you guys sit on the sidelines. Its easy to criticize. Its much more difficult to oppose constructively and put forward alternatives.

So gloat about supposedly outsmarting the 4th placed party in the House but I suspect as future polls come in your gloating will turn to frowns of disbelief.

[updated Mon Sep 21 12:27:47 EDT 2009]