Any Canadians out there? Or people who know about Canadian Politics?

Question

I didn't initially vote for Harper but I think he's doing a pretty good job so far....flying people home in his private plane from Lebanon, acting on the tainted blood transfers and giving some money to those who suffered and lowering our GST to 6% (6% is a start). But do you think he's playing Mr.Nice Guy because he's in a minority governemnt and basicly has to walk on egg shells or do you think if he gets in for another term he can really help our country? I called him the George Bush of the North at one point which is why I didn't vote for him but now he seems ok...but is he just fooling us?

Answer 1

While I think you are right that Harper is doing a creditable job on some issues, particularly in terms of running a competent government, there are still concerns about his compatability with the Bush Administration and its destructive policies.

Canada is quickly becoming far too closely aligned with the worst American foreign policy in living memory. Harper also caved in on Softwood Lumber very quickly and for no gain at all, undermining the efficacy of the FTA and NAFTA completely. He is also moving Canada closer to the continental security plans that Bush has been pushing, which will further emasculate the Canadian government's ability to act independently of Washington.

Further moves in this direction reduce Canada's sovereign status and diminish us in the eyes of the world. It is already hard enough to be distinguished from Americans in the minds of many.

I suggest we beware of tax cuts, also. Look at the Bush administration and their massive tax cuts which have benefitted only the wealthy and left the government deeply in debt. With Harper cutting taxes, albeit only slightly so far, and also going on a huge military spending spree, we could quickly find ourselves in fiscal trouble again. Don't forget, we still have a huge national debt, even though the deficit was eliminated years ago and large surpluses have been coming in. All it takes is for the high oil prices to drive up the Canadian dollar vs. the greenback, stifling manufacturing growth and hitting consumers in their pocketbook as they also have to pay higher energy costs and we could be back in recession and the surpluses gone.

There is a knee jerk reaction to tax cuts by even liberal minded people, i.e. that they are universally a good idea. Of course, everyone likes to pay less. But taxes are the price of civilization and you get what you pay for. You can't pay less without cutting back somewhere on expenditures. Sure, government can be wasteful, but every time a new government comes in and vows to find their cuts through efficiencies, they quickly find that there is little savings to be made this way and they have to eliminate valued programs.

In addition to the fiscal deficit, Canada has quite a social deficit in terms of a struggling health care system and a decade of neglect in social housing and a huge infrastructure deficit (roads, bridges, water mains, public transit and all those other things the cities are always complaining about). Cutting taxes will not help to address those problems.

Final thought: a Harper government with a majority will look a lot more aggressive in many of the ways that most Canadians outside of Alberta will not appreciate.

Answer 2

Harper's goal is for the Conservatives to form the government for a good long time. In order for the Conservative Party to become the "natural ruling party" of Canada, he's going to have to remain Mr. Nice Guy and show that the Conservative Party is as capable of governing as the Liberals. In addition he will have to start grooming potential successors.

That means he's unlikely to unleash any "hidden agenda" even if he wins a large majority. Pretty much what you see now is what your going to get in a second term IMHO. It seems to work. George Bush will either be retired or very much a lame duck by the time an election comes, so the whole "Harper loves Bush" thing will just end up being old news.

Answer 3

Watch how the role of force gets played out under Harper. He's no Bush for sure but his 'people' are the same as Bush. I expect Harper will try to create a military culture in Ottawa along the same lines as the millionaires / rightwingers who generally do not do heavy lifting nor get their hands dirty, the non-serving class of Republican politicians now rulling the World from Washington. Harper does not think of individuals as being unique, rather that group interests prevail and that society is based on groups competing for status. In that way he is exactly like the neo-cons who at one time 20-30 years ago were generally liberals.

Answer 4

i'm not a fan of the harper conservative government because of the alignment with the bush administration foreign policies. and lowering the hst by 1% is no biggie to me. every administration will get some things right and some things wrong but it's the fundamental views of the leader that i have issues with.

Answer 5

Harper is just the Bush of Canada, a right-wing xenophobic warmonger

Answer 6

Not to sound impolite...Canada is not as enormous of a participant because the US is. Canada simply does not deliver plenty to the desk. If the US says whatever the sector listens, whilst Canada speaks the sector thinks approximately Canada's fine surroundings. The United States is able, inclined and equipped one hundred% of the time to support the sector. Canada conveniently does now not have the assets or guy energy. Please do not get me incorrect, I love Dudley Do Right.