By putting on a fuzzy pastel sweater and posing at kitchen tables, Mr. Harper has apparently convinced many Canadians and media that he is a big friendly teddy bear.
The facts:
- For two years he ran nasty ads attacking M. Dion, not questioning his ideas or integrity but just asserting that he is a "weak leader". They seem to have convinced the media, and many Canadians.
- He flouted the spirit of the rules governing MP's communications by sending at taxpayer expense millions of campaign pamphlets thinly disguised as questionnaires.
- He squandered the large surplus he inherited on useless GST cuts and an almost useless "childcare" subsidy that has done nothing to provide sufficient childcare or to make it affordable
- He has gutted regulatory agencies, opening the door to listeriosis, among other things.
- His answer to global warming, our greatest challenge, is to cut the tax on diesel fuel.
- He has silenced and hamstrung his backbenchers and even his ministers so that they no longer even have a voice
Harper has not offered anything like a positive vision for Canada. His two major promises are cutting more taxes, and putting more people in jail. The first will further starve the government so that it will be unable to provide the things Canadians expect - adequate healthcare, regulatory protection, and infrastructure. The second is an American idea that has done nothing to prevent crime.
If you want to be ruled by a megalomaniac who despises government (except for the military and prisons), and who hides his disdain for everyone outside his inner circle behind a fuzzy sweater and a saccharine crocodile smile, Mr. Harper is your man.
If you believe that good government is not a one-man police state but a collaborative venture, attempting to build a better life for everyone, if you want to have an MP who represents you - not Stephen Harper - vote strategically for whoever is most likely to defeat the Harper stooge running in your riding.
