Harper On A Roll In Quebec ... And The Dangers Of Playing Politics

But Harper's basic game plan is essentially the same as Manning's: splinter the country to grab control of it. Therefore he is even more self-serving and destructive than Manning was. It's inconceivable that a prime minister would be setting Canada's two largest provinces against one another -- unless he saw it as a political step up toward a majority government ... voted in by a frightened, confused population. Amongst less thoughtful people, this would be the basis for civil war. Ruthless? There's the $$$ thing, where Ontario contributes $30 billion more in equalization payments than it gets back in benefits. There's the issue of cities being pauperized so that essential infrastructure is falling into disrepair, and social services aren't meeting people's needs. But for sheer ruthless political manipulation, there's nothing so crude as Harper making Ontario's premier wait 3 months for an appointment ... then allowing him only a few furtive moments (photos refused) ... before rushing to Quebec to rejoice for a whole week with Jean Charest (former leader of the 2-person Conservative Party who is now the Liberal premier of Quebec). Chantal Hebert calls him "a remarkable tactician" in the following story. Myself, I fear that Harper is a scheming, dangerous manipulator, just like Preston Manning was, and for the same old Reform Party reasons ... only worse. This guy is shameless. Or how could he have used our Canadian soldiers, sent without debate or vote into the Afghanistan death traps, used them as a stage setting for his alliance with the most hated regime in the world? I hope that George W. Bush's downward spiral hits the ground very soon ... and that Stephen Harper's nasty little dreams go down with him. - BC Mary. ******************************************************************************************* Harper on a roll in Quebec Attracting more mainstream candidates in province could mellow Conservative party's hard-right edges May 8, 2006. Toronto Star. CHANTAL HÉBERT It has to be a new era in Canada when the Prime Minister and the federalist premier of Quebec actually look happy to be together in the same room while the premier of Ontario cannot even get a photo op out of a get-acquainted session with his new federal counterpart. In stark contrast with the furtive atmosphere that presided over Stephen Harper's first meeting with Dalton McGuinty in a Toronto hotel last Thursday, the mood in the Salon Rouge of the National Assembly was positively ebullient the next day at the signing of the first Canada-Quebec agreement of the Conservative mandate. The deal, designed to fulfill Harper's election promise to give Quebec a formal role at UNESCO, was heralded as an occasion to turn the page on the tensions that marred the relationship between the two federalist governments in the recent Liberal era. The irony is that the agreement is one that Paul Martin could just as easily have signed. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1146865813638&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on May 9, 2006]

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