Hmm..The Liberals support the Conservatives on extending the Afghan mission. The left, at least the NDP, supports a withdrawal. The Liberals time after time refuse to defeat Conservative legislation. That must mean the Conservative legislation is leftist. No it doesn't mean that, what it means is that Harper is continually spouting nonsense. The left whether in the NDP or the Bloc voted against the Conservatives constantly. Harper not parliament is dysfunctional and we should get rid of him.
Thursday » August 28 » 2008
Dion pushing Liberals left: Harper
Andrew Mayeda
Canwest News Service
Thursday, August 28, 2008
CREDIT:
'What's interesting about Mr. Dion is he's certainly the Liberal leader that has taken his party farthest to the left, at least since Mr. Trudeau, if not farther than Mr. Trudeau,' Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters here.
INUVIK, N.W.T. - In his strongest hint yet that Canada is headed for a fall election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday that Canadians will have a choice "in the not-too-distant future" between himself or Stephane Dion, who has taken his party "farthest to the left" of any Liberal leader since Pierre Trudeau.
"What's interesting about Mr. Dion is he's certainly the Liberal leader that has taken his party farthest to the left, at least since Mr. Trudeau, if not farther than Mr. Trudeau," Harper told reporters here on the last day of a tour of the Canadian Arctic.
"The fact that Mr. Dion opposes any expenditure management in any area of the government, I think indicates to us why we increasingly have little common ground in Parliament with Mr. Dion and where he is taking the Liberal Party, but more importantly indicates a direction for the country that I don't think Canadians are prepared to accept," the prime minister added.
"We anticipate that Canadians will have a choice in the not-too-distant future on exactly how they want to see this country be governed, through a period where there are economic difficulties across the board."
Arguing that Parliament has become "dysfunctional," Harper has threatened to call a snap election before a set of byelections scheduled for Sept. 8.
The prime minister has been trying to arrange meetings with the four opposition leaders to gauge their resistance to the government's agenda once Parliament returns Sept. 15.
Harper is scheduled to meet Dion on Sept. 9, but the prime minister hinted again Thursday that the meeting might not happen before the country is plunged into an election campaign.
"If I don't hear from Mr. Dion within the next week, I hope that Mr. Dion will prepare himself," the prime minister said in French.
Speaking in Montreal earlier in the day, Dion said his party is "fully ready" for a fall election, and suggested the party will build an election platform on championing arts and culture funding.
But Harper tried to frame Dion as a big spender who represents a dangerous choice for Canadians at a time of economic slowdown. The Conservatives have attacked the Liberals' proposed carbon-tax plan, deriding it as a "tax on everything."
"This is not a time to go back to Trudeau-style economic policies. It is not a time to impose new taxes on the Canadian economy, on the northern economy, on everybody's economy. And it is not a time to launch big, unfunded spending initiatives," said the prime minister.
Critics note the Harper government has brought the country perilously close to a budget deficit through a series of big tax cuts. But Harper sought to deflect some of that criticism Thursday, arguing that Canada is not yet in a "real recession."
"The term that's been thrown around is that we're close to a technical recession, but I think it is only a technical recession," said Harper. "When I say people talk about a technical recession, even if that's true, I don't think it's a real recession."
The prime minister continued: "Somebody said a recession is, you know, when people start losing their jobs and when your neighbour starts losing his job, and there are job losses, but overall, employment's pretty stable."
Statistics Canada is set to release its latest numbers on GDP growth on Friday.
Meanwhile, Harper suggested the Conservatives will continue to use the controversial "in-and-out" financing scheme that has landed the party in hot water with Elections Canada.
"Our position has been that Elections Canada has changed some of its interpretations since the election campaign - that's our problem, that's why we're in a court dispute," the prime minister said.
"But obviously we will not only abide by the letter of the law, but we will work with Elections Canada to reach a common understanding of the interpretation of the law, and that's what we will follow."
Elections Canada has alleged that the Conservatives violated Canada's election laws by claiming national advertising as local candidates' expenses, but the Conservatives have challenged the ruling in Federal Court.
© Canwest News Service 2008
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