As many articles including this one in the Star note the speech of John Howard and Harper supporting the sending of troops to help out Bush in Iraq are quite similar and in some places word for word the same. However the real source of the speech was the Running Dogs of Bush software company that produced speeches of this sort on demand using terms and syntax that were vetted beforehand by the Bush administration. The company is still active. Probably much of the official pap on Afghanistan by Canadian officials is produced by the same company! Some of the most well known speeches of Tony Blair were produced by the company.
The importance of this plagiarism is not that it repeats what Howard said but that it is symptomatic of Harper's wish to become a running dog of US imperialism to use old Maoist phraseology. He admires the U.S. and hates welfare state Canada and has often said as much noting that he is inspired by the US conservative movement. Here are a couple of sample quotes::
Your country [the USA], and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world."-Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.
"Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status, led by a second-world strongman appropriately suited for the task."- Stephen Harper in his article "It is time to seek a new relationship with Canada," December 12th, 2000.
For those who do not think that Harper is intent on remaking Canada it is important to be aware of these types of statement. I am surprised that the Liberals have not used them more. There are plenty of them.
Harper copied foreign policy speech, Liberals charge TheStar.com - Federal Election - Harper copied foreign policy speech, Liberals charge
Tory leader accused of lifting parts 2003 speech in favour of joining Iraq war
September 30, 2008 Bruce Campion-SmithOttawa bureau chief
OTTAWA–Stephen Harper's 2003 speech urging support for the Iraq war was copied almost word-for-word from parts of a speech that Australian Prime Minister John Howard had delivered just days earlier, Liberals charged today.
Bob Rae, the party's foreign affairs critic, played tapes of the two speeches revealing that Harper parroted Howard's own arguments why Australian troops should be dispatched into the controversial conflict.
Rae cited the incident as further proof that under the Conservatives, Canada's foreign policy has become tied to Washington.
"How does a leader in Canada's Parliament, on such a crucial issue, end up giving almost the exact same speech as any another country's leader, let alone a leader who was a key member of George W. Bush's Coalition of the Willing?" Rae told a Toronto audience today.
The Liberals say that almost half of Harper's speech to the House of Commons on March 20, 2003 was a "verbatim copy" of the speech of the speech Mr. Howard had already delivered in the Australian Parliament on Mar. 18.
"Pundits called it one of the best speeches of Mr. Harper's career. The problem is it wasn't Mr. Harper's speech; it was former Australian Prime Minister John Howard's speech," Rae said, according to a prepared text of his remarks.
"The decision on whether to commit troops to join the war on Iraq was by far the greatest test leaders across the globe faced this decade," Rae said.
"Mr. Harper couldn't find his own voice, so he borrowed someone else's," he said.
Liberal leader Stéphane Dion picked up Rae's criticisms later, saying Harper should be "expelled."
"We have a prime minister who commits plagiarism."
Dion told reporters Harper is "unable to choose his won words."
He said there were "two problems: he plagiarized, and he plagiarized the words of George W. Bush about Iraq, which shows you he simply cannot remain prime minister at this time."
But the Conservative campaign is steadfastly refusing to address the charge of plagiarism. It will not acknowledge who wrote the speech, saying that since 2003 there has been almost 100 per cent turnover in political staff in Harper's office.
A senior Conservative official speaking on background to reporters said the Liberals are "dredging up a five-year-old speech by an Opposition leader of a party that no longer exists," and the issue itself is no longer relevant to Canadian voters who are concerned about the economy.
The revelation could prove deeply embarrassing, even politically damaging for Harper, who has been boasting in this election that under the Conservatives, Canada has found its voice on the world stage.
Rae warned voters against supporting a "Republican-Conservative" government and questioned how Harper's views on foreign policy can now be trusted.
Rae also reminded voters that former prime minister Jean Chrétien refused to send Canadian soldiers to Iraq.
With files from Tonda MacCharles and The Canadian Press
No comments:
Post a Comment