Harper government shortens and streamlines environmental review process

The Harper government has reduced the number of departments dealing with environmental reviews from 40 to 3. Joe Oliver the Natural Resources Minister claims this will speed up approval of projects that will boost the economy.

In the budget passed on March 29th plans were announced to speed up a "duplicative, cumbersome and uncertain" process projects faced. The government will now move to what it calls a one project one review system. If a provincial review meets the requirement of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act then this review would suffice.

Companies will be pleased as they have been complaining for years about the review process. Some projects take many years for approval.

Opposition MPs and environmental groups said that what Harper called streamlining was in effect gutting the review process. However Oliver said the streamlined process is critical to creating jobs and economic growth. While these are laudable aims it should not be at the expense of the environment and of future generations who must live with the consequences. For much more see this CBC article,.

Tories and Liberals even in CP Harris Decima poll.

Ignatieff is not likely to try and force an election now. He will act just as Dion did and prop up the Harper government unless he can be assured that an opposition party will help out Harper. The slim lead that Ignatieff had after people were angry at Harper for proroguing parliament has evaporated. However, the Olympics does not seem to have done much to boost Harper's ratings. No party seems to be gaining any real traction. We will now be treated to a lot of political posturing about the budget. Of course perhaps Harper will try something stupid again and provoke the opposition into forcing an election!

Political deadlock continues as Tories-Liberals both stalled: poll

By: John Ward, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA, Ont. - The return of Parliament on Wednesday offers a series of confidence votes, but new polling data suggests that neither the Tories nor the Liberals would want to hazard a quick trip to the voting booths.

The two-week survey of political support conducted Feb. 18-28 by The Canadian Press Harris-Decima suggests the Tories and Liberals are dead even at 31 per cent.

The NDP had support from 16 per cent of respondents, the Greens had 12 and the Bloc Quebecois was at eight.

A brief spike in Liberal support, widely attributed to anger over Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament, seems to have evaporated.

The Conservatives haven't been able to cash in on their deft handling of the Haiti earthquake crisis or public euphoria over the Olympics.

"For all the hyperventilating about leads and declines, it appears that the so-called 'new normal' in Canadian politics is a statistical tie between the two main parties," said pollster Allan Gregg.

"Neither one has been able to capture the federalist vote in Quebec; the Conservatives continue to be locked out of the major metropolitan centres, while the same can be said for the Liberals in the Prairies and in most parts of rural Canada."

What about a spring election?

"There's absolutely no reason to have an election in this kind of 'new normal'," Gregg said. "None at all. Zero."

In his years of watching national politics, he said he's never seen a situation where the status quo equals deadlock.

He said only British Columbia remains a competitive region, with the Tories, Liberals and New Democrats essentially deadlocked there.

"Since 2005 there has been really very, very, little change," Gregg said.

Tories and Liberals both have pockets of solid support and solid resistance.

Ignatieff seems unable to find traction as a prime minister in waiting.

Harper seems to have gained little from the Olympic excitement. The tail end of the polling was done through the final days of the Games, when Canada was racking up its record haul of gold medals.

"I think what it is, is that the doubts about both the alternatives outweigh any kind of momentary enthusiasm that voters may have for either of their performances or personalities," said Gregg.

The stalemate will be in the political calculations as Parliament considers the throne speech, which comes Wednesday, and the budget a day later.

Gregg says he sees little chance of a major change soon. Ignatieff hasn't found a way to grab the public. And Harper has been around long enough that people's opinions of him have solidified for good or bad.

"How likely is it that there's going to be some kind of wholesale reassessment of the option he presents?"

The poll contacted 2,035 people as part of an omnibus telephone survey and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times in 20.

Obama owes Harper a case of beer!

I wonder if Obama will autograph the labels? If he does Harper could auction them on eBay and help pay the debt for the Vancouver games! This is from politico.

Obama, Harper make friendly wager
By: Amie Parnes
February 28, 2010 03:36 PM EST

It seems that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs isn't the only one wagering these days.

President Barack Obama has a friendly bet over the U.S.-Canada men's hockey game, too.

If the U.S. wins the hockey match, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will purchase a case of Yuengling for Obama, said White House assistant press secretary Nick Shapiro.

If Canada wins the game, Obama will purchase a case of Molson Canadian for Harper, Shapiro said.

Meanwhile in Vancouver, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano met with Harper Sunday morning before motorcading to the men's hockey game together, an aide said. Napolitano is decked out in Team USA gear.


© 2010 Capitol News Company, LLC

Walkom: A whiff of danger for Harper.

Somehow I am sceptical about the supposed danger that Harper faces if he does nothing--which is exactly what I expect him to do. While legal theorists and human rights activists are rightly concerned about human rights the government's violation of them in Khadr's case, Khadr is quite unpopular and human rights apparently are only for those not accused of being terrorists. One only needs to look at the case Obama who is arguably a bit more progressive than Harper and certainly knows more about law. The Obama administration is content to hold 47 Guantanamo suspects indefinitely without trial. So much for habeas corpus. Why have a Star Chamber court when you just imprison people and throw away with the key with no trial at all. Where is the outrage at this? Compared to this Harper's transgressions are hardly newsworthy.


This is from the Star.

Back to Walkom: A whiff of danger for Stephen Harper
Walkom: A whiff of danger for Stephen Harper
January 30, 2010

Thomas Walkom


With its deftly worded decision in the Omar Khadr case, the Supreme Court has put Stephen Harper's government on notice that no, it cannot simply abandon the Canadian citizen now imprisoned as an alleged war criminal at Guantanamo Bay.

It has also put its considerable moral weight on the side of those who have argued that the youthful Canadian, captured in Afghanistan when he was 15, has been shabbily treated by successive Liberal and Conservative governments.

In their judgment, the nine justices of the nation's top court unanimously ruled that Canada's participation in illegal and coercive interrogations at the U.S. prison camp on Cuba clearly continue to violate Khadr's constitutional rights.

They said that as a result, the 23-year-old Toronto-born man deserves justice.

In what was a partial success for the government, the court declined to say what form this justice should take.

It said it didn't have enough information, particularly about diplomatic negotiations between Canada and the U.S., to uphold a lower court ruling ordering Ottawa to press the Americans for Khadr's repatriation.

And it said it didn't know if such a request would even accomplish anything.

But the judges did make it clear that they expect the federal government to do something.

"We ... leave it to the government to decide how best to respond to this judgment in light of current information, its responsibility for foreign affairs and in conformity with the Charter (of Rights and Freedoms)," the court said.

For the Conservative government, Friday's ruling is a most hollow victory.

It had gone to court arguing that government alone has the right to conduct foreign affairs and that the courts should butt out.

In their ruling yesterday, the judges explicitly rejected this claim. They said that all government actions – including those in the field of foreign policy – must conform to the Constitution and that judges have the right to intervene and order changes when this condition is not met.

However, they also said that the courts should exercise this right cautiously since judges don't usually know all of the intricacies of foreign affairs.

What Friday's ruling will do for Khadr is uncertain. While indicating that the government should do something for the imprisoned Canadian, the court did not demand anything specific.

For Harper, however, the ruling carries a whiff of political danger.

True, Omar Khadr is not universally popular in Canada. He is accused of fighting on the side of the Taliban in Afghanistan and of killing a U.S. soldier during a battle there.

But Harper is not universally popular either. More to the point, his casual indifference toward Khadr seems to mirror his government's attitude to other Canadian citizens who have found themselves in trouble abroad.

The great irony is that the worst abuses cited in yesterday's court decision – such as Khadr's subjection to sleep deprivation – occurred when the Liberals were in office. But it is Conservative Harper who has chosen to be the standard-bearer for those who misused Khadr during his seven years at Guantanamo Bay.

And it is Harper who argues that the U.S. military commission system – regardless of its gaping legal flaws – should be allowed to run its course.

Now that the top court has weighed in, that I-don't-give-a-damn position may no longer be as politically astute as it once was.



Thomas Walkom's column appears Wednesday and Saturday.

NDP slams parliament suspension..

While Harper may in part be trying to avoid criticism what is probably more important is to pack the Senate and get rid of parliamentary committees that bothered Harper. Harper considers parliament and parliamentary processes as some sort of barrier to be overcome or disbanded when he does not like what they are doing. Here is the champion of a party that wanted a triple E senate now packing it just as those terrible Liberals would do if they got a chance. So much for change and accountability.


NDP slams Parliament suspension
Posted By BRENDAN WEDLEY AND ANDREA HOUSTON, EXAMINER STAFF WRITERS


Two prominent local NDP members slammed the Conservative government for suspending Parliament until March 3.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is trying to avoid criticism from the elected members of Parliament on not properly handling prisoners and violating the Geneva Convention, NDP riding association president Norm Slater said.

"When Jean Chretien prorogued Parliament in order to avoid criticism of the sponsorship scandal, Stephen Harper was the first one to criticize him," Slater said. "He's doing the same thing Jean Chretien did. I think the word hypocrisy comes to my mind."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government announced on Wednesday that Parliament would be shut down until March 3, with a budget presented the following day.

Parliament was originally scheduled to return on Jan. 25.

Proroguing Parliament allows the government to focus on the Vancouver Olympic Games, to fill the five vacant Senate seats to give the Conservatives a majority on Senate committees, and to disband Parliamentary committees, Peterborough Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro has said.

"We will effectively take a majority position in the senate in the coming weeks which will allow us to take... bills that have been blocked by the Liberal senators," he said.

Del Mastro said the proroguing of Parliament has nothing to do with the Afghan detainee issue.

MPs are elected to work, not to go home and to go on vacation, Slater said.

"For some reason (Harper) doesn't want to face Parliament and deal with the people who are elected to run the country. I guess he thinks he's the emperor or something," Slater said. "Democracy seems like a bother to him."

Local NDP candidate Dave Nickle said the Conservatives continuously contradict their election platform of being open and accountable with the Canadian people.


"But we are just getting more of the same," he said. "I don't think anybody who looks at the record of this government believes them."

Nickle said the Canadian people will view the decision to suspend Parliament "very cynically."

"I hope people really start to look beyond the fluff and look at the real workings of government," he said. "Whenever the going gets tough for this government, they take an extended holiday."

Peterborough Liberal candidate Betsy McGregor and local Liberal riding association president John Nichols couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff issued a statement after the announcement of the prorogation.

"The decision to prorogue is about one thing and one thing only -avoiding the scrutiny of Parliament at a time when this government is facing tough questions about their conduct in covering up the detainee scandal," Ignatieff stated. "By shutting down Parliament four times in just three years, Mr. Harper is showing that his first impulse when he is in trouble is to shut down Parliament."

The last time Harper asked Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean to prorogue Parliament was in late 2008 when the Liberals and NDP agreed to try to form a coalition government.

bwedley@peterboroughexaminer.com

Business and Labour concerned about coming Federal Cuts.

Conservatives will always use deficit reduction as a rationale for cutting entitlement spending. Many business groups however often applaud such cuts. In the case of St. John's it probably worries because it may receive considerable help from Ottawa. Milton Friedman the former guru of free market ideology claimed that contrary to many conservatives deficits could be positive because they provide a justification for cutting out government entitlement programs. We are likely to see this in coming years whether Harper stays in power or Ignatieff miraculously gets elected. This is from vocm.

Business and Labour Concerned Federal Cuts Coming



The St. John's Board of Trade is raising concerns after recent comments from the Prime Minister. Stephen Harper has indicated the federal deficit will decrease because there will be a reduction in growth in spending. Board of Trade Chair Bruce Templeton says the federal government's track record isn't comforting. He says in less than 10 years, the federal government's expenses will have increased by almost a third. Templeton says that it looks like the federal government will have to cut programs and services just to balance budgets and he's concerned how that will affect this province.



The Public Service Alliance of Canada says it is quite concerned that federal government jobs could be cut if the Conservatives form a majority government in the next election. Spokesman Larry Welsh says government is currently running a significant deficit and he fears that could spell trouble.

Harper takes a holiday to pack Senate.

Harper is the most imaginative piece of crookedness we have seen in some time. In spite of his humdrum appearance he is great at using all the tricks available to advance his agenda. He saved himself from defeat last Xmas and now for no good reason except his political agenda Harper shuts down parliament. He will take the time to pack the Senate with Conservatives--this the great campaigner for a reformed Senate! I suppose he must regard the packing of the Senate with appointed Conservatives is a great leap forward. Meanwhile Ignatieff can be left to fume and fuss and try to hire some new help to put his Humpty Dumpty image back together again. This is from the Star. This is Harper's New Year's message. I am the same old Harper as last year. Happy New Year everyone.

Back to Commons shut down, opposition furious
Les Whittington



OTTAWA–Furious opposition MPs accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of muzzling the House of Commons after he moved for the second time in a little more than a year to suspend Parliament.

Mired in controversy over an alleged cover-up on the torture of Afghan prisoners and eager to increase the Conservatives' power in the Senate, the government is closing down Parliament until March 3, the Prime Minister's Office said Wednesday.

The decision is "about one thing and one thing only – avoiding the scrutiny of Parliament at a time when this government is facing tough questions about their conduct in covering up the detainee scandal," Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said in a statement.

"Mr. Harper is showing his disregard for the democratic institutions of our country."

Harper spoke Wednesday by telephone with Governor-General Michaëlle Jean, who agreed to the suspension, a PMO spokesperson told the media in a hastily arranged telephone news conference. The Prime Minister did not comment publicly.


The prorogation of Parliament until after the Winter Olympics in Vancouver will likely scuttle dozens of pieces of legislation, and give the Tories a chance to increase their representation on Senate committees.

Instead of coming back to Ottawa on Jan. 25, MPs will return on March 3 to hear a throne speech setting out the government's new political agenda, followed the next day by the 2010 budget statement.

The government has been on the defensive for weeks over allegations it failed to act on information that prisoners being passed to Afghan authorities by Canadian soldiers were at risk of being tortured. But the Commons committee holding hearings on the detainee issue is being disbanded as a result of Parliament's suspension.

"Harper is showing that his first impulse when he is in trouble is to shut down Parliament," Ignatieff said.

Harper spokesman Dimitri Soudas flatly denied the government is suspending Parliament to slow investigations into the Afghan prisoner controversy. "The answer is no," he told reporters. "The (Commons) committee ... has found absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing by Canadian soldiers, diplomats and the Armed Forces."

It was just over a year ago – on Dec. 4, 2008 – that Harper went to Jean to have Parliament suspended, or prorogued, to avoid the defeat of his minority government by the opposition parties, which claimed Harper's lacklustre response to the economic crisis had destroyed their confidence in his ability to govern.

While it is within the power of the Prime Minister – with permission of the Governor-General – to wrap up a session of Parliament, the opposition said Harper is manipulating the rules to favour his own political needs at the expense of the rights of elected MPs.

"This kind of thing can't happen in the U.S. or most other parliaments – it's the kind of thing you hear of in dictatorships," NDP Leader Jack Layton said in an interview.

"It's a slap in the face and it's a denial of the democratic process. He has absolutely no good reason to prorogue the House."

Layton said urgent action is needed on the pension crisis, the Afghan detainee issue, the high jobless rate and Canada's follow-up to the Copenhagen climate-change summit.

The government is halfway through a two-year plan to combat the economic recession and needs to look ahead, Soudas said.

Sources said Harper would like to make suspending Parliament before the annual budget a regular practice so the government can bring in a throne speech to give the economic message a wider context.

Soudas told the media Harper will use the break to undo what his party sees as a Liberal logjam in the Senate. By filling five vacancies with Conservatives, Harper's party will hold more seats than the Liberals in the 105-seat Upper Chamber and can strengthen its position on Senate committees.

Harper India tour aims to build relations, nuclear co-operation.

A good idea for Canada to diversity its trading relationsips and depend less on US trade. India is no doubt weathering the recession better than the US and Canada could increase trade with India. Recent US changes with respect to providing India with nuclear technology no doubt contributed to Harper's attempts to get on the bandwagon. Pakistan may not be happy with these moves. The trip to India may also be useful in convincing Canadians with an Indian background to vote Conservative!


Harper's India tour aims to build relations, grow nuclear co-operation.


By David Akin, Canwest News Service

NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Stephen Harper wrapped up a three-day tour of India Wednesday with visits to two of the country's holiest places, the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the world's largest Hindu temple in New Delhi, where he prayed for world peace.

``I took the Swami's advice when I was in the BAPS temple and said a prayer for world peace and, of course, it's hoped for more strongly here in India than just about everywhere," Harper said, after visiting the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple.

In Amritsar, the northern Indian city that is the spiritual home of Sikhs, Harper visited the Golden Temple. Thousands were in the temple during his visit and his tour of the facility was a melee of the curious and more than 60 photographers and film crews from India trying to get close to the prime minister while yellow-robed temple guards tried to keep them away.

``They're both just fascinating spots,'' Harper said after the visit. ``It really is just overwhelming. So this was just a tremendous opportunity to see and experience the roots of so many Indo-Canadians.''

Harper also said he hopes that his trip here - which was a whirlwind of commercial, cultural, and spiritual events - is the beginning of a new relationship with the world's largest democracy.

``This trip is, in a sense, the culmination, but also the jumping-off point, '' Harper said. ``It's the culmination of lot we've been doing over the past two or three years to really try and rebuild and build up our relationship with India and get it on a different plane.''

One of the things Harper's government did to recalibrate the relationship is patch things up with India on the nuclear file. Canada had suspended nuclear relations with India in 1974 after India used Canadian technology to make its first nuclear bomb. During his visit here, Harper said a new nuclear co- operation deal between the two countries would be signed soon and he met with key representatives of India's nuclear energy sector.

``We felt in opposition and it's been our position as a party that Canada really needs to get its relationship with India to another level,'' Harper said. ``But this is, in fairness, just a stage, and much more needs to be done in the weeks and months to come. India is a rising power in the world and India has, frankly, no closer cultural and human relations with any developed country than it does with Canada.''

Conservatives in Ottawa say it could also be the beginning of a new relationship between their party and the more than one million Canadians who have their origin here.

The delegation accompanying Harper included Conservative MPs Tim Uppal from Edmonton, Patrick Brown from Barrie, Ont., Nina Grewal from Vancouver, and Calgary's Devinder Shory and Deepak Obhrai.

A group of Indo-Canadian business leaders and some reporters from Indo- Canadian broadcasters and newspapers also accompanied Harper here, at their own expense.

Harper returns to Ottawa Thursday.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Conservatives still lead Liberals by ten percentage points.

The movements do not seem large towards any party although the Conservatives seem a bit better in Quebec. In some of the western provinces the NDP seems to be picking up a bit. Within a week however there is not likely to be much change. Certainly the Liberals are now as quiet as can be about bringing down the Conservatives! Ignatieff just does not seem to be doing anything much to improve Liberal fortunes. The strategy must be to rely on Harper defeating himself by some missteps. But Harper is a seasoned politician and perhaps he has learned a little from past missteps. He hasn't as yet used his lead to taunt the Liberals into a position where they cannot back out. This is from CBC.



EKOS Weekly: Ooh, look - it's a perfect ten!
By Kady O'Malley
A perfect ten point lead that the Conservatives have over their nearest rivals, that is, which is still the Liberals, just to be clear. We've almost hit that point in the narrative cycle during which the occasional pundit will start to predict that within a year, the prophecy will have come to pass and the NDP will leapfrog the Liberals to take over second place -- which, of course, as far as certain western provinces go, has already happened in the recent and not so recent past, is happening right now, and will almost certainly keep happening, on an on again off again basis. So far, it hasn't yet resulted in an irreparable rent to the fabric of the political universe, but hey -- you never know.


But we're getting ahead of ourselves. First, the top line numbers, so often imbued with grave portent despite the fact that they may as well be the product of a random pi sequence generator without the accompanying regional breakdowns:


Conservatives: 36.6 (-0.8)
Liberals: 26.6 (-0.2)
NDP: 16.8 (+0.5)
Green: 11.2 (+1.2)
Bloc Quebecois (in Quebec): 35.6 (-2.0)
Undecided: 16.6 (+0.6)


Yeah, not much change from last week, really. Both front-runner parties went down -- the Conservatives by nearly a full percentage point, the Liberals by a more modest, but undoubtedly still slightly Donoloian hope-deflating 0.2 percent. The NDP fortunes, meanwhile, rose by a half percent pickup, although like every other change between this week and last, that is, of course, well within the margin of error. Still, you know which side of that MoE a party would prefer to be on, given their druthers.


To find out just where the various parties are losing -- or, in a couple of cases, gaining -- steam, we have to turn to the regional breakdowns, of course. Therein, presumably, lies the tale -- or a tale, at least:


British Columbia (MoE 5.53)
Conservatives: 36.8 (-5.0)
NDP: 25.3 (-)
Liberals: 24.1 (+4.0)
Green: 13.8 (+1.0)


Alberta (MoE 5.59)
Conservatives: 58.2 (-4.6)
Liberals: 17.9 (+0.4)
Green: 12.3 (+2.4)
NDP: 11.6 (+1.8)


Saskatchewan/Manitoba (MoE 7.13)
Conservatives: 44.2 (-4.1)
NDP: 28.8 (+5.6)
Liberals: 16.3 (-3.3)
Green: 10.7 (+1.1)


Okay , let's interrupt this fascinating series of numbers to point out that -- hey, do you notice what may be the start of a trend out west? I mean, last week, we were all snickering -- yes, I said 'we', don't feign innocence, fellow armchair pollcrunchers -- over those soaring Liberal numbers in Alberta, but honestly, if you were to present these results to a just-arrived interplanetary delegation of intelligent alien lifeforms, and ask them what their first thought was, they'd politely observe out that these "Conservatives" appear to be on the verge of maybe possibly eventually having a teeny tiny problem out west.


Although really, given the geographically quirky nature of Canadian politics, and the way the votes split, the fact that both the NDP and the Liberals are gaining, and holding, respectively does not necessarily augur future electoral unpleasantness for the government. Well, except in those ridings -- like, for instance, decent-sized chunks of British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba -- where the Liberals are firmly out of contention, and a configuration like this could actually result in the Conservatives losing a few seats to the NDP. (I'd advise against explaining all this to the alien delegation, by the way; it's hard enough for the rest of us to get our heads around the concept, and we haven't even gotten to Quebec.)


Really, though, Alberta. Oh, Alberta. What's gotten into you lately? The Conservatives have been consistently polling below their usual 60 percent for weeks. Are you taking your discontent with Ed Stelmach out on poor Stephen Harper? Have you confused the Green Party with the Wild Rose upstart, given that both have botanically-themed names? If you keep this up, Alberta might actually become interesting on a federal level, which hasn't happened in -- possibly ever.


Alright, back to your regularly scheduled stream of raw numbers, followed by my thoughts:


Ontario (MoE 3.00)
Conservatives: 39.2 (-0.4)
Liberals: 33.8 (+0.2)
NDP: 15.5 (-0.3)
Green: 11.6 (+0.6)


Quebec (MoE 3.45)
Bloc Quebecois: 35.6 (-2.0)
Conservatives: 21.7 (+2.1)
Liberals: 21.3 (-3.0)
NDP: 10.7 (-0.3)
Green: 10.6 (+3.0)


Atlantic Canada (MoE 6.93)
Conservatives: 36.5 (+3.1)
Liberals: 32.8 (-0.1)
NDP: 25.3 (+0.4)
Green: 5.5 (-3.3)


Not much going on in Ontario, really -- a barely imperceptible decline for the Conservatives and the NDP; a statistically insignificant upward blip for the Liberals and the Green Party.


Quebec is, at least, a soupcon more interesting -- the Conservatives are back at the high point of their traditional high teens/low twenties territory, and the Liberals have slid again, but the most noteworthy number is that of the Bloc Quebecois, which -- what with this, and that unfortunate byelection result in Riviere du loup -- may be forced to start actually campaigning, instead of just showing up on election day to collect their winnings.


That said, remember how mercurial the splits can be out west? Well, it's sort of the same in Quebec, only the rule of thumb tends to favour Team Sovereignty when there are two (or more) federalist options of relatively equal strength, so perhaps Gilles Duceppe can keep doing whatever it is he does while the other party leaders are fretting and fussing.


And finally, there is Atlantic Canada, which, up until fairly recently, appeared to be the last bastion of stalwart Liberal support in the country, yet now seems to be a three(ish) way race. Without more detailed provincial breakdowns -- and yes, I know that's not feasible, what with the incalculably huge margin of error that would result -- it's impossible to know whether this represents an overall warming of sentiment towards the Conservatives out east, or if New Brunswick is turning into a tiny, Maritime-themed Alberta, but still. Any way you slice it, there's no good news for the Liberals here.


Alright, those are my musings -- you can rebut them, or post your own in the comments, with bonus points for not being boringly partisan!


Oh, and just an administrative note: this week's bonus round is all about H1N1. To be honest, I'm not sure if it really tells us anything new -- Canadians seem to be distinctly underwhelmed by the performance of the government their governments thus far, and are split on whether to be vaccinated or not -- but if you find anything noteworthy in the data, feel free to share it.

Conservative continue to lead Liberals by wide margin

Although the Conservatives are only increasing their lead marginally the NDP improved a couple of percentage points. Among leaders Layton has the best showing with Ignatieff far the worst. The Liberal party must be starting to wonder how much better off they are for having dumped Dion! Ignatieff unceremoniously dumped the Green Shift now in the face of the polls he has dumped the dump Harper policy. Maybe the Liberals will bring out the knives and begin a dump Ignatieff campaign.

Conservatives keep lead in poll
CBC News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives are polling nearly enough support for a majority government, according to the latest EKOS numbers. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
Support for the Conservative Party continued to hold last week, according to the latest poll results from EKOS.

Among decided respondents, the Conservatives drew 38.4 per cent support, followed by the Liberals at 26.8 per cent and the New Democratic Party at 16.7 per cent.

The Green Party had the support of 9.9 per cent of decided respondents, while the Bloc Québécois had 8.2 per cent support, according to the EKOS poll, which was released exclusively to CBC.

Last week, the Conservatives stood at 38.3 per cent support, followed by the Liberals at 27.1 per cent, the NDP at 14.5 per cent, the Green Party at 11 per cent, and the BQ at nine per cent.

Respondents in the automated telephone survey are asked: "If an election were held tomorrow, which party would you vote for?" The poll reached 3,220 respondents between Oct. 21 and Oct. 27. The results carry a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

EKOS also asked Canadians their thoughts on the leadership of Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton, asking if any of the three should be removed immediately as leader of their respective party.

On Jack Layton, 51 per cent of respondents indicated they thought Layton should remain at the helm of the NDP, while 25 per cent said he should be replaced.

Layton had the high-water mark of support among the three leaders. On Harper, 45 per cent said he should stay, while 40 per cent said he should be replaced.

Michael Ignatieff's support was the weakest: 31 per cent of respondents said he should stay, while 46 per cent said he should go.

Ignatieff made changes in his inner circle this week. Late Tuesday, Ignatieff announced that Peter Donolo was taking over as the Liberal leader's chief of staff. Donolo left his post at the Strategic Counsel, a Toronto polling firm, to replace Ian Davey, a longtime Ignatieff supporter.

Donolo was a communications director for former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien.

Harper to visit India and China for the first time.

These visits and increased trade ties with both countries make a great deal of sense. Canada is overly dependent with trade with the US. Given our geographical location and our vast natural resources it is natural that the US is our largest trading partner but it makes a great deal of sense to have a more diversified trading pattern and sell our resources where we can get the best return. With growing economies both India and China will be willing to pay a good price for raw materials necessary to fuel their growing economies.

Harper to visit India, China for 1st time
CBC News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced plans to visit two of the world's emerging economic superpowers — China and India — for the first time this fall.

Harper will travel to India — where Canada recently opened new trade offices in Hyderabad, Calcutta and Ahmedabad — from Nov. 16 to 18 after meeting APEC leaders in Singapore, his office said in a statement released Wednesday in Ottawa.

International Trade Minister Stockwell Day says Canada hopes to double bilateral trade with India — which currently stands at about $4.5 billion — by 2014.

“We share a history of cooperation in the Commonwealth and the United Nations, as well as a shared commitment to pluralism, democracy, human rights and the rule of law," Harper said in a statement.

"Our goal is to build a stronger, more dynamic partnership based on shared commercial, political and regional interests.”

The PMO also confirmed long-expected plans to visit China from Dec. 2 to 6.

"Our two countries enjoy a growing partnership, sharing significant interests in trade and investment, the environment and regional security," Harper said in a statement.

"Canada is committed to a strong relationship with China that reflects our mutual respect and the need for practical co-operation."

The importance of both countries to strengthening Canada's global trade ties is evidenced by the fact that there have been 11 ministerial-level visits to India and 18 to China since Harper's minority government was first elected in 2006.

However, relations with China have also been strained during Harper's tenure.

After Parliament unanimously adopted a motion giving honorary Canadian citizenship to the Dalai Lama in 2006, China threatened to use its considerable economic strength to penalize Canada.

.....
In 2007, Harper warned China not to threaten Canada with economic repercussions for bringing up the Asian country's human rights record and standing up for the rights of Canadians abroad.

Harper was referring to the case of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian activist jailed in China for alleged terrorist links.

China is Canada's third-largest export destination, after the United States and the United Kingdom.

Ignatieff has been reading the polls again!

Perhaps the Liberals should have a genuine leadership convention before they try to topple the Conservatives. Ignatieff now has given the Conservatives carte blanche. He is just asking Harper to present him with a poison pill that will make him look even more unprincipled than he appears at the moment. Suddenly when the polls go down somewhat Harper's government is no longer so bad that it needs to go. This is a great Xmas present for Harper but Ignatieff could have waited a while before giving it to him.



Ignatieff retreats from trying to topple Harper

Liberal leader says they won't try again until spring election

By Andrew Mayeda, Canwest News ServiceOctober 20, 2009



Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Tuesday his party will no longer seek to defeat the Harper government, suggesting the Conservatives will remain in power until at least next spring's federal budget.
"We've said clearly we won't support the government but, at the same time, we won't try to defeat the government each time," Ignatieff told reporters Tuesday after making an appearance at a daycare in Ottawa.
Earlier this month, the governing Conservatives survived a non-confidence motion introduced by the Liberals. On Tuesday, Ignatieff wouldn't commit to tabling another such motion the next time the Liberals have the opportunity.
"I won't say but, as I've said, we won't support these people, because we're the opposition. But we're not trying to create opportunities to trigger an election," he said.
"Canadians have clearly said they don't want an election, and they haven't just said that to me, they've told that to all the parties, and we have to respect what the Canadian voters think."
Liberal officials sought to downplay Ignatieff's comments Tuesday, noting he has made similar statements in recent weeks. Nevertheless, it is clear the Liberal leader's tone has softened since early September, when he declared he would no longer support the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"After four years of drift, four years of denial, four years of division and discord -- Mr. Harper, your time is up," Ignatieff said at the time. "The Liberal party cannot support this government any further. We will hold Stephen Harper to account. We will oppose his government in Parliament."
The Liberals hoped the hard-line stance would help them build credibility as a government-in-waiting. But in recent weeks, the party has slid in the polls as the Conservatives have climbed close to majority territory.
In an Ipsos Reid poll released last week, the Conservatives stood at 39% in national support, compared with 29% for the Liberals.
Opposition parties can introduce non-confidence motions against the government on so-called "opposition days" in the House of Commons. There are five remaining opposition days until the House of Commons breaks for the holidays in December, and the Liberals are expected to get their next one early next month.
The Bloc Quebecois supported the last Liberal non-confidence motion, but the NDP abstained from the vote, allowing the Conservatives to survive.
The NDP has said it will support the government until Parliament passes legislation to expand EI benefits.
A Liberal source said Tuesday that the party will wait to see how the political winds are blowing before deciding whether to table another non-confidence motion.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Harper: Canadians don't want an election.

Harper hasn't met a single Canadian who says we should be having an election right now. But then right now is not the fall. Besides he hasn't met me and I think it would be fine if we were having an election right now.
Ignatieff has been such a lack-lustre no policy leader that the polls will probably not improve much for the Liberals even though Harper seems to be returning to his old game of chicken. He is daring the Liberals to call an election or pass his own legislation on EI, which of course will be in the interests of all Canadians! Maybe the Liberals should bring Dion back, at least he had a policy on the environment and stuck to it and at least he was chosen leader in a genuine contest. Besides Dion has much more experience at caving in and supporting Conservative legislation. Ignatieff is just starting out.


Canadians don't want election, Harper says
Prime Minister plays down differences over EI and insists his focus will be on dealing with effects of recession this fall
Bill Curry
Whitehorse — From Saturday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009
The Prime Minister is playing down differences between his government and the opposition Liberals on Employment Insurance and has repeated his desire for a fall session focused on the economy rather than an election.
Some of Stephen Harper's MPs spoke openly this week of campaigning for a majority government. Liberals are also raising election talk, saying their joint summer meetings with the government to craft EI reforms are not going well. Liberals have accused officials of overestimating the cost of their proposals to make the insurance program accessible to more people.
“The issue of employment insurance is to find better ways to help the unemployed. That's what we're looking for,” said Mr. Harper Friday at an energy announcement with Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie. “Clearly, we are very happy that we are having discussions with the Liberal party, but in the end, the government of Canada must act in the greater interest of Canadians. Clearly, we have proposed our perspective. The opposition, maybe their perspective is a bit different, but we're still talking about these things. I'm confident that this government will make proposals this fall that will be in the interests of the Canadian economy.”
Asked about whether his party is campaigning for a majority, Mr. Harper insisted his focus is on governing this fall.
He said the recession continues to affect Canada even though this country is doing better than most.
“I think the emphasis of all parties in the House of Commons should be working to ensure that we're working on the economy in the fall and that that's our focus,” he said. “And I will say over and over again, I have not met a single Canadian, a single real person out there, whose telling me that they think we should be fighting an election right now.”

Ignatieff lags Harper in approval rating: poll

What seems to be more significant is that both have negative ratings! Even though more approve Harper than Ignatieff, Harper's total score is minus 11 versus minus 9 for Ignatieff. Of course the article fails to mention that Layton has the best overal score of all at plus 1! This is just an example of the way articles frame issues as if only the two main parties count. Apparently it was not even thought important to ask about the Greens or the Bloc leaders.
The pollsters did think it was important to ask about Obama who is obviously a very important Canadian politician! It is all entertainment with Obama being a global celebrity so his Canadian rating is important.


Ignatieff lags Harper in approval rating: poll

CBC News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper scores a higher job approval rating than his political rival, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, according to a new poll, but both had more negative than positive evaluations from Canadians who were asked about their performance.
Although a larger proportion of people disapprove of Harper's job performance compared with Ignatieff's, Harper’s disapproval ratings have slowly declined since January, while Ignatieff’s have shot up.
The EKOS poll, commissioned by the CBC and released Thursday, asked Canadians if they approve or disapprove of the way Harper, Ignatieff and NDP Leader Jack Layton are handling their jobs.
Harper received a 36 per cent approval rating, followed by Layton (34 per cent) and Ignatieff (29 per cent). Conversely, 47 per cent said they disapprove of Harper’s job performance, with Ignatieff getting a 38 per cent disapproval rating and Layton 33 per cent.
That means the net positive scores are worse for Harper (-11) than for Ignatieff (-9).
However, Ignatieff’s disapproval rating has gone from 20 per cent in January, to almost 40 per cent in August, basically doubling in seven months.
In the electoral battleground province of Ontario, where Ignatieff is hoping to recapture seats, the poll showed Harper’s approval rating is 38 per cent, compared with Ignatieff (32 per cent). But Harper’s disapproval rate is also higher than Ignatieff (46 per cent versus 38 per cent)
In Quebec, Harper’s disapproval rating is higher than in any other region, standing at 58 per cent with an approval rating of 21 per cent. Ignatieff fares better, but his disapproval rating (32 per cent) is still higher than his approval rating (29 per cent) in the province.
One political leader, however, soars above all the rest in the opinion of Canadian poll respondents: U.S. President Barack Obama.

Harper says first priority is to get Mohamud home.

This is truly a bizarre case. I simply cannot fathom why the issue could not have been cleared up earlier. It seems very much as if the Kenyans were simply angy they did not get a bribe but why the consular officials turned her over to the Kenyans when she had plenty of other identification and they could surely have made inquiries. Instead they turn over over to the Kenyans and do nothing to get her released it would seem. Canada has a fickle inconsistent record as far as intervening on behalf of Canadians charged with offences abroad as the rest of the article (not included here) shows. Harper is no doubt right that the immediate priority should be to get Mohamud home but he also needs to reform his policies and the actions of Canadian officials.



Harper says 'first priority' to get Mohamud home TheStar.com - Canada - Harper says 'first priority' to get Mohamud home
LUCAS OLENIUK / TORONTO STAR
Canadian citizen Suaad Hagi Mohamud discusses her identity struggle inside of a Kenyan guesthouse Aug. 13, 2009.
Accounting ordered of role played by Border Services Agency in case of Canadian woman stranded in Kenya for nearly three months
August 13, 2009 Iain MarlowAllan WoodsJohn GoddardStaff Reporters
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said today the Canada Border Services Agency will have to answer for its role in the plight of a Canadian woman marooned in Kenya for nearly three months.
"Our first priority as a government is obviously to see her get on a flight back to Canada," Harper said in Kitchener today, referring to Suaad Hagi Mohamud, a Canadian citizen who was detained because Kenyan and Canadian officials there thought she did not look like her passport photo.
"In the case of the Canadian Border Service Agency," Harper continued, "I know that minister (of public safety Peter) Van Loan is asking that organization for a full accounting of their actions in this case and we'll obviously review those."
Based on what officials at the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi said were "conclusive investigations including an interview," Mohamud was branded an "imposter." Her passport was handed over to Kenyan officials for prosecution on charges of improper use of a travel document.
Harper said that Canadian officials are eager to resolve "what is not an easy case" and to get Mohamud back to Canada.
Kenyan authorities are expected to drop all charges against the woman tomorrow, clearing the way for her to be reunited with her 12-year-old son in Toronto.
Neither Van Loan nor Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, who has responsibility for managing all consular cases involving Canadians in need of help abroad, have commented on the case since Mohamud's identity was confirmed through a DNA test that showed she was a 99.99% match with her son.
Mohamud, a Somali-Canadian, was branded an impostor by staff of the Canadian High Commission in Kenya because she did not resemble her passport photograph. Her lips were different from the four-year-old picture, as were her eyeglasses.
In a telephone interview from Nairobi yesterday, Mohamud gave further details of the event that started her ordeal when she tried to board a KLM flight home on May 21 after a three-week visit to Kenya.
A Kenyan KLM employee stopped her. "He told me he could make me miss my flight," she said of the KLM worker, who suggested Mohamud didn't look like her passport photo.
He seemed to be soliciting a bribe, she said, an experience Somali-born Torontonians say is commonplace for them at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
When she didn't pay, a Kenyan immigration official arrested her. Canadian consular officials went along, returning Mohamud to the Kenyans, who threw her in jail on charges of entering Kenya illegally on a passport not her own.
On Monday, DNA tests proved Mohamud's identity.
Yesterday at the high commission, officials continued to treat Mohamud with indifference, a friend who drove her there said.
When Mohamud asked if Canada might help her retrieve her luggage, seized when she was unable to pay her room bill while trying to prove her identity, consular officials refused, the friend said.
In Toronto, lawyer Raoul Boulakia said a friend of his has arranged to pay the bill as a donation.
The Kenyans also owe her $2,500 (U.S.) in bail money, posted after she spent eight days in June at Nairobi's Langata Women's Prison.
Mohamud said the high commission advised her yesterday to stay in the country until she collected the money from Kenya, a process that could take weeks. But Boulakia said he told her to get out of the country first and get the high commission to collect it for her later.
The case highlights the often-puzzling approach the Conservative government takes when deciding which citizens imprisoned or stranded in foreign countries are entitled to high-level help. ........................
With files from Robert Benzie

A Small Step towards the Noose.

Harper seems bound and determined to avoid asking for leniency for those condemend to death if he can help. There are even cases as this article shows where the government is not free and democratic in any sense yet so far he has not intervened. In the Montana case it seems to me that he has intervened finally since the court ordered him to do so. It is a wonder he did not appeal! I am sure Albertans will be pleased to find that their support of Harper makes them rednecks according to Cleroux!

This is from westislandchronicle.

Harper : A Small Step towards the Noose by Richard Cléroux View all articles from Richard ClérouxArticle online since June 26th 2009, 13:40 The noose
Harper : A Small Step towards the Noose
For years Stephen Harper’s political adversaries have been saying he’s got a secret agenda to bring back capital punishment.
Harper has always denied it categorically. He’s always said it is one debate he has no intention of re-opening. But now we’ve got some proof, well, a little bit of proof. Just enough in fact to ask ourselves how far is Harper planning to go. The other day Harper sent his foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon into the Commons to announce the Conservatives new policy on capital punishment. Cannon didn’t mince words. From now on, the death penalty will be acceptable for Canadians sentenced to death in democratic, sovereign countries which have a justice system based on the primacy of law. That covers about half the 201 countries in the world, including Canada. Perhaps Harper was trying to please his hard-core, red-neck base in Alberta, where hanging is seen by many as the solution to difficult criminal issues. And with elections expected this fall, now would be the time for Harper to make his pitch to his base. By the time the campaign rolls around, it will look too much like opportunism. Who Harper and Cannon may have been thinking about is the case of Ronald Allen Smith, a Canadian sentenced to death 26 years ago in Montana for murdering two Natives. He’s been on death row in Montana every since and it’s a big issue in Alberta. Harper doesn’t want to lift a finger to get him back to Canada. Let the Americans execute him, even though the Federal Court has ordered Harper to do something for him. Who Harper and Cannon seem to have forgotten are two other Canadians in situations a lot murkier. Mohammed Kohail is a young Canadian from Montreal sentenced to decapitation in Saudi Arabia following a fight in a school yard in Jeddah that left one student dead. The Saudi take school yard fights seriously. The second is a Canadian awaiting execution by firing squad in China for having said some things the Chinese government didn’t like, a serious crime in China which executes 1,1000 people a year. Cannon told the Commons that in democratic, sovereign law respecting countries he won’t plead for clemency for Canadians sentenced to death. So he’ll only plead for clemency in undemocratic countries where they don’t respect the rule of law? How effective will that be? What does he tell King Saud who figures himself a great democrat and respects Sharia law. The king has all the oil he needs to prove it. Is Harper going to tell the Chinese during his visit this fall that they are not democratic and don’t respect the rule of law? And what about Canada? Aren’t we democratic and don’t we respect the rule of law. Are we going to be Harper’s one single exception? Who came up with this idiotic policy? Or is Harper planning to take another step and go all the way removing Canada as the exception? There’s always the chance that Harper could change his mind over the summer after the MPs return from the barbecue circuit, but don’t bet the ketchup on it. In the meantime let’s hope that not too many non-democratic countries take offense and decide to teach Harper a lesson his Canadians will never forget.

Harper: Attack Ads prevented a summer election

I doubt that the attack ads had much to do with our not having a summer election. Ignatieff did not want an election since the Liberal Party needs to raise more money and raise their standing in the polls as well. However, given that the Liberal polls do not seem have any momentum upwards perhaps the attack ads did have some negative effects and convinced some not to vote for Iggy.
Harper just loves to rub it in and make digs at Iggy even though Iggy saved Harper's bacon and is almost in a coalition with the Conservatives at this point. It seems that Iggy prefers a right coalition rather than one on the left!

Attack ads prevented a summer election: Harper
Updated Fri. Jun. 26 2009 8:41 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggests his party's recent ad campaign that included controversial attacks against Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff may have done Canadians a favour.
In an interview with CTV News in Halifax, the prime minister told CTV Atlantic's Steve Murphy that the ads help convince the Liberals not to trigger a summer election, and allowed his Conservative minority government a few months of breathing space.
"To the extent that I think that the ads made the Liberal Party think twice about having an election, I think that's been a good result," Harper said.
"Because I don't think Canadians want an election, I think it would have been another round of political instability. And so to the extent I think it's put that party a little bit back on its heels. It may be thinking a little bit more about how to co-operate in actually dealing with the economy -- I think it's been helpful."
The ads criticize Ignatieff's time outside the country, alleging the Liberal leader returned to Canada solely to seek the prime minister's job.
Harper refused to say whether he personally agreed with the ad's sentiments that Igatieff is "just visiting." He said he would leave it to voters to decide whether Ignatieff's 34 years outside Canada disqualified him to be prime minister.
"Those ads are built around his [Ignatieff's] own record, his own words, on his own motives and his own statements on the country. Those are questions he will have to answer... As I say, the ads allow Mr. Ignatieff to speak for himself," Harper said during the 10-minute interview.
Harper said the ads ran at a time when the Liberals were not co-operating in the operation of Parliament.
"My preference would be for the opposition to work with the government. The Opposition has not chosen that path until very recently," Harper explained.
"I do think the people want to see the parties work together. But, certainly if the parties aren't going to work together, the Conservative Party won't unilaterally disarm."
One week ago, Ignatieff and Harper reached a deal that prevented a summer election. Thursday's comments come as Parliament begins its summer break. It's expected all parties will use the time to test the waters for a fall election campaign.
The opposition will have an opportunity to put forward a non-confidence motion during an opposition day early in the fall session.

Harper wants to be elected dictator..

Of course his words for this are that he wants a stronger mandate and that one should fear a weak government. What we need is a majority government--a word that Harper does not use in order not to make his agenda transparent. Even though Harper was successfull in bullying the Liberals to pass Tory legislation Harper would rather not have to bother having to face any sort of potentially effective opposition. In order to pass Tory legislation they might also need to compromise and spend more on social programs. With our economy soon to decline Harper will be able to cut social spending in the name of prudent fiscal policy. This is from the Globe and Mail.

Each day, almost, Mr. Harper is strengthening the language he uses in asking for a majority government to manage the economy – although he carefully avoids ever using the term.
Conservatives have in the past expressed fears that the public starts to turn away when they near majority-level support, and Mr. Harper appears to still feel majority is a term to be avoided, even though he alluded to it clearly today.
“I say we need a strong mandate. I could say a stronger mandate,” he said.
“What we have seen increasingly is the other parties working together…and certainly all articulating a direction for the Canadian economy that would be totally different than this government and that has me very worried obviously about the pressure that they could bring to bear.”

Harper wants to sell off more of Canada...

This is from the Globe. Harper is a great admirer of the U.S. and has several times been very critical of Canada. It is not surprising he wants to sell more of our companies and resources to foreigners. Here are a few choice quotes of Harper before he became our prime minister:

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."A culture of defeat..."- Stephen Harper, negatively describing Canada's Atlantic provinces! May 2001."Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it. Canadians make no connection between the fact that they are a Northern European welfare state and the fact that we have very low economic growth, a standard of living substantially lower than yours, a massive brain drain of young professionals to your country, and double the unemployment rate of the United States."- 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

Note that the U.S. measures unemployment rates differently and in a way that makes it relatively lower than ours but as of now the U.S. is even with us, so actually worse.

Harper promises to relax foreign investment rules


STEVEN CHASE
Globe and Mail Update
September 12, 2008 at 8:09 AM EDT
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said today a Tory government would change federal law to open Canada to more foreign investment, including the airline and uranium mining industries.
But it would also give tougher scrutiny to takeovers by non-Canadians, he vowed, promising a new national security test for buyouts that might threaten the country's strategic interests.
Mr. Harper said a new Tory government would raise the threshold for automatic government reviews of all foreign takeovers to $1-billion in gross asset value from $295-million today. This would be phased in over four years.
A Conservative government would also seek to open Canada's airlines to more foreign ownership, raising the investment limit for outsiders to 49 per cent from 25 per cent.
But this would only apply to foreign jurisdictions — such as the European Union and the United States — once those nations granted the same rights to Canadian investors through bilate

Leaders rachet up the rhetoric.

As usual Harper is telling fibs. He is calling an election because his own party polls had shown a trend up for the Conservatives and down for the Liberals. It has nothing to do with the opposition blocking legislation. The Liberals passed everything the Conservatives brought forth and on Afghanistan were able to cut a deal. Both parties are supporting our troops by putting them in harm's way and ensuring more tragic and useless deaths to support the former warlords and a government that would have executed a Muslim who converted to Christianity were he not spirited out of the country to Italy.

Leaders Ratchet up the Rhetoric.

By Mia Robson

Sept. 5, 2008

OTTAWA -- Partisan punches flew feverishly Thursday as it emerged that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is ready to pull the plug on parliament on Sunday, triggering a vote on the day after Thanksgiving.

Tory sources say Harper will visit Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean at Rideau Hall around 9 a.m. Sunday, kicking off a 36-day campaign that is expected to centre around issues of the economy, the environment and political leadership.

It will end at the ballot box Tuesday, Oct. 14.

Harper -- who stayed out of sight at a pre-election cabinet meeting at Meech Lake Thursday -- is ending his minority government after 937 days by claiming partisanship and political mudslinging have ground the work of the House of Commons to an intolerable point.

He has said he can't wait for October 2009 -- the date an election was supposed to be held after Harper himself pledged and passed a law for fixed election dates.

As word of Harper's plans leaked out Thursday, opposition leaders kicked up their anti-Harper attacks. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion -- who cut short a caucus retreat in Winnipeg and sent his MPs scrambling back to their ridings -- characterized Harper as a "secretive, centralizing, right-wing" leader who can't even be trusted to follow his own laws when it doesn't suit him.

"The next election will be one of the most important ones in the history of Canada because there is a gulf of differences between this very right-wing government and what we want to do for a richer, fairer, greener Canada," Dion said.

The Liberals used the day to blame the Conservatives for the deadly outbreak of listeria and demanded the resignation of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, an attack Ritz dismissed as pre-election ploy.

The Liberal election strategy -- to paint Harper as a bully and a liar whose tax cuts have brought the country to a brink of deficit on the eve of a recession -- will be contrasted with Dion's attempts to get out from under the attacks on himself by the Tories as a wimpy, unproven leader with a carbon tax plan for the country which is too risky in an uncertain economy.

"Many of them, my fellow Canadians, know me through the negative propaganda of the Conservatives," Dion said in an editorial board meeting with the Winnipeg Free Press Thursday. "I will (have a) golden opportunity to speak to Canadians in the coming weeks.

In Toronto, NDP Leader Jack Layton also went on the attack against Harper, putting into practice his campaign plan to ignore the Liberals and go straight at the governing Tories. In a 24-minute address to party supporters, Layton didn't mention Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion even once.

Meanwhile, the Tories continued their cross-country tour of pre-election announcements, offering up cash for shipbuilders in the Atlantic and a $4.9-million plan to target street gangs in Toronto amid a number of smaller regional announcements including in Manitoba.

The Tories also announced three of their cabinet ministers won't be running again. The resignations of Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn in St. John's and Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson in Vancouver were expected as both were unlikely to be re-elected in their respective ridings. The Tories could lose all their seats in Newfoundland amid a fight with the provincial government over oil revenues. And Emerson's defection to the Tories just days after he was elected as a Liberal in the last election left a sour taste in the mouths of Vancouver voters.

But it was a shock to most when word came that Monte Solberg -- the jovial and wise-cracking MP for Medicine Hat and Minister of Human Resources -- is also going to call it quits.

The Tories go into the election with a slim lead over the Liberals in most recent polls and a leader whose personal popularity far outstrips that of the other party leaders or even that of his party as a whole. It is on leadership the Tories hope to make or break this campaign.

A source from the Prime Minister's office told the national press corps last week the Tories will push for this election to be decided based on who is the bigger risk for the country: a Prime Minister who love him or hate him is confident and consistent and will carry the country through tough economic times without introducing new taxes, or Dion, an unproven leader with a "half-baked" carbon tax plan even his own MPs don't fully understand.

The Liberal election platform will centre around the Green Shift carbon tax plan and attacking the record of the Harper government.

-- with files from The Canadian Press, Mary Agnes Welch and Selena Hinds

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

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