Opinion of Stephen Harper

Dangerous, corrupt, reactionary, hypocritical, pathological liar

Let's have a look in detail.
Accountability. If you remember, Harper came in on a platform of 'good governance' and his government passed the FAA. Now, Harper is the first PM to be brought down for contempt of Parliament related to corruption and lies. He has refused to disclose to Parliament the cost for his programs. His minister(s) have lied to Parliamentary committees. Furthermore, Harper shut down Parliament rather than face scrutiny over the Afghan detainees scandal. In 2005, Harper and his acolytes - then in opposition - offered dying MP Chuck Cadman a million-dollar life insurance policy in exchange for his vote to bring down the Liberal government. Bribery. The Conservatives broke Elections Canada rules in the 2006 campaign. Nice job on accountability, Harpo.

Fiscal prudence. My friend always tells me how Harper is good for the economy. Let's take a trip down memory lane, Tory friends. We have a $55+ billion deficit, when we had a $16 billion surplus in 2006 and a $38 billion deficit in 1993. Good job on that one. Let's also take a look at the G20. It cost us more than a billion, part of which went to build an artificial lake - next to a real lake, cottages and a bunch of very useful things in middle-of-nowhere Ontario. The G20 also saw, btw, the largest mass arrest in Canadian history and serious allegations of police brutality, lack of serious care for injuries, denial of access to counsel and arrest without warrant.

Again on fiscal stuff, Harper bought a whole slew of F-35s without a competitive bid. Saying that they'll cost $75 million each. A report from the US Government Accountability Office said the price doubled from $81-million (U.S.) to $156 million per plane.

Low taxes. The old creed of the right. 2007-2009 the share of federal revenue from personal income tax went from 55.5% to 60.6%. The richest 1% are taxed less than the poorest 10%. Corporate taxes went from 20% to 15.4% (+ another $5.6 billion in corporate tax cuts in the 2011/2012 budget). Corporate taxes are lower in Canada than in practically every other country: the UK is 21-28%, NZ is 28%, Germany is 29.8%, Australia is 30%, France is 33%.¹ The argument for low corporate taxes is that it encourages business growth. Sidelining the fact that this isn't a proven fact, I don't think that Germany or Australia with their high corporate taxes are third-world countries with no business. My Tory MP tells me his priority is to "keep taxes low". For who? Harpo's friends in the tar sands business or Canadians?

Fiscal stimulus! Good for the economy! More like 'pork and barrel spending'. I could attack this from Harper's 1997 or so point of view of neoliberalism and low spending, but I'll look from another angle. 60% of cash went to Tory constituencies, which make up 46% of Canada. Funding didn't go to green jobs, because Ecoenergy, Canada's successful green initiative, was terminated.

The environment. Dear Lord. Harper's government looks like the board of directors of some Calgary oil sands corporation. $1.4 billion in federal subsidies go to the very profitable as they are tar sands oil/gas corporations. Environment Canada's budget is less than that (1% of revenue). Environment ministers, all 5 in 5 years, have been failures. Rona Ambrose, John Baird, Jim Prentice, John Baird again and now some TV journalist. Harper broke the Kyoto Agreement, which we signed, pledging to go 6% below 1990 emissions. We went 35% above. Harper's -17% from 2005 would be +2.5% over 1990 levels - the weakest target in the west. Harper appointed Chris Essex, a climate change denier, to a prominent science/innovation position. The Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences had no funding in 2011. Our icebreaker Amundsen, outfitted for climate research... was leased to BP for oil exploration in the Arctic. At environmental conferences, Canada obstructed progress more than anybody else. Our role in the world as a leader for environmental progress and green policies has been squandered entirely. We won the Fossil of the Day in 2010 for the fourth day in a row. Harper's governments works with oil companies to lobby against climate legislation and promote dirty energy.

The West always throws hissy fits over the Senate. Harper supported triple-E senate reform and called it illegitimate and crony. Harper appointed a whole slew of Senators - including the likes of fat useless TV hack Mike Duffy or illiterate hockey coach Jacques Demers. Harper said an unelected Senate shouldn't block legislation. When the NDP's C-311 on climate change passed... the Senate killed it without debate.

Foreign policy. Canada has drawn sharp rebuke for its human rights policy. It cost us a seat on the UNSC. We voted against the UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights (with the US, Australia and NZ).

In other stuff...
-child mortality have risen from 6th lowest to 24th lowest.
-one in seven Canadians live in poverty, and that number is increasing.
-Harper wants to change the name "Government of Canada" to the "Harper Government"
-Harper's government breaks all record for ultra-centralization of power and decision making.
-Canadian forces transferred Afghan prisoners to Afghan authorities, who systematically tortured them. Transferring prisoners to someone who you know will torture them is a war crime under the Geneva Convention. When a diplomat blew the whistle, Harpo derided him. Prorogued Parliament. Refused and still refuses to release uncensored documents. Accountability!
-Harper's government wants to eliminate the long form census - against the advice of every respected analyst, statistician and politician. The long form census provides municipalities, provinces with useful information for transit planning, urban development, housing policies, health policies and so forth.
-Harper practically fired the nuclear watchdog when she highlighted serious issues at a nuclear reactor
-Crime is down, but Harper wants to build super prisons rather than support rehabilitation - research shows such policies make criminals more likely to reoffend. Rehabilitation programs, victim aid initiatives have had budgets cut.
-Harper attempted to repeal gay marriage in 2006
-Harper broke his own legislation on fixed election dates
-Harper wants to eliminate tax subsidies to political parties, so that big corporations could fund his party as much as they wish while cutting revenue for smaller parties.
-Harper's government spent taxpayers money on useless TV ads boasting the stimulus just weeks before an "unwanted election" (quote from every Tory)

He's also a liar.
In 1997, he publicly supported coalitions of opposition parties including the Bloc. In 2004, he attempted to bring down the Liberal government and form a coalition including the NDP with Bloc support. Now he say's their illegitimate. Losers can't form coalitions. I'm sure that Baden-Wurttemberg will be pleased to hear that their government is illegitimate.

In this campaign, his security team expelled people from rallies for having Facebook links to the opposition. He refuses to take over 5 questions. He dodges serious questions, and derides the motion of contempt as a mere parliamentary shenanigan. Harpo, this is a parliamentary democracy. You rule as long as Parliament has confidence in you. This isn't a Consultative Assembly. The CPC attempted to prevent students from voting at Guelph.

Conservative MPs are basically forbidden from speaking. They rarely show up at all-candidates debates (ex: Julian Fantino avoided the media in the Vaughan by-election). The PMO must basically screen what they say. My own Tory MP hasn't proposed one private members bill since 2006. My Tory MP hasn't brought any jobs to his constituency - in fact, a defense facility moved out of this constituency.

So, yeah. Vote Conservative.

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