The West, Harper, Link Byfield, CNEWS Commentary, SSM, Tolerance, MSM

If the hat fits July 22, 2005, Link Byfield, Calgary Sun

contact@citizenscentre.com

A Monday editorial in the Toronto Sun about Conservative leader Stephen Harper illustrates, in a small way, why this country doesn't work.

[. . . .] If Harper had gone to some voyageur festival in Quebec and put on a toque, or a Metis fiddling contest in Manitoba and donned the famous sash, or eaten lobster in a Nova Scotia sou'wester, all that would be normal and commendable.
But Lord help him if he wears a Stetson during Stampede, along with everyone else in Calgary. [. . . . ]

Topic: Link Byfield describes

bisbee, 7/22/2005

The Conservative Party has a positive plan for the future of Canada, but unfortunately it cannot be released until the election writ has been dropped. To reveal all now would only enable the morally-bankrupt, corruption-prone, scandal-ridden LIEberal Party to steal most of the Conservative vision (as they have for most of the past 13 years). Then, of course, with the help of the LIEberal-friendly media we would all read about all these great LIEberal ideas!!

The media is trying to prod Stephen Harper to release all now, but it will only be released in very general terms until the writ is dropped. At that time, the Conservative vision can be clearly defined and outlined and the LIEberals will not be able to steal it since it will be clearly Conservative policy that no LIEberal has ever talked about previously. It is sad that the full Conservative policy and platform canot be released now-we know the public wants it but the political reality with the corrupt LIEberals in power means everything must be kept under wraps until the election campaign. At that time, the positive and the ambitious Conservative plan for Canada will be showcased. [. . . . ]

rosemarie59, 7/23/2005

I know one of the things they will do to clean up government is to introduce conflict of interest laws like they have in the States. For example, while Finance Minister, Martin should not have been able to retain ownership of CSL and benefit from government handouts to CSL, but he did. The Conservatives would pass a bill stating that anyone holding public office would have to divest themselves of their corporate interests. And I don't mean 'blind trusts', they're too easy to get around.

Topic: SSM-Issues Already?

Message:
From Quickscan (which is a summary of newspaper headlines daily across Canada):

"- Lee Konik, who lives in an apartment in Toronto's Gay Village, is being threatened with eviction because he displayed a sign from his balcony which read: "Marriage = 1 man + 1 woman." [. . . . ]

Is "freedom of speech" also protected by the Charter? [. . . . ]

Might one suggest that free speech is protected when it suits the appointed justices and the government who decide what group(s) are protected. The rest--Christians, heterosexuals, church-affiliated schools which teach that homosexuality is sin / wrong and the like--are fair game for the blackboot crowd.




Johnson says in general national media 'ignorant' on big issues The Hill Times, July 18th, 2005, THE HOT ROOM, By Bea Vongdouangchanh

William Johnson says he's been struck again and again in his journalism career, on how on the big issues, 'journalists somehow seem to be content with the most superficial things possible.' Read on.

William Johnson, author of the recently-released political biography Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada, says Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper is "an anti-politician kind of politician" who can't get a break from eastern Canadian media because they're "still judging him by conventional criteria of a Prime Minister who really pleases them." As well, he says, generally, the national media "are ignorant" of the big issues facing the country.

"How do you judge a potential Prime Minister?" Mr. Johnson said. "To me, you don't judge the future Prime Minister by good looks, by a kind of pseudo-charismatic charm. You judge them by their track record and were they right on the big issues?" [. . . . ]

Is Harper our next Trudeau? William Watson, July 22, 05, Financial Post

The beach book for conservatives this summer is William Johnson's just-released Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada. [. . . . ]

Although Harper served only a single term in Parliament in the 1990s, he was probably the most important Canadian politician of that decade. From 1993 on, Reform forced Ottawa's fiscal agenda and from 1995 on, following the cliffhanging Quebec referendum, it forced the federal government's no-nonsense "Plan B" agenda on Quebec. As Reform's main man on policy, Harper was chief architect of both policies.

That no-nonsense approach to separatism makes him Trudeau-like in a second way.
Johnson argues, perfectly persuasively, that on all the big issues of his time Harper has come down on the right side, in all senses of "right." He was for free trade, for clarity on Quebec, for fiscal sanity, for smaller government, for lower taxes. If we judge politicians on their judgment, Harper is a guy with a track record of great judgment.

[. . . . ] if Harper sticks to his principles, it's not yet out of the question Canadians will come to respect him enough to put him in Pierre Trudeau's chair.

Please, put Stephen Harper in the Prime Ministerial position but end the comparison with PET. He did enough damage for us.

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