Mark Johnson
Stephen Harper has now had one year to prove himself to be prime minister material, and he has, on issue after issue, let Canadians down. After years of Liberal economic wonders, real results for Canadians and tireless hard work, the Conservative Party of Stephen Harper and Pierre Poilievre has failed to deliver for Canada.
Month after month, the country continues to suffer under the Conservatives, while Pierre Poilievre is either MIA or refusing to question the errors and bad judgment of his own party. Let’s take a quick glance at the disappointing timeline of Stephen Harper’s tired government.
February 2006 – Immediately after the election, Harper began going back on his word. After years of arguing for Senate reform, Harper attempts to compensate for his party’s failure to win any seats in Montreal by appointing Michael Fortier to the Senate to represent the city. Not only is this blatant patronage and opportunism, but Harper also appointed Fortier Minister of Public Works and Government Services, meaning the senator would not be accountable to the House of Commons and unavailable for questioning. With Harper believed to be in favour of Senate elections, such an affront to democracy was shocking to Canadians.
Harper also brings in party-jumper David Emerson to represent Vancouver, another area where the Conservatives won zero seats. Emerson evidently wanted power, and running as a Liberal was the only way to remain in Parliament – his central Vancouver riding only registered 18.8 per cent support for the Conservatives. Prior calls from the Conservatives for defectors to compete in a by-election before being permitted to switch parties suddenly fall silent with Emerson’s betrayal of his constituents. Apparently, one more MP is reason enough for Conservatives to abandon their principles. The government does what Tories do best – put power ahead of principle.
March 2006 – Harper government cuts the popular One Tonne Challenge, which was set up by the previous Liberal government to urge Canadians to cut greenhouse gas emissions by changing their personal habits, from using less energy to conserving water. They also chop funding to 40 public information offices across the country and several scientific and research programs on climate change, leading environmentalists to dub the fateful day, “Black Friday,” in commemoration of the Conservative assault on environmental protection in Canada.
April 2006 – Canadians were disappointed to see Harper’s softwood lumber sellout, throwing away a billion of Canadians hard-earned taxpayer dollars for the sake of political opportunism and a chance to curry favour with US President Bush. Canadians believe in the NAFTA deal, but Harper chose to reward the Americans with $1 billion of our money as a thank-you for violating the deal. Canadians don’t pay taxes with the expectation that those dollars will be shipped south! The softwood sellout lost Canada hundreds of jobs in the forestry sector. When Harper was Leader of the Opposition, he called on the government to refuse to deal with the Americans, arguing, “You don’t negotiate after you’ve won.” Evidently Dr. Jekyll in opposition turns to Mr. Hyde in government when it comes to Stephen Harper.
A comment by a Conservative MP suggesting that journalists should be jailed leads Harper to muzzle his government. The Prime Minister warns ministers that they could be banned from traveling, publicly humiliated or even fired for “offences” such as contradicting the government in public. Several Tories privately admit they resent the tight leash, and Poilievre thereafter refuses to stand up for the residents of Nepean-Carleton and consents to be muzzled. Is this what voters want to see? We think not.
May 2006 – The Harper government introduces its first budget, a colossal disappointment for Canada. Despite promising to cut the GST immediately upon taking office, Harper decides to wait until July to knock a point off the tax. They raised the lowest income tax bracket from 15% to 15.5%, a direct assault on low-income Canadians. They also raised taxes on beer and wine and slashed funding to environmental protection programs. The Court Challenges Program, which has been instrumental in winning rights for the disabled, was also axed by the Tories, as were several literacy programs. Immediately after the budget is introduced, the Conservatives receive support from longtime Harper ally, the separatist Bloc Québécois.
Prime minister Harper slashes funds to the EnerGuide program, through which Canadians who have their homes renovated to save energy can qualify for a federal grant of several thousand dollars. A home retrofitted under the program cuts its energy consumption by 30%, and about 300,000 people have used the program since it began in 1998. No longer.
June 2006 – Despite running on a promise to address the so-called “fiscal imbalance,” the Conservatives flip-flip and refuse to give the provinces any more money, instead angering the premiers by telling them to simply raise taxes if they need more funds. Canadians are frustrated with yet another Conservative broken promise. The finance minister seems to believe that the health care accord signed by former Prime Minister Paul Martin is sufficient; Canadians are not impressed by this cop-out.
July 2006 – Harper broke Canada’s longstanding and proud policy of being an honest and neutral broker of peace in the Middle East by siding exclusively with Israel during its invasion of Lebanon, saddening the Arab community in Canada and raising questions from our bewildered allies on the international stage. Harper takes massive criticism for seemingly standing up for human rights only in Israel, ignoring the hundreds of deaths taking place in Lebanon and elsewhere across the globe.
August 2006 – News breaks that the Conservative government hired a pollster to determine what course of action is most likely to win them a majority government. The Strategic Council concludes that the government should deliver a plan to address air pollution and water quality. Participants' comments suggest that canceling Canada's participation in Kyoto has weakened the credibility of the government on the environment, exposing a lack of political leadership on the issue. A spokesman for the Environment Minister refuses to comment on the study or divulge its cost to taxpayers. MP Poilievre again fails to defend the taxpayer in Nepean-Carleton.
September 2006 – The Conservative government cancels a $1.5 million pledge by the Liberals to help developing countries cut greenhouse emissions under the rules of the Kyoto Protocol. Canada was among 20 industrialized countries which collectively pledged more than $8 million for the plan. Canada's pledge, the largest of any country, was seen as a big boost for the Kyoto process. The government has abandoned another of our international commitments, despite Harper’s endorsement of the plan in July.
In light of the Dawson College shootings, the three opposition parties declare their support for the long gun registry, which is used by the police thousands of times each day in their fight against crime. In defiance of the will of the democratically elected House of Commons, the government presses on in its drive to weaken our gun control laws. Poilievre is nowhere to be found, complacent in the Tories’ soft-on-crime approach.
October 2006 – The Prime Minister decides to ignore a vote in the House calling on the government to meet the objectives established under the Kyoto Accord. As leader of a minority government elected with only 36% of the vote, the Prime Minister has a duty to implement the will of the House. Shame on Poilievre for supporting this government’s “cut-and-run” approach to the Kyoto treaty, which Canada signed in good faith!
The Conservatives break an election promise to preserve income trusts, directly affecting the savings of millions of Canadians who have benefited from investing in income trusts and depend on their well being. Liberal leader Bill Graham refers to the decision’s impact on Canadians as an “economic bloodbath.” Canadians are again reminded of the value of Conservative election promises: zero.
November 2006 – Treasury Board President John Baird, Pierre Poilievre’s boss, starts playing political games with Ottawa’s much needed O-Train expansion. Despite Ottawa’s previous and repeatedly stated commitment to providing their portion of the funding, Baird suddenly decided to withhold the funding until the new council had a chance to vote on it, effectively making the O-Train the number one election issue and drastically altering the outcome. Poilievre steadfastly refuses to stand up for the residents of Nepean-Carleton or for the RCMP, who will need the transit system to get to work when they move to the JDS Uniphase building. According to the Ottawa Citizen, Treasury Board and Department of Finance officials were satisfied with the City of Ottawa's $880-million commuter rail plan, but federal minister John Baird took it upon himself to ask for a financial audit that led to the delay and subsequent death of the project, while Nepean-Carleton’s MP stood idly by and left his constituents, eagerly anticipating the O-Train expansion, out in the cold.
December 2006 – Despite the fact that the issue was long considered settled by Canadians, the Conservative government raises the possibility of suspending human rights by revisiting the same-sex marriage issue. The Tories, who had made the matter one of their key electoral planks, are embarrassed as the motion is defeated 175-123. MP Poilievre supports the government motion, refusing to stand up for the residents of Nepean-Carleton, who believe the issue to have been settled long ago.
January 2007 – In a desperate move to solidify his weak and tired minority government, the Prime Minister lures a defector, Wajid Khan, into his caucus. Khan had been appointed Harper’s special advisor on the Middle East last summer, and chose to betray the citizens of Mississauga-Streetsville, who had voted Liberal in 2006. In a situation that rings similar to the Emerson defection last year, the Conservative backbenchers are silent on the defection, unlike when Belinda Stronach joined the Liberals last year, when they demanded she face a by-election first. The Conservatives were outraged then – why the double standard now? Where is Poilievre in demanding accountability to the voters?
Sources:
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/061012/n101262.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/09/19/softwood-vote.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2006/05/15/ns-energuide200605...
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2006/04/03/ns-onetonne2006040...
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/ontario/story.html?id=6a9791c1-9b00-4406-...
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=fe0ea684-9af9-4...
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/060910/n091040.html
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/060831/n0831116.html
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?pub=hansard&me...
http://www.bcwf.bc.ca/documents/s=380/bcw1159146014919/
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/business/061031/b1031120.html
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=be03c41a-e0a9-425...
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/070105/n010531A.html
LINKS ABOUT ENVIRONMENT:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/kyoto/keyresources.html