Could this man be the next Canadian PM?

[df2inaus]

Lets hope so. Finally, someone who will fund the Canadian military, increase troop numbers, shrink committments overseas, and actually have a foreign policy. Go Stephen Go!

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/20/ca ... ves_040320

TORONTO - Stephen Harper won a first-ballot victory Sunday to become the first leader of the Conservative Party of Canada – a win he said marks "the beginning of the end" for Paul Martin's Liberal government.
With 291 ridings reporting, Harper won 56 per cent of the points. Each of the 308 ridings was worth 100 points.
Former Magna International CEO Belinda Stronach was second with 35 per cent and former Ontario cabinet minister Tony Clement was last with 9 per cent.
In his acceptance speech, Harper said "the unprecedented unification of conservatives" in the new party are ready to take on the Liberals in an election that's expected in the spring.
"Paul Martin came to power by dividing his own party against its leader and against itself, and he is reaping his reward," the former leader of the Canadian Alliance said, referring to the political feud between the former finance minister and then-prime minister Jean Chrétien.
Harper had a strong showing in British Columbia, the Prairies and Ontario, while Stronach was ahead of her two rivals in several ridings in Atlantic Canada and Quebec.
Earlier, in a keynote speech at the Toronto convention, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein said the party, formed when the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives merged, would run a fiscally responsible government.
He also said the united conservative party would mend the Liberals' "broken relationship" with the United States. But he saved his harshest criticism for the sponsorship scandal.
"[The Liberals] actually think they own the country, that it is a commodity that can be bought and sold," he said. "You can't buy and sell Canada with our own money."

[anglo-saxon]

An interesting result. Not at all surprising, though as he was the favourite. He's the only MP I have ever e-mailed who responded personally. Too bad the turnout of conservative party voters who turned out to vote ws so small (about 1/3).

Next, we need to engineer the party as viable in the East again, as after all, it makes not difference, reaslly, if we have huge popularity for it out West; it's in Ontario that the real vote results count on election day!

[Andy O'Pray]

Harper does not stand a chance of becoming the next PM. The mistrust of the Reform/Alliance in Atlantic Canada will cost the Tory MP's from there their seats. I daresay that the Liberals will have a reduced majority after the next election, but I feel that will be caused by the NDP and in the case of Quebec the PQ and not the Conservatives.

Aye - Andy.

[df2inaus]

Andy,

The mistrust of the Reform/Alliance in Atlantic Canada will cost the Tory MP's from there their seats. I daresay that the Liberals will have a reduced majority after the next election, but I feel that will be caused by the NDP and in the case of Quebec the PQ and not the Conservatives.

True, Atlantic Canada will invariably vote Liberal as will Ontario. The fearmongering by the Sheila Copps' and Elinor Caplans of this country against the Reform/Alliance/Conservatives has paid off and threatens to keep Ontario Liberal forever.

I know all too well Harper as PM with a majority is unliklely this year, if ever. My dream would be to see a Conservative-Bloc coalition government. I'd love to see Quebec and the West do whatever it takes to get rid of Ontario's (meaning left-leaning Metropolitan Toronto's) stranglehold on this country.

The biggest obstacle to making this country better isn't the Liberal party anymore, its the Ontario voter.

[Redhand]

I couldn't agree more...but alas! It was not meant to be...it is so damn depressing it's almost maniacally funny!

[df2inaus]

Redhand,

Just got back from a vacation in BC and it felt so good to be thousands of miles from Toronto, and Ottawa for that matter. It also dawned on me one day near Campbell River that Jean Chretien will never again be the Prime Minister of Canada, a great moment for me.

Must disagree about the election defeat being funny, though. To see the family of the MP I campaigned for as a volunteer be so utterly disgusted on election night, I realized that defeating the Big Red Machine in Ontario may not happen in our lifetimes.

However, we Conservatives can still laugh at ourselves unlike the Toronto Liberals who are so easily offended about everything.

Fact is, Ontario, especially the 905 area, was ready to elect many more Conservative MP's. Stephen Harper went wrong by not defending himself in debate and on TV ads. Liberal TV ads showed Cdn troops invading Iraq, where were the Conservative ads showing the wrecked Sea King heli on the destroyer, or a lookalike George Radwanski spending $200,000 plus wining and dining himself? Why didn't he just say "the social safety net isn't going anywhere." It was that close.

The Conservative Party of Canada should sit down and watch Tony Blair closely. Blair proves that as long as you campaign to the left, but govern from the right of centre, you will win. The British public will show that they will tolerate a war of aggression in Iraq if Blair can avoid scrutiny over health care and education, which he is destroying. I've been a teacher in the UK, I know.

Stephen Harper take note, if the Conservatives show the urban public that they accept social progression like gay marriage and abortion as facts of life, eventually Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will give them a majority and thus the ability to expand the military, crack down on criminals and throw the bums out of the senate, etc.

The fight goes on,

df2

[df2inaus]

Well, nearly two years later, this man is in power, despite everyone saying it couldn't be done. I can hardly believe it.

If anyone's interested in election campaign dynamics I could write forever.

I campaigned actively, as communications director, in a riding where the Conservatives lost, but it was all worth it, now that Harper is the Prime Minister.

Way to go Stephen. Canadian soldiers were seen in London recently for the funeral of a diplomat. Expect to see Canadian soldiers more often in the news in the next couple of years.

It can be done. After decades of nanny-state socialism and hatred of the military, things are about to get better.

Good luck Mr Cameron, it is morning in Canada.

df2inaus

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... wcan25.xml

[Tab]

Canada's new prime minister tackles US over Arctic rights
By Francis Harris in Washington
(Filed: 28/01/2006)

Canada's new Conservative prime minister, accused by opponents of cringing pro-Americanism, has fallen out with Washington.

Just three days after his election, Stephen Harper attacked statements by the American ambassador suggesting that Canada's iceberg-strewn Arctic seaways are "neutral waters".


Stephen Harper: Canada will defend its sovereignty
Within hours the Conservative leader raised the issue with journalists, although he had not been asked to comment. Emphasising his new government's commitment to increase defence expenditure in Canada's Arctic, Mr Harper said: "I was very clear about this in the election campaign. The United States defends its sovereignty. The Canadian government will defend our sovereignty."

He continued: "It is the Canadian people we get our mandate from, not the ambassador of the United States."

Canadians interpreted the Tory leader's words as a signal to the public that he would be a dogged negotiator for Canadian interests with President George W Bush's administration.

"It let him show he's tough on the Americans," said Scott Anderson, editor of the conservative Ottawa Citizen.

But there are also serious issues at play now that the once-frozen waters of the North-West Passage are opening up for shipping and oil exploration.

Mr Harper has pledged to build three armed ice-breakers to underline Canada's claim to the waters running between the innumerable Arctic islands.

He also intends to construct a deep water port at the Baffin Island settlement of Iqaluit and to deploy powerful sensors on the ocean floor to detect incursions by foreign navies.

American, French and Royal Navy submarines are all believed regularly to use waters that Canada says it owns.

The American ambassador, David Wilkins, emphasised when he spoke that he was merely reiterating a longstanding policy on the Arctic. "Our position is very consistent. We agree to disagree. We don't recognise Canada's claims to the waters.

"There's no reason... to say, 'There's a problem that's occurring and we've got to do something about it'," he said.

But experts believe the days when Canada and America could bury the issue are almost at an end.

Ships have begun to navigate the waters of the North-West Passage as the ice recedes. The route would cut 4,500 miles off the passage through the Panama Canal.

It has been speculated that Canada will one day out-produce Saudi Arabia once new fields are discovered in the Arctic.

25 January 2006: Canada's Conservatives back after decade in cold

[df2inaus]

A blast at the US has come from an unliklely source, but Harper knows Canada well enough that you have to get mad at the Yanks every once in a while to keep the chattering classes from crying in their lattes.

Harper is the first Canadian PM since Louis St. Laurent who will actually look after the military and give it the resources it needs. If Canadian warships and subs actually exercise in the Arctic, it should make Canada's claim to these waters legitimate.

All that said Ambassador Wilkins will probably expose himself to criticism from Harper throughout his term on purpose, so that a majority of Canadians will warm up to Harper. The Americans, whether Republicans or Democrats are in the White House would prefer Harper any day to the idiotic Trudeau, Chretien or Martin.

[Tab]

It is amazing that America showed no interest in this area for hundreds of years, and thanks to the global warming that they have helped so much to create there is now a strong possibility that the North West Passage could become a reality. Now this happening and there might be some money to made out of it then who is there throwing their weight around the Worlds Policeman.

[harry hackedoff]

Yes Tab, that`s so interesting
But do you think they`ll realise what a farking big mistake they made when they binned their Para Reg?

[Tab]

Now Harry, am I the one to answer that honestly

[anglo-saxon]

Yes Tab, that`s so interesting
But do you think they`ll realise what a farking big mistake they made when they binned their Para Reg?

The Canadian Airborne was disbanded under the the Liberals (Collonette was the Minister for National Defense) following the death of a local in Somalia (et al!). As much as I hate to say it, the Regt had gone rotten. There are more ex Cdn AB in the Hell's Angels here than you could shake a stick at. But while the AB did deserve to be spring cleaned, it didn't warrant dispandment. Harper has promised to reinstate an airborne capability unit. What that will look like, I have no idea. A tier 2 SF unit is already being formed to work closely with JTF2.

In the bigger picture, the CF needs a massive influx of cash. Right now, inf units are having to rob from each other and rely heavilly on reserve augmentation (ave 20%) just to put a full bn in theatre. We have sat phones, GPS command and control systems, Gucci radios, and Mercedes, but no one to use it all. A bloody joke!