Canadian Prime Minister Harper rips President Obama and Libertarians in private speech to right-wing former Reform Party conservatives

By Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA – Stephen Harper made two very different sales pitches for his economic plan this week: one a public pep talk to jittery Canadians, the other a private smoothing-of-the-feathers for uneasy conservatives.
The marquee speech Canadians saw on television Tuesday or read about the next day was about how the economy [...]

Flip Flop? – PM changes his tone on running deficits

We warned you during the election that the numbers did not make sense. As with others in the past who promised no deficits it seems that Harper has retracted on what he said during the election. Flip-flop? We focused so much on the Green Shift that other issues were put to the side. Now we [...]

Dion out by year’s end, Harper before the next vote

LAWRENCE MARTIN
lmartin@globeandmail.com
October 16, 2008
This was the election that shouldn’t have been held, that attracted a dismal turnout, that didn’t change anything – but could well change everything.
Stéphane Dion will be out as Liberal leader by year’s end. Stephen Harper is likely to follow him before the next election. Jack Layton, despite having the best showing [...]

The bigger story: Canadian Election is the lowest in history at only 59 percent

CLOSE TO 10 MILLION CANADIANS DID NOT BOTHER TO VOTE!!!

OTTAWA — Early figures indicate Canadians avoided the ballot box more than ever before on election day.
Just 58 per cent of eligible voters visited the polls — from a high of 69 per cent in Prince Edward Island to 48 per cent in Newfoundland, according to [...]

Carbon tax: a conservative concept, not the Liberals

By: Werner Patels
Jonathan Kay raises interesting points about the carbon tax and posits that it’s actually quite a “conservative” tax. I’d like to refer readers to Kay’s article, in which he makes a number of very valid observations – apart from the fact that Stéphane Dion should be sacked, he also reminds people that conservatism [...]

The mistakes Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Greens and Bloc Quebecois made. However there is no mistake when you vote!

In my estimation, these are the errors each leader made during this campaign. They are in no particular order, however I welcome your comments.
Harper and the Conservatives
1. Called the election in the first place, knowing that Canadians wanted the minority government to remain, as is. We wanted everyone to work “together”.
2. The perceived indifference to [...]

A Minority Goverment and just a bit of arrogrance from Prime Minister Harper before the polls open

Barring an almost miraculous shift of public opinion the Conservatives appear set to win enough seats in the Commons to form another minority government. It will probably be a minority government with less seats, because of the economic turbulence in the air. However, Harper has already said that if that happens, he will take it [...]

Interesting Harper website provides insights and information on his promises and failures during his time in Government

http://www.harperindex.ca/index.cfm
Framing mistakes and contradictions pile up
Bad timing has played a role, but Harper is largely the author of his own undoing.
All the careful planning and maneuvering is coming undone for Stephen Harper, who appears now to be in a downward spiral with less than a week to go before the election.
More >
Hidden-agenda concerns keep Conservatives [...]

Canadian Conservatives vow to implement new copyright law

Canadians who vote to re-elect the Conservative government next week will also be voting for an archly pro-copyright agenda. According to the party’s official platform released yesterday:
A re-elected Conservative government led by Stephen Harper will reintroduce federal copyright legislation that strikes the appropriate balance among the rights of musicians, artists, programmers and other creators and [...]

Election race tightening, poll suggests

OTTAWA – A new poll suggests the federal election race is tightening as party leaders head into the home stretch.
With just over a week until voting day, a new survey suggests Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have dipped to 34 per cent in support – still 10 points ahead of the Liberals but short of [...]

The dangerous politics of intimidation and threats in Canada – Car and home vandals aim at Toronto Liberal supporters

Brake lines cut, cars damaged at homes. Toronto police patrolled a midtown area overnight, after vandals cut brake lines on at least 10 cars parked at homes with Liberal election signs on their lawns.

“We’re investigating. Officers are paying special attention to the designated area and we take this very seriously,” Staff-Sgt. Shawn Meloche, from 53 [...]

Harper Tory campaign takes new hit. Candidates who are off the message and out of order. How many more are like this in his party?

In the latest embarrassment for the Conservative campaign, a candidate who blogged after the July beheading on a Winnipeg-bound bus that Canadians should be allowed to carry concealed handguns for protection has resigned from the Toronto Centre race.
Musings on women, gays, native protesters and hate-speech laws.
(1) Law-abiding men and women should be allowed to carry [...]

Free trade Canada – Europe – Secret agreement in the works?

DOUG SAUNDERS
From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
September 18, 2008 at 2:00 AM EDT

LONDON — Canadian and European officials say they plan to begin negotiating a massive agreement to integrate Canada’s economy with the 27 nations of the European Union, with preliminary talks to be launched at an Oct. 17 summit in Montreal three days after the federal [...]