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 [...]

Tories face $10B deficit, report suggests – Amazing we did not talk about that during the election?

Canada risks running a $10 billion deficit in the 2009-2010 fiscal year if the re-elected Conservative government fails to stitch a “looming fiscal hole” that is already raising the spectre of higher taxes and possible spending cuts, a report suggests. That stark prediction was made yesterday by Merrill Lynch economist David Wolf.
That stark prediction was [...]

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 [...]

Harper likely to proceed with full platform

STEVEN CHASE
October 15, 2008
CALGARY — On the surface, another minority government mandate would appear to frustrate Conservative Leader Stephen Harper’s plans to enact all of his $8.67-billion in campaign platform promises. But with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion’s future in question after his party’s loss, Mr. Harper could have free rein if the Liberals abstain on [...]

The bigger story: Justin Trudeau wins Montreal riding. Will he become the next leader of the Liberals

INGRID PERITZ
Globe and Mail Update
October 15, 2008 at 1:22 AM EDT

MONTREAL — Justin Trudeau, heir to one of the most famous names in Canadian politics, will succeed his father to Ottawa after securing a victory in the Montreal riding of Papineau last night.
Mr. Trudeau’s campaign headquarters erupted in chants of “Jus-tin, Jus-tin, Jus-tin” as his [...]

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 [...]

Harper wins again, gaining 16 seats and some in the precious 905 region around Toronto

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press Writer © 2008 The Associated Press
Oct. 15, 2008, 4:05AM
OTTAWA — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday he will reach out to all parties during the global financial meltdown after his Conservative Party won in national elections but fell short of a parliamentary majority.
Harper [...]

New Voter Identification rules at the Polls

When you vote, you MUST prove your identity and address. You have three options:
Option 1
Provide one original piece of identification issued by a government or government agency containing your photo, name and address.

Examples

Driver’s Licence
Health Card

This applies only to Ontario
Note: Not all electors in Ontario will have cards with photo, name and address

Provincial/Territorial [...]

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 [...]

John McCallum: Tory emissions plan is all pain, no gain

With all the apocalyptic warnings coming from Conservative MPs about the Liberal Green Shift plan, it is eerie how silent they have been about their own plan — especially the part of their plan that will raise energy prices for Canadians.
The Conservative government’s greenhouse gas reduction strategy is included in their document, Turning the Corner. [...]

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 [...]