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 [...]

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 [...]

Harper admits he must act on the economy – The Fundemental Flip Flop…

BRIAN LAGHI , HEATHER SCOFFIELD and STEVE CHASE AND TARA PERKINS
Globe and Mail Update
October 9, 2008 at 10:48 PM EDT
OTTAWA, RICHMOND, B.C. and TORONTO — The federal government is moving to backstop the Canadian banks’ capacity to lend money in an acknowledgment that not even the country’s sturdy banking system is immune to the global [...]

Tories show video mocking Dion’s language difficulties: Trying to appeal to narrow minded bigotry and the lowest common denominator

Hypocrisy and desparation. The Harper Tories resort to U.S. Republican style political attach ads. Trying to appeal to narrow minded bigotry and the lowest common denominator, which works in ignorant parts of the United States.
Conservative leader Stephen Harper emerged shortly after a broadcast interview aired showing Liberal leader Stéphane Dion struggling in English to grasp [...]

This Hour has 22 minuntes and Stephen Harper having some fun!

Yes, Prime Minister Harper has a sense of humour…….

Watching the Canadian election debate….

9:42PM: Interesting debate, but I have to say Harper is taking a lot of heat. The environment issue is “killing” him right now. I am not sure if he cares or he is assuming that since the economy is tanking, no one cares. Do Canadians care?
“Canadians care strongly about saving the planet but wrongly believe [...]

Indian Residential School Apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mr. Poilievre

Area Tory’s ‘racist’ remarks cloud apology
Poilievre says he regrets questioning merits of settlement with aboriginals

Juliet O’Neill, with files from Tim Shufelt, The Ottawa Citizen

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was on the defensive yesterday over the remarks of a Conservative MP who undermined his historic apology to aboriginal peoples by questioning “the value [...]

Angus Reid survey announces “most liked” as prime minister?

An Angus Reid survey suggests strictly on the “like-ability factor”, most Canadians would vote for Jack Layton as the next Prime Minister. The survey puts layton’s popularity rating at 36 per cent, ahead of harpers 32 per cent. But when asked who would make the best prime minister, Steven Harper remains in front.
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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 [...]

Statscan Censorship?

An interesting post on The Progressive Economics Forum
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Once again, there seems to be a heavier hand in editing Statistics Canada’s releases.  This morning The Daily reported that:
“Spending on research and development in the higher education sector amounted to $9.6 billion (current dollars) in the fiscal year 2006/2007.”
but there was no word on whether this was an increase or [...]

Tories widen their lead. Is Canada becoming more conservative or do we just like Harper?

A new poll suggests the Conservatives have solidified a substantial lead over their closest rivals, thanks at least in part to a lack of confidence in Liberal helmsman Stéphane Dion. The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll, conducted Sept. 10-13, gave the Conservatives 40 per cent support across Canada, followed by the Liberals at 26 per cent.
read [...]

The Segregation of Native People in Canada: Voluntary or Compulsory?

Originally posted by Michèle DuCharme
The history of the Indian people for the last century has been the history of the impingement of white civilization upon the Indian: the Indian was virtually powerless to resist the white civilization; the white community of B.C. adopted a policy of [...]