Ever since the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party merged to form the new Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberals have been hard at work to discredit their opponents. They would tell Canadians that Canada would cease to exist if the Conservatives ever came to power. At the same time, the left has called them Nazis, fascists, child murderers, and a few other choice names.
When the Tories did take power earlier this year, people on the left were almost ready to cut their wrists. They started hammering down on Harper and his government, spreading lies (the Toronto Star, for example, put a story in circulation saying that David Emerson, who had been brought over to the Tories from the Liberals, was not happy with Harper and that he really missed his Liberals) and telling Canadians what their priorities should be.
Well, none of that is working for them. The Conservatives are stronger than before: according to the most recent Ipsos-Reid poll, the Tories are now safely in majority territory at 43%, with the Liberals down to 25%. This latest result comes on the heels of such faux pas as the flag issue, the dead-soldier issue, the Ottawa press corps issue, the Kyoto issue, the Gwyn Morgan issue, the Harper-is-no-Liberal issue, etc. None of that matters. What does matter to Canadians, so it seems, is that they want to be shot of the Liberals - hardly surprising, given the new revelations of Liberal corruption and accounting trickery in Auditor-General Sheila Fraser’s recent report.
To our shame as a nation, Canadians did buy into the scare tactics of the Liberals for several years, but those times seem over. The Liberals now have a long road ahead of them — rudderless and without a real leader, the party is seriously adrift. Even though a good dozen or so people have happily paid the entry fee of $50,000 to run for the leadership of the Liberal Party, no one on that roster inspires Canadians, and even Liberals themselves appear anything but enthusiastic about the choices they are facing.
Article comments
1 - dave campbell
Boastfull article thats some how believes that the total landscape has changed in Canadian politics.
Canada is just a little behind the curve in electing its own version of Tony Blair / Gerorge Bush type government. This is already passee to the rest of the world and will soon be gone in The US and Britian and likly won't last long in Canada.
As for Quebec if you give they will come, keep giving the special privilages and more funding to quebec and they will continue to like the conservatives. Don't be stupid (quebecers arn't) give them additional powers and additional funding on their way to independance.
Harpers so called leadership is hopefully short lived for all of us, including us conservatives that believe in democracy and democratic rights and an open government.