A blog to give a voice to our concern about the continued erosion of our democratic processes not only within the House of Commons and within our electoral system but also throughout our society. Here you will find articles about the current problems within our parliamentary democracy, about actions both good and bad by our elected representatives, about possible solutions, opinions and debate about the state of democracy in Canada, and about our roles/responsibilities as democratic citizens. We invite your thoughtful and polite comments upon our posts and ask those who wish to post longer articles or share ideas on this subject to submit them for inclusion as a guest post.
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Thursday, October 15, 2015

Its not about me!

The Conservative “This election isn’t about me, Stephen Harper” ad that reached airwaves during Friday’s Blue Jays game is remarkable. It is impossible to look upon it as anything other than an acknowledgment that the leader of the Conservatives has become a liability to his party.
Remember this is the man who dictated that our Canadian Government shall henceforth be known as the “Harper Government” but its not about him eh!

In the case of the Conservatives it must also be considered that the party is substantially a creation of its leader: in a real sense he is its God. The party’s post-Harper fate is unclear, but the chance of schism is obvious. And if it can hold together, the possibility of falling into a deep bog of mediocrity is equally obvious. So what does Harper represent to a Conservative partisan? He is everything. He is the horse on which the farm is already bet.
This is the man that has been airing personal attacks upon young Trudeau for many months and making this election very personal.

But there is he on TV, complaining that the other candidates want to make things personal and that they would rather talk about him than about their policies. It is an all but explicit appeal to voters who like what I sometimes think of as the Martin-Harper version of Canada, but who are tired of Harper and his callow Prime Minister’s Office myrmidons.

It is the death march of deception for Harper to try to remove himself from the political equation in this election. This is the man who insisted that the public service refer to the crowd in charge not as the “Government of Canada” but the “Harper government”. This is the guy who allowed everyone to remove their muzzles just long enough to read scripted lines that came down from the high-command in the PMO.

The Conservative Party of Canada IS Stephen Harper, he has made it such with his obsessive need to control everything personally and the building a cadre of unelected disciples in the PMO to do his bidding. This election is very much about him, and ridding the country of this would be dictator.

We want him Gone, Gone Gone so Vote That Fker Out




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7 comments:

Owen Gray said...

When the going gets tough, Rural, Stephen Harper hides and looks for some one else to blame.

Rural said...

There will be more than enough blame to go around, Owen!

Kirbycairo said...

It will be really interesting to watch what happens if Harper losses. As you say, this party has very little identity outside of his persona. If he leaves, I have no doubt that Peter "women are nothing more than caregivers" Mckay will return to attempt to take over the party. Meanwhile Kenny, that sexually ambiguous, college dropout will also try to take the party into his bizarre hands. One wonders if there are any Progressive Conservatives out there who will attempt to assert the historical roots of their old party. It will be an interesting process to watch.

Rural said...

Watch for a tongue in cheek post by guest writer Pamela Mac Neal on that score tomorrow, Kirby!

Rural said...

Yes Bill, and they all say I will do this and that, not we will introduce legislation to....
Even the individual candidates (from all partys) are guilty of this!

The Mound of Sound said...

For what it's worth, Rural, I had a long chat last night with my best Ottawa Tory buddy, a guy who has been a lawyer, judge and politician, a Tory insider going back to Stanfield.

He said a lot of "old stock" Tories (PCs) won't be voting for Harper this time around. They'll either stay home or vote for another party. Apparently they've finally had it with Harper's 'above the law' governance and, in particular, his relentless attack on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

My friend said a number of Tory ridings in the Ottawa-Carleton region will be lost. Baird's riding is one of them. Poilievre escaped the same fate by ditching his old, urban riding to run in a much more rural, redistricted riding where he can likely hold on. Oliver, Fantino and Chris Alexander - Adios.

There's some concern that Harper might go into the bunker, refusing to step down and staying on as opposition leader if Trudeau prevails. His caucus is so cowed they might be afraid to stand up to him.

These old school PC veterans are afraid a Reform-PC leadership fight for the hearts and minds of the party could lead to a mild version of what's happening now to the Republicans with Western extremists (i.e. Reformers) running amok.

It sounds as though this could get ugly.

Rural said...

Its good to know, Mound, that a few of the Tories are coming to their senses as to the future of Cons after years of one man rule it could be a 'reform' or a disaster.