The Conservatives pride themselves on their ability to throw opposition leaders under the bus. And they’re at it now with NDP interim leader Nycole Turmel. She is a self-proclaimed federalist and always has been. She was a member of the BQ and of Quebec Solidaire and the Conservatives are trying to use this to prove that she and the NDP have serious questions to answer about their commitment to federalism.
You’ve got to love the Conservatives.
Look at Stephen Harper whose commitment to federalism was a lot shakier than that of Ms. Turmel ever was before he became leader of the Canadian Alliance. He was on the record with views that were intensely hostile to Canada, something you cannot say about Nycole Turmel.
In 1997, Harper delivered a speech to a U.S. conservative think tank in which he said that “Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it.” He further stated that “the NDP is kind of proof that the Devil lives and interferes in the affairs of men.”
Following the federal election of 2000, along with other right wingers, Harper co-authored a document called the “Alberta Agenda”.
It called on the provincial government to “build firewalls around Alberta” to stop the federal government from redistributing the province’s wealth to less affluent regions. That year Harper also wrote that Canada “appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country…led by a second-world strongman [Jean Chretien] appropriately suited for the task.” He advocated a “stronger and much more autonomous Alberta.”
This guy is the Conservative idea of a federalist!
If the Conservatives are going to start demanding loyalty oaths from political leaders, they are going to have to delve into the past and check out the late Richard Hatfield who was Conservative premier of New Brunswick for many years. Not only did Hatfield seek electoral advice from the Parti Quebecois while Rene Levesque was the sovereignist premier of Quebec, on the theory that they both hated Liberals, in a moment of enthusiasm he even took out a membership in the PQ. Hatfield a separatist! Who knew?
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7 comments:
Ah, yes. Harper's summer slime throwers are out in force. Has nobody told them that, after running a thoroughly disgusting campaign full of lies, libel, slander and attack ads, the Cons won? That they had the endorsement of Canada's self-nominated "national" newspaper who never once questioned the Cons methods or motives and still don't, apart from the columns of a few breakaway opinion writers?
Has anybody ever told them that most Canadians don't aspire to being a Harper Albertan?
I can't think of anything at all that we need from Harper.
Not that I'm a Conservative partisan and all that...but isn't there a more recent example that you could have trotted out than Richard Hatfield, who was, after all, known as being a Provincial party leader? That's...a bit of a stretch, but kudos for making the effort.
Anyway, it's not just the Conservative Party which is upset with the NDP's apparently uncritical coronation of Turmel. Canadians across the country want to know what the NDP was thinking when it made her their interim Leader.
I agree with Laxer; Harper is calling the kettle black when he scolds Ms. Turmel and the NDP about her Bloc affiliation. What he doesn't say is that where Harper's bread is buttered, provincial rights cant (the "firewall" comment) IS patriotic. And anti-Quebec bigotry is always in fashion.
(and Peter Lougheed spins in his grave. No, wait... That's not right...:))
Prof. James:
Okay, the pot is calling the kettle black and the kettle is calling the pot black. While Harper may talk; Turmel means it. She was a card-carrying separatist who saw that the Bloc was finished in Quebec. So she hopped on the orange bus to Ottawa before burning her membership card. And why not? Layton offered her the right to break up the country if she and her fellow travellers couldn't get their way. Remember? All it takes to separate was 50% + 1, promised Layton. But okay, here's a loyalty test for her. Will she demand that the Canada Health Act be enforced to fine provinces, including hers, that violate the Act by charging user fees, etc? Let see now.
Prof James said: "While Harper may talk; Turmel means it."
No, Harper means it - and he's the current PM with a majority not some interim opposition leader!
Call me old-school but my 'loyalty test' is how far a politician wants to integrate our county with the the ole US of A - because federalist bickering is cute but pointless when your country is the 51st state...
Luther
Conservative Transport Minister Denis Lebel is a former Bloc member.
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