Canada Takes Over Where Obama Refused to Go

So things are heating up in the Great White North, with the three Opposition parties attempting to overthrow a right-wing government that acts like it won with the will of the majority, but only limped into power with 38% of the total vote count.

Where it gets really interesting is that this right-wing government is relying on the heated rhetoric and divisive-style of politics that Obama refused to engage in south of the border in the recent US election.

Many would say it was Obama's unwillingness to "go there" that won him the presidency.

Unfortunately, Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party in Canada -- well known allies of the Republicans and George W. Bush -- are in a the fight of their political lives right now and are taking over from where Obama refused to go.

The Conservative Party's most recent press release is filled with the kind of divisive language and fear-mongering.

Here's some of the more choice quotes:

"Jack Layton and the NDP who once again peddled and outdated socialist ideology..."

"The socialist NDP..."

"...they [the BQ] continue to destroy Canada."

"... a massive new carbon tax that would strangle Canada's economy."

"... an illegitimate regime without any mandate to govern."

And from a recent letter to supporters:

"the Liberals want to seize power with only an endorsement from only the socialists and the separatists."

I know to many US readers who've been subjected to far worse language in the politcal-sphere over the years will think this is pretty soft. But it is a slippery slope and it is this type of talk that only leads to two things -- division and hate. Two things that President-elect Obama clearly stated were no longer acceptable in American politics.

Seems like Harper and the Conservatives are looking to pick up the slack. Maybe it's a play for a Fox News affiliate.

Follow Kevin Grandia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kgrandia

Comments

[messy]

There's going to be an actual coup d'etat. Either Harper will force the governor general to suspend parliament, or the GG will suspend HIM. How come the world media is ignoring this?

[artsci10]

The thing is, in the Canadian case, the labels are correct.

The NDP are Socialists. Socialism isn't a naughty word in Canada like it is in the USA; it's something the NDP are quite proud of, and something most of their supporters identify with.

The Bloc DO want to break Canada apart. Their underlying belief is that Quebec should be a separate country.

When Harper says the Grits made a deal with Socialists and Separatists, he's stating an observable fact, that no one in Canada really denies (unless you engage in semantics of whether or not the BQ are really in the coalition)

[AndrewInToronto]

The NDP are social democrats not socialists, by my definition at least.

[GeoTor]

A lot of the media up in Canada have succumbed to right-wing money pumpers.
Try and post a comment to CTV.ca's website on this story that might not go with the flow of the majority of comments that support the current "right-wing" government ... "Hell" will freeze over before they'll allow that!
Anyway, noticed on CTV's site that they're in co-production with FOX on various programmes...

[IanInCanada]

Yes, I didn't expect the bias but when I looked at the postings to the CTV and CBC sites I noticed immediately that the comments posted on the CTV site were predominately anti-Coalition whereas those on the CBC site were more balanced, numerically. Now maybe that just reflects the fact that more Conservative folks watch CTV and hence are more likely to visit the CTV website. After all, some folks try to claim the CBC is leftist.

Thank heavens FOX doesn't have a Canadian affiliate.

[AndrewInToronto]

Smiling at the last remark. I'm not sure where I would put Mike Duffy for his version of editorial-as-news after he left the CBC for CTV. While not an O'Reilly, he still strikes a similar nerve in me. :-)

[Crozier]

This is Nigel, the Canadian Liberal activist.....who believes that the betrayal of the Progressive Conservative minority to the Alliance Party was a politically adept move for the Right Wing in Canada.
It left us with the BQ in QC and Jack Layton's NDP playing the proverbial dividing spoiler.

When the moderate Tories surrendered, or were betrayed to the Alliance, it gave the Left a divided landscape and then....a fight for the soul of the Liberal Party between the ideological Liberals and the pragmatic centrists under Paul Martin.

I am always convinced that voters prefer a party loyal to its ideology rather than a party who abandons them for political pragmatism. With Trudeau, we converted from an oral to written constitution and with it, a Charter of Rights and Freedoms that lives and breathes in ways my Bradford's America does not.

Stephen Harper is a neo-conservative in the Reform to Alliance to Conservative Party reality. Liberals in Canada do not get defeated, rather, they defeat themselves. This time, American neocon political strategies were adopted by this pseudo-Canadian prime minister.

[11907281]

You are right about the liberals defeating themselves, they only pick french-Canadians from Quebec to lead the liberals for the last 40 years (Paul Martin has lived in Quebec for a long time and has his business based out of there) The liberals ignore the west and constantly pander to Quebec, the sponsorship theft/pander still leaves a bad taste in Canadians mouths so picking Dion (Who has the worst English out of any liberal leader in the last 40 years) is telling the rest of the country that nothing has changed and Quebec is still in charge. I have been voting NDP since Chretien, and I don't see that changing any time soon. There is more to Canada than Quebec.

[MissaA]

The problem at this point is that Canadian politics has become so regionalized now that there aren't really many - if any (?) - Westerners to choose from for Liberal leadership positions. (Hopefully the one NDP MP from Alberta will get a cabinet position). They haven't been really competitive in the West for a while, so their electoral success depends on doing well in Ontario and Quebec. And Dion isn't exactly a sop to Quebec, he's not much liked there.

There need to be some parties that speak for the West besides the Conservatives. I hope the NDP continue to make gains there.

[AndrewInToronto]

Nigel, I would not agree with you on the NDP although I would certainly recognize the strategy employed such as "lending us your vote" if one was Liberal and disappointed previously with Paul Martin. The NDP is a valid party which is not by any means always a negative vote against the Liberal Party.

Having said that, I was very disappointed prior to Mr. Dion with the Liberal Party activists repeatedly trying to win my vote by saying that a vote for the NDP was a vote for the Conservatives. This was grossly insulting since it implied that by voting for the NDP I was not voting strategically and that it, the Liberal Party, was the only effective opposition to the Conservatives when we have had repeated minority governments lately.

[sesquialtera]

All the possibilities for Prime Minister in Canada right now are disappointing. However, we are saddled with the one who is probably the worst of the choices, an arrogant, plastic, overly ambitious man who would like to be George Bush. Too bad. Thank God he has what is a quite strong MINORITY government, all the while pretending (like Bush Co.) that's he has a mandate. That MINORITY is the only positive right now, except that maybe our politics will be getting more interesting.

[qcbetty]

Scary proposition that the only thing holding this "unholy alliance" together is the BQ.

Separatists "guiding" the governing hand? Nothing good for the west can come of that.......

And (my opinion only) is that the BQ is a group of treasonous mutineers who should be tried in a court of law.

Enough bending over for the BQ - if you don't like my Canada, take your share of your debt (and no more of the transfer payments!) and get the hell out......

But I do concur, it's a bit of "excitement" politically speaking.

The GovGen will be pulling out our wallets for an election in January, I'm sure.....

[MissaA]

Either side has to rely on the BQ to maintain power. That's how Harper became PM in the first place, remember?

Anyways, BQ MPs still represent Canadian citizens, including those who didn't vote for them. Should they be ignored? It's too late to try to marginalize the BQ. They are a successful and effective party. The best thing to do now would be to encourage their inclusion, so that their support is diluted by voters who think that the BQ does a good job representing Quebec's interests, and who support their progressive platform, but will only vote for them so long as it looks like they aren't going to try to push the separatist agenda. Co-opt and neutralize them, give their soft supporters what they want, and isolate hard-core separatists.

[AndrewInToronto]

Well put, MissaA. The Bloc do represent Canadians as much as the rest of the MPs. While one may not agree with them, it does not preclude recognizing that.

[Daksian]

Though I'm worried about any deal that involves the separatists having a level of control, I nevertheless was appalled at the blatant partisanship of Harper's economic statement-­-basically­, he was informing the opposition that he was going to bankrupt them, eliminating two parties for good and paving the way for future Conservative rule.

That's not democracy. That's the act of a demogogue.

I think Harper generally manages the goverment okay, though I dislike several of his policies. However, his approach to politics is nauseating. His crass opportunism is a result of his apparent need to dominate, which has been exemplified in how he's turned his fellow MPs into a background chorus for his one-man show. Unhappy with having to compromise to get things done, he called a needless election. He ended up with roughly the same situation as before, so he decided to fiscally hamstring his opponents since he couldn't beat them in the ballot box.

With reluctance, I support the coalition. I don't think it's a good idea, or a sustainable one, but it is how we have our own checks and balances. Harper's continued political posturing has forced us to exercise those checks and balances. Hopefully the Conservatives will oust him and put forward a more reasonable party leader. In the meantime, I do hope the Liberal party gets it act together and chooses someone more electable!

[Kevin Grandia - Huffpost Blogger]

Here's what is going around today:

Harper proposed coalition with Bloc Quebecois in 2004 - http://www.voteforenvironment.ca/harper-proposed-coalition-bloc-quebecois-2004

In 2004 Harper proposed a coalition government with the Bloc Quebecois, which he now says is will "destroy Canada."

[canucklivinginUSA]

Pot calling the keetle black I see. It's funny that he would turn around and accuse others of doing the exact same thing he did. Sounds like someone I know

[Hydro]

Good call Kevin- I watched question period and the conservatives did a great job of "staying on message"

The message was that the liberals or NDP were working/ conspiring/ coming up with strategic alliances with the separatist ///sovereigntist/ BQ

I cannot recall a single conservative response that did not include that preamble.

What you should explore is whether this fear tactic can actually work in Canada.

Todays newest sound bite is "socialist, separatist alliance coup d'etat worthy of a banana republic".

[AndrewInToronto]

Another distasteful episode involving Mr. Harper. I am still stunned and a little disgusted that he thinks that his rule is the most democratic and representative with 37.6% of the vote. He has no shame.

[AndrewInToronto]

Mr. Grandia, I thought of your post of yesterday when I glanced over the Globe and Mail as well as Toronto Star this morning and the hypocrisy of Harper's statement. There is something very disagreeable in this as well for me in that he is clearly trying to disenfranchise Quebecers who voted for the BQ and ironically in a COALITION government with two other federal parties with representation across Canada. Why would not people think that as the NDP did with their position on corporate taxes, say, so too would the Bloc have to do on some of its platforms: compromise and modify.

I would value your thoughts on comments which arose during the very early days of Mr. Harper as PM years ago: that in situations of conflict, he acts before he thinks. It seems to me that his bellicose approach will only further alienate Quebecers from the Conservatives and move them to other political parties, a pretty steep price for maintaining power.

[Daksian]

Hmmm...I made a reply to this, but it never appeared. Computer ate it, I suppose.

Anyway, it's not surprising to find that Harper is a hypocrite. Besides, the Bloc is an entity without real teeth: they can literally only do what they are mandated to--represent the interests of Quebecers on a national level. They have no power or ability to grant secession to Quebec.

[tantrictim]

it should be noted that harper still has the option to prorogue the parliament provided our governor general agrees upon her return from europe....it ain't over till its over

[mirage2008]

I consider myself a liberal Canadian, but none of these parties (especially the libs, cons and BQ) are particularly admirable either way. The NDP are basically socialist, not as an insult, but they have run every province they took control of into the ground financially in debt and unsustainable public services.

When you look at the big picture, its a choice between separatist and hatemongering BQ, corrupt and nepotistic Liberals, socialistic and financially unsound NDP and the Cons whose biggest negative is that they are infested with neocon and bushie types. But Canada is a left of center nation so the Cons know their limits.

[boing007]

When you look at the big picture, its a choice between separatist and hatemongering BQ, corrupt and nepotistic Liberals, socialistic and financially unsound NDP and the Cons whose biggest negative is that they are infested with neocon and bushie types.

But Canada is a left of center nation so the Cons know their limits.

Canada is a light left of center nation and not a nation of Palinites & Bush/Cheneys.

[MissaA]

The problem is that Harper doesn't know his limits. His stated goal is to move Canada to the ideological right. He rules autocratically and ideologically, the mini budget was based on neocon dogma, not reality, he uses the economy as an excuse to slash funding to programs which promote equality, which in the larger picture add up to pennies, he locks out the press and forces people to go through the Access to Information Act for everything. I could go on.

[IanInCanada]

A lot of Canadians fear the Coalition for all the reasons that have been touted enough in the Canadian media that I need not repeat them here. They may hate Harper but they would like to see some political stability during these difficult economic times. Many feel the Conservative Party would be best left in power for now.

Seems logical that the best choice is simply to prologue (spelling?) Parliament , have the Party immediately replace Harper with an interim leader that is the opposite of Harper, , then return to Parliament with that new and reasonable leader. The Party has already backed off on the most contentiouys aspects of it's Financial Statement anyway.

OK, that won't happen. The likelihood of Harper resigning is the same as that of Bush resigning today. Still, it might have been the best solution for us.

[AndrewInToronto]

Yet we have a political party with the Conservatives which campaigns on militarism abroad disguised as doing our bit for diplomacy, say with Afghanistan; with fear-mongering at home -- stiffer sentences for juvenile offenders; opposition to a gun registry; desire for eventual privatisation of social programmes (Flaherty with Harris and now Harper himself) including healthcare; and a disdain for transparency within the PMO. Does this not sound like a Bush-style Administration in content and style?

[peacefrogs]

Yay, our politics is finally getting interesting.

[MJCole]

That is nothing to be happy about... excuse me, aboot! =D. (Now if it were a good old fashioned sex scandle, at least something to make the Globe and Mail seem a little less grandmotherly, that would be nice.)

[majorteddy]

They won't stay there long . Mulroney Jr. will be out on his ear within a year.

[iyamchazz]

Division and Hate. Are not those the two ideological planks of the BQ?

[MissaA]

Yeah, the BQ isn't setting the agenda for the country, they're just extracting concessions for Quebec.

Anyways, with the current composition of the House, any party wishing to govern would have to rely on the BQ. And Harper teamed up with them to bring down Martin's government and get into power himself.

[AndrewInToronto]

We will have to wait to see what legislation is introduced in that area to know specifically for the Bloc but they must have gained something (as you are saying) to have agreed not to topple a coalition until after June 2010.

[zenfnord]

Calling the NDP socialists isn't exactly a slander up here. History lesson: the first leader of the federal NDP (Tommy Douglas) was the leader of the first openly socialist regional government in North America (in Saskatchewan from 1944-1961). They've certainly swung right in the last little while, much to the chagrin of many of their supports, but saying that the NDP is socialist isn't terribly far off the mark.

[MissaA]

Harper has tried to do this before - steal the Republican script, as though it will work just as well up here. Just goes to show how out of touch he is with mainstream Canadians.

[11907281]

"but saying that the NDP is socialist isn't terribly far off the mark."

I could say " saying that the Conservatives are fascists isn't terribly far off the mark.", but then I would show that I have no Idea what fascism is, just like you have no Idea what socialism is. I looked up the definition so people like yourself can stop throwing around catch words you hear on talk radio.

socialism

1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

[IanInCanada]

Glad you posted that definition. I don't see the NDP policies as remotely close to items 2 or 3. Perhaps leaning a bit to item 1 but not that strongly. If anything, my perhaps simplistic view of the NDP is that they are extremely oriented to people rather than business and are more pro-taxation because it provides the government with funds to support social programs such as Universal Health Care, Child Care, support of the homeless, blah, blah blah. They are also pro-union. Their goals look pretty good. to the less wealthy who look to government for assistance. However, their tendency to want to heavily tax business frightens Conservatives to the bone and even scares Liberals. I've never voted NDP but have sometimes contemplated it. The Liberals, however, were usually left-wing enough or even central enough to satisfy me. So, a coalition of Liberals and NDP is no boogie-man, especially if, as is the case, that the Minister of Finance in the Colaition would be a Liberal.

But "socialist" is a noun that is bandied about just to scare people. In the USA, even the noun "liberal" is used derisively by Right-Wing talk radio.

[AndrewInToronto]

That really is the crux of bandying around this word: socialism. The difficulty is really trying to distinguish it as a mode of production different from communism, something which was theoretically an issue in the Soviet Union and Comecon nations. As a Marxist, I think that the NDP are far from being socialist, but rather social democrats. They are liberal in the traditional sense of the term: tinking with capitalism to try to mitigate its inherent contradictions (i.e., workers as a cost of production but whose wages purchase the very products which capitalists acquire through the wage-labour system; over-produ­ction....) while leaving the fundamentals of private capital intact. When was the last time one heard an NDP leader espouse nationalization of an industry, for instance, or banking? (winks)

[Skepticat]

Harper suffers from an ailment common to many in politics - a mistaken belief that people actually adore him. They don't. He's too much of an idealog. Canadians for the most part are less partisan, more pragmatic and don't like divisive US style politics. Most of us would not be that heartbroken if he were turfed and a coalition formed. If there was another election it would probably still be a minority gov't either liberal or tory - because none of the players are that inspiring.

[laylahb]

HuffPost's Pick

As I told my family and friends when I was up in Montreal in early October, "Three elections in four years.. expect a fourth in the Spring." I'd love to see the Liberals, NDP and the Bloc (not that I have any love for the Separatists) blow Harper out. Finally.

My friends down here don't get the Parliamentary system, and wonder how you can just throw someone out because you don't like them, through a vote of non-confidence or by dissolving Parliament.

Wish we could have done that to Bush 7.5 years ago..

[AndrewInToronto]

Smiling at your post, LaylaHb. I think my American girlfriend (sounds like a Wim Wenders' film ;-) ) has a similar problem but she loves Canadian politics and cultural affairs similar to how I have loved US presidential politics this season during all of 2008. I think she was shocked to learn that there were 21 federally registered political parties in the last election, although obviously some are single-issue or satirical parties like the NeoRhino or are regional ones as in Quebec and not necessarily represented in every riding.

[Kevin Grandia - Huffpost Blogger]

HuffPost's Pick

Again with the "separtists" - i understand the deep and emotional history of this, but in 2004 Stephen Harper proposed to do the exact same thing:

Harper proposed coalition with Bloc Quebecois in 2004
http://www.voteforenvironment.ca/harper-proposed-coalition-bloc-quebecois-2004