Could Harper Do The Unthinkable?

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has given all the signs of someone preparing to throw down the gauntlet and fight an election battle this fall. Media is swarming all over this, especially with the latest – the federal Conservative mouthpieces asking Governor-General Michaelle Jean to cancel her planned trip representing Canada at Beijing’s upcoming Paralympic Games.

Naturally, Liberal leader Stephane Dion’s response is as confusing and obvious as ever. Mocking the very people his M.P.’s claim to represent by repeatedly refusing to vote on many crucial votes – thereby saving his skin and avoiding any kind of confrontation with the ruling Conservatives that might have resulted in a devastating election loss – Dion had the gall to call the past session of Parliament ‘successful and working’. Only the Liberals could call undemocratic representation ‘effective’.

The shocker in all of this could be the end result. Though the polling numbers continue to show the Tories and the Grits in a seemingly perpetual deadlock, don’t be surprised if Harper shocks the nation by pulling off the unthinkable – a majority.

Says here, Dion is walking a tightrope with the Liberal party hierarchy. Not at all impressed with Dion right from his surprise victory in the leadership contest through his lackluster public persona and failure to capitalize on anything close to a Conservative scandal, Dion has no choice but to play into Harper’s hands now before his party loses all faith in him. Harper, consistently underestimated by self-professed political experts, will continue to show his effective and deft election skills by playing to Quebec’s thirst for independence through his ‘nation within a nation’ notion, without causing too much damage to his popularity from his Alberta home base who have long believed that Quebec holds too much federal power to begin with.

And don’t forget the war. Despite all-too-obvious attempts at fuelling the anti-war sentiment through so-called ‘documentaries’ and ‘news information shows’ on the CBC (is there an anti-Bush, anti-war, or anti-American celebrity that The Hour's George Stroumboulopoulos hasn't interviewed?), watch for the Conservatives to utilize the campaign as a vehicle to educate the Canadian public as to the progress of our efforts in Afghanistan.

While the Liberals and the NDP show complete ignorance by believing that ‘restructuring’ can happen without military action, Canadians are smarter than that. True, we pride ourselves at wanting all avenues exhausted before actual military conflict. But deep down we are forced to admit that there is a terrorist threat to our nation, and it is inevitable that we fight them, be they al-Qaeda or other terrorist organizations, including home-grown cells. As anti-American as we as a culture identify ourselves as being, we cannot refute the reality of 9/11 and the truth that it was as much an attack on Canada as it was on the United States.

Harper’s Conservatives are the only party that understands that, and many will use this as reason to give the Tories their vote.

The Liberals are in disarray and are the epitome of a divided party; the New Democrats are perpetual also-rans who appeal to the small subcultures of our society, and will never be anything more; the Green party is a one-trick pony led by a talentless leader; and the one-province Quebec separatist Bloc Quebecois has all but lost its purpose for existence.

None of which is the most compelling reason to give Stephen Harper your vote.

The fact is, they have earned the trust of the voters, and the voters will reward the Conservatives. Harper will win the elusive majority because Canadians know that the Conservative government has been doing a good job.

That, and the absolute fear of a Dion-led government, of course. Sphere: Related Content