Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Your Choices for Prime Minister Are...

While we have approximately half a dozen or so party leaders running around trying to sell us on their platforms, only two of them really stand a significant chance of becoming Canada's next Prime Minister. Short of a major disaster for both the CPC and the Liberals, Layton isn't likely to make it to 24 Sussex, and neither is the Green Party leader Jim Harris. That leaves us with Paul "I didn't know about it" Martin, and Stephen "I'm a neo-republican" Harper.

When American conservative commentators start singing Harper's praises, and then Harper replies, I get really bothered. Since Harper's Reply appears as a "letter to the editor" and those pages tend to vanish quickly off the web, I have taken the liberty of reproducing it here:

Stephen Harper, for the record

Patrick Basham of the Cato Institute calls me "pro-free trade, pro-Iraq war, anti-Kyoto, and socially conservative" ("Gift from Canada?" Commentary, Dec. 2). While I certainly consider myself to be a friend of the United States, I am afraid this greatly oversimplifies my positions.

For the record: While, unlike the current Liberal government, I have always supported free trade, there is a deep concern in Canada about the commitment of the current U.S. administration and Congress to free trade. The United States is withholding some $5 billion in duties held from Canadian softwood lumber producers, despite the fact that a NAFTA panel has ruled that these duties are illegal.

In a recent speech, I stated that Canada must determine "the willingness of the United States to strengthen the dispute resolution mechanism and to subordinate domestic political pressures to a shared system of rules" and that "if this is not a direction in which the United States wishes to go, then Canada will have to make other long-term choices in its economic infrastructure," including expanded trade relationships with Asian countries such as India, Japan, and China.

On Iraq, while I support the removal of Saddam Hussein and applaud the efforts to establish democracy and freedom in Iraq, I would not commit Canadian troops to that country. I must admit great disappointment at the failure to substantiate pre-war intelligence information regarding Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction.

While I think that the Kyoto Treaty is deeply flawed, I support developing a plan, in coordination with the United States and other countries, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing new technologies and energy conservation.

And while I have promised a free vote in Canada's parliament to reconsider the recent change of law to allow same-sex marriages in Canada, and will vote myself for a return to the traditional definition of marriage, I have said any changes must protect the existing status of same-sex couples who have been legally married. As well, a new Conservative government will not initiate or support any effort to pass legislation restricting abortion in Canada.

Despite my differences on many issues with some American conservative politicians, I look forward to a cooperative, constructive relationship with the United States as our principal trading partner and ally under a new Conservative government.


HON. STEPHEN HARPER
House of Commons
Ottawa


What a thinly veiled suck-up job. If I wasn't convinced before that Harper will kowtow to whatever the Bush White House dictates, I am now. Why don't you nominate Bush for Pope, Stephen? Then you'll only have to kiss his ring.

On the other hand, as much as I don't really _trust_ Paul Martin, he has the apparent cajones to call the US government out when they're being completely vacuous idiots. Presumably, he similarly has the requisite smarts to tell Washington's "governor in waiting" to bugger off as well.

So - our choices start to look like this:

A man who at least recognizes that Canada is not a subsidary of BushCo, or a man whose interests lie in cuddling up with one of the most dishonest, inept governments that the United States has seen in decades.

Who ya gonna vote for?

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