If even a fraction of the darkness that his haters say has descended upon Canada under Stephen Harper was real, then the opening line of any election victory speech by Thomas Mulcair or Justin Trudeau could only be: “My fellow Canadians, our long national nightmare is over.”
In less than a decade, during most of which Mr. Harper led a minority government, Canada has gone from a “haven” of enlightened liberalism and goodness to a hermit kingdom run by a small-minded tyrant propagating, in the words of one excitable critic, “know-nothing conservatism.”
Just what it is about the Conservative Leader that sends reasonable people into such fits of hysteria is best examined by historians, or better yet, psychiatrists. But it surely can’t be evidence, for Mr. Harper’s political style is not particularly novel, nor have his reforms been that transformational.
Rather, Mr. Harper cultivates his base with mostly rhetorical, and only occasionally policy-driven, validations of their beliefs and value systems. It’s largely window dressing. For the most part, he governs from the centre, upholding the long Canadian tradition of middle-of-the-road pragmatism. So much so that movement conservatives who once considered him one of them feel utterly betrayed.
more about the deranged excitable boys and girls
Harper hysteria a sign of closed liberal minds - The Globe and Mail
In less than a decade, during most of which Mr. Harper led a minority government, Canada has gone from a “haven” of enlightened liberalism and goodness to a hermit kingdom run by a small-minded tyrant propagating, in the words of one excitable critic, “know-nothing conservatism.”
Just what it is about the Conservative Leader that sends reasonable people into such fits of hysteria is best examined by historians, or better yet, psychiatrists. But it surely can’t be evidence, for Mr. Harper’s political style is not particularly novel, nor have his reforms been that transformational.
Rather, Mr. Harper cultivates his base with mostly rhetorical, and only occasionally policy-driven, validations of their beliefs and value systems. It’s largely window dressing. For the most part, he governs from the centre, upholding the long Canadian tradition of middle-of-the-road pragmatism. So much so that movement conservatives who once considered him one of them feel utterly betrayed.
more about the deranged excitable boys and girls
Harper hysteria a sign of closed liberal minds - The Globe and Mail
