Maybe we need to refresh people about the comments the Harperites have made over the years?
remember this (in comparison to what the libs did with the harp-duceppe picture):
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Anti-racism groups denounce Harper's tactics
By BRIAN LAGHI
Friday, February 18, 2005
Globe and Mail
Stephen Harper came under fire yesterday from anti-racism groups and a member of his Conservative Party for what they say was a bid to cash in politically on the Holocaust and the internment of Japanese Canadians more than 60 years ago.
"It's just trying to score political points and I don't think that it's appropriate to do that with this particular issue," said Pat Case of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
"For Mr. Harper to try to use the internment of Japanese Canadians in a partisan attempt to criticize a political opponent is simply embarrassing."
The foundation that Mr. Case represents was established as part of the redress that was granted to Japanese Canadians as a result of their internment during the Second World War. The foundation's role is to foster racial harmony in the country.
On Wednesday, Mr. Harper said during the kickoff of the same-sex debate that the Liberals are hardly lily-white when it comes the protection of rights, noting that Liberal administrations were responsible for interning Japanese Canadians and for closing the borders to Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.
"Let us not forget, it is the Liberal Party that said 'None is too many,' when it came to Jews fleeing from Hitler. It is the Liberal Party that interned Japanese Canadians in camps on Canada's West Coast, an act which [former prime minister] Pierre Trudeau refused to apologize or make restitution for."
The words 'None is too many' were attributed to a former high-ranking government official and became the title of a well-known book. One of the book's authors said yesterday that Mr. Harper's remarks surprised him, saying the Tory Leader was abusing the past.
"I don't think that the memory of six million should be exploited to political advantage today," said Harold Troper, a historian at the University of Toronto.
"And I don't think that human-rights [violations] of the past should be used to justify human-rights [violations] today."
Prof. Troper noted that Conservatives at the time did not speak against the policy.
"One could argue that if the Liberals were bad, the Conservatives at that time were either just as bad or worse."
Meanwhile, yesterday, a Conservative Party member from Toronto said she was upset with her leader's remarks.
"Mr. Harper could learn a lesson or two from his own words," Tamara Kronis said. "The internment of Japanese Canadians and the legacy of 'None is too many' reminds us that there was a time in Canadian history when it was acceptable to discriminate against those minorities and to deny them equal treatment."
Ms. Kronis said that, as a Tory, she was "disappointed in Mr. Harper's lack of leadership and judgment on this issue, and in the insensitivity that is evident in his remarks."
Ms. Kronis, past president of a Toronto Conservative riding association, said that perhaps party MPs should have vetted the speech, a reference to the fact that the leader's office has asked to review the speeches of Conservative MPs on the matter.
Geoff Norquay, a spokesman for Mr. Harper, said the leader was simply trying to demonstrate that the Liberals are not the ones who defend human rights.
"When Liberals wrap themselves in the flag and claim that their values are Canadian values, and that anyone who holds different values is not Canadian, then they should expect a reaction," Mr. Norquay said.
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said the difficulties of the past are well known and part of the public record, and even he has written about them. But he wondered what the comparisons had to do with the current debate on gay marriage.
"The question that I ask Stephen Harper is, 'What does all this have to do with the issue at hand, with the question before the House?'." he said.
Mr. Cotler said he believes the legislation will be adopted by late spring, despite what is expected to be a lengthy debate. Up to 90 Conservative MPs are scheduled to speak on the legislation.
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The CPC vision is resonating well? I did not realize so many people desired the breakup of canada. It would be interesting to see how Harper plans to fund all his promises along with tax-cuts! *cough* massive debt *cough*
