The Official Quit Picking on Stephen Harper Thread

Curious Cdn

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Feb 22, 2015
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Re: Harper making a respectable contribution to Parliament

Did prime minister Pierre Trudeau protest World War II by riding around Montreal on his motorcycle while wearing a Nazi helmet?

It’s unclear.


Whether Pierre paraded around on his Indian wearing a pickelhauben or not, he did NOT serve. My father was the same age as Trudeau (not young boys during the war but grown men). He served for five years. Trudeau dodged it all and left it to others to defend his right to be an arrogant prat. Even if it is an urban myth, it captures the zeitgeist to a tee.
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
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Re: Harper making a respectable contribution to Parliament

Did you have to C/P to word first for thing to format properly in the forum?


nope. Don't know if it makes a difference, but I am using Microsoft edge.
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
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Re: Harper making a respectable contribution to Parliament

Did prime minister Pierre Trudeau protest World War II by riding around Montreal on his motorcycle while wearing a Nazi helmet?

It’s unclear.


Whether Pierre paraded around on his Indian wearing a pickelhauben or not, he did NOT serve. My father was the same age as Trudeau (not young boys during the war but grown men). He served for five years. Trudeau dodged it all and left it to others to defend his right to be an arrogant prat. Even if it is an urban myth, it captures the zeitgeist to a tee.



Really, left it to others eh. Quebec, in general, did not agree with the war and felt that it was not Canada's war to "defend". We were not being attacked.
 

Curious Cdn

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Feb 22, 2015
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Re: Harper making a respectable contribution to Parliament

Really, left it to others eh. Quebec, in general, did not agree with the war and felt that it was not Canada's war to "defend". We were not being attacked.

Well, I grew up in Quebec and there were lots of French Canadian Warvets in my world. Cripes, even my Boy Scout leader had been a Captain in the Vandoos in Italy and Korea! I also served beside French Canadians myself. No, they did not participate as fully as English Canadians. They were not encouraged to serve as " French" Canadians and they were not widely promoted in the Forces ... far less than their numbers would have warranted. There was exactly one French Canadian general in the army and no, it was not a reflection of their competence but it is a loud statement about the blatant bigotry that they faced in the Canadian Forces. All that I can think is that Quebecer general must have been damned good to have advanced in those times.

Anyway, Trudeau is a special case and an echo of an earlier Liberal Prime Minister. Makenzie-King was spirited out of the country by Mummy, down to the neutral USA during WWI lest poor Willie might have to serve. Pierre did just about the same thing. He never shook off his distain for the Armed Forces either as any one of us who wore a (Seven-up delivery man green) uniform in the 1970s can attest to.
 

davesmom

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Oct 11, 2015
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Re: Harper making a respectable contribution to Parliament

It is news that Harpy is doing what MPs are supposed to be doing? I am sure that Canada is a country where MPs all do what they do.

It is nice to see something good posted about Harper.
The media pundits predicted that Harper would sulk and pout and soon resign. Then they predicted that he would be a disruption (read sxxx disturber) as an MP.
He did the honorable thing and continued on to serve the constituents who elected him. He is not a disrupting figure in Parliament. He is doing what he was elected to do.
The media had a grudge against Harper because he didn't woo them and make himself visible and available to them at their beck and call. They completely misread him.
Since they haven't admitted that they were wrong, it is good that someone is pointing it out.
 

Jinentonix

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Sep 6, 2015
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Re: Harper making a respectable contribution to Parliament

Really, left it to others eh. Quebec, in general, did not agree with the war and felt that it was not Canada's war to "defend". We were not being attacked.
Yeah, funny how when DeGaulle appealed to Frenchmen the world over to come help liberate Paris in 1944, people like Trudeau couldn't be bothered. But as soon as DeGaulle showed up in Quebec in the 50s talking about how they were a distinct society within Canada, suddenly DeGaulle was worth listening to. What a bunch of self-absorbed dickweeds.

OTOH, there were MANY French-Canadian units that did serve in WW2. They fought hard and were at the spear point of several major Canadian battles. Those particular French-Canadians understood that it wasn't just England's war or Europe's war.
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
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Re: Harper making a respectable contribution to Parliament

Yeah, funny how when DeGaulle appealed to Frenchmen the world over to come help liberate Paris in 1944, people like Trudeau couldn't be bothered. But as soon as DeGaulle showed up in Quebec in the 50s talking about how they were a distinct society within Canada, suddenly DeGaulle was worth listening to. What a bunch of self-absorbed dickweeds.

OTOH, there were MANY French-Canadian units that did serve in WW2. They fought hard and were at the spear point of several major Canadian battles. Those particular French-Canadians understood that it wasn't just England's war or Europe's war.



Ya, funny that.



And I realize that there were some quebecers that drank the koolaid concerning WWI and WWII and joined up, just not all of them.
 

Colpy

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Re: Harper making a respectable contribution to Parliament

Ya, funny that.



And I realize that there were some quebecers that drank the koolaid concerning WWI and WWII and joined up, just not all of them.

The kool aid in World War One? Yeah, okay.....I get that. Just another European slaughter-fest.

The kool-aid in World War Two? You need to read a little history.
 

Curious Cdn

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 22, 2015
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Re: Harper making a respectable contribution to Parliament

Ya, funny that.



And I realize that there were some quebecers that drank the koolaid concerning WWI and WWII and joined up, just not all of them.

Do you figure that if no one signed up for the war, there wasn't going to be a war?
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Red Tories favourites in race to replace Harper

What happened to the good ol' days?

Can't we just pretend we're in the 50s again?


Red Tories initial favourites in race to replace Harper

The exact number of Conservative supporters who held their nose to stick with Stephen Harper last October and/or who would rather have had a new leader to vote for will never be known, but based on a poll published last week, it was probably significant.

Designed to provide an early glimpse at the dynamics of Harper’s succession, the Abacus poll suggests a majority of Conservatives will be looking for more than just a change in tone when they pick the next leader.

Over the course of the past decade, the Reform/Alliance branch of the party has dominated the Harper government. But at this early juncture, none of its leading members inspires more than tepid support among Conservative voters.

Under prominent right-of-centre champions such as Jason Kenney — Harper’s go-to minister — or Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, the party would risk being pushed back to it strongholds of Western Canada.

East of Manitoba, the dream candidate of a plurality of Conservative voters hails from the progressive-conservative side of the family, as does the runner-up.

Of the nine possible contenders put forward by Abacus, only Peter MacKay and Jean Charest, two former federal Tory leaders, enjoy double-digit support in every region of the country.

But Charest has made it clear that he is not contemplating a return to federal politics and his die-hard fans seem to have accepted that his no is final. Based on the Abacus poll, staying on the sidelines is a good call. Only in his home province would Charest be competitive with MacKay. In Ontario and Atlantic Canada, his former caucus colleague would beat him hands down.

By comparison, Wall barely registers outside of the Prairies. Ditto for Kenney.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinio...-initial-favourites-in-race-to-replace-harper
 

Locutus

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Jun 18, 2007
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Re: Red Tories favourites in race to replace Harper

the mad eh...it's almost as if steve stole his girlfriend or ran over his poodle or sumpin'.
 

Walter

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Jan 28, 2007
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Re: Red Tories favourites in race to replace Harper

A so-called Red Tory is a Liberal.
 

Danbones

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Sep 23, 2015
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Re: Red Tories favourites in race to replace Harper

after the "out west" dyin is done from the cheep oil being sold by Isus through turkey
which harpers bombing of SYRIA promoted and assisted
I am not so sure "stronghold" is the correct choice of word for how the oil patch will see the conservative government in retrospect