10.19.2013 05:11 PM

In Sunday’s Sun: running on empty

As in Monday’s Hill Times column, here.

18 Comments

  1. GilbertL says:

    I don’t think so, Warren. Just take a gander over to nationalnewswatch.com to see that Harper & Co. are taking on their enemies in Quebec and the Media Party.

    http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2013/10/19/quebec-angered-by-challenge-to-secession-law/#.UmLqL_ksl8E

    http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2013/10/19/conservatives-throw-down-gauntlet-with-media/#.UmJo0fksl8E

    Harper is just following the astute political strategy of Chretien, whom Harper admires deeply. As for Justin and Thomas, they are both from Quebec and will get crunched out of relevance once the election campaigning starts for serious.

  2. JH says:

    I’m afraid the channel has been changed – like it or not. The throne speech, senate etc. aren’t showing up anywhere. It’s the EU trade deal, which is very hard to oppose, with all the provinces on board and the lesson of John Turner and NAFTA as an object lesson to dissenting party leaders. This will play well on the front porches and no doubt they’ll try to sched ratification just before the 2015 general election.
    Time to get serious for Trudeau’s brain trust. Some big moves are needed soon.

    • GilbertL says:

      Trudeau will need more than a “brain trust” to compensate for his ignorance of national/international economics and constitutional law. It should be apparent to most that Justin is still just a rookie political leader who is attempting to learn leadership while on the job. Charisma and popularity can only carry him so far, but it certainly will not propel him into 24 Sussex.

      Sorry to say, but Justin is just not intelligent enough to handle the job he aspires to, and that must be apparent now. He may be the last Liberal leader because the Liberal party as we knew it no longer exists; it’s just a shell filled with old relics from the past led by a pretty boy.

      It won’t be “merger” any more, it will be “consolidation” of the remnants of the centre-left in Canadian politics. The sooner the better.

    • Michael says:

      I’m not so sure how this plays on the front porches. Income disparity is at all time highs, manufacturing jobs are being lost, a lot of people hit hard by the great recession are still hurting. And a lot of people attribute those things to globalization and free trade.

      • Tiger says:

        So someone will step up as the anti-CETA champion — either Trudeau or Mulcair, or both.

        And then the 2015 election will be about something big.

        • Vankleek Hill says:

          Opposing the Canada-US Free Trade deal didn’t work out so well for the Liberals in ’88.

          • Michael says:

            It ain’t 1988 anymore.

            The 1988 FTA may be the greatest thing since sliced bread. But I think there are a lot of Joe and Jane Voters out there who have seen factories close and production move to the US or Mexico and they will blame free trade. They may be right or they may be wrong, but perception is reality.

      • Edward says:

        Compete or perish in the new world economic order. If you think a socialistic government can protect the incompetent in our society, you are deluding yourself. We live in a capitalistic world and even Communist China has become China Inc.!

        Income disparity is a result of equalization of work done to labour value. It’s a downward spiral until a point of equalization is found. You don’t pay a semi-literate high school dropout bloated union wages to produce a non-competitive product. If you want the work to stay in Canada, you had better compete globally.

        Simple labour-intensive jobs are being lost to third work countries where labour is cheap and more competent. Canadian manufacturing will only survive if the products are innovative and of a higher technology. You don’t need dumbed down kids for highly qualified, high paying jobs; they can flip burgers and live with their parents. Government doesn’t and can’t guarantee jobs for everybody. That’s the brutal truth.

        Harper knows that free trade will increase market size for our manufacturing sector and thus reduce overall unit costs. He also knows that Canada must exploit it’s abundant raw resources for export to survive as a nation. If you don’t fit in, you will suffer, and no government will be able to save you — socialist or capitalist. That is also the brutal truth. Live with it!

  3. leery says:

    I hate Harper too. He only cares about himself and collecting donations from people. He doesn’t care about my career, your career, or anyone else’s.
    I like Justin’s slogan “Success for all Canadians.” He’s not in this for himself. He didn’t even want to be the Liberal leader. He got pushed into it.

    People south of the border have the “American dream.” What do we have? Thousands of people moving to the US every year for better opportunities.

    • Rolland says:

      I hate Harper too, but I also fear him and his gang of Conservative henchmen. The next election will determine which way Canadians want our country to move — to the far right or to the centre-left.

      I see Justin Trudeau as our ‘Obama’ and our ‘Hope’ for the future. For a ‘Canadian Dream’ we must have a generational change in our leadership, and only Justin represents that change. Also, Justin is our only hope to fight the Quebec separatists because he can communicate with Quebecers powerfully.

      Justin is Canada’s ‘Tomorrow Man’ and the salvation of Canadian values.

  4. Paul says:

    hmmm… I am glad the US is our friend and neighbour but it ain’t the land of milk and honey. There are lots of opportunities in this country for those that are willing to move , work hard and make breaks for themselves…

  5. Jim Souniki says:

    The Emptiest Vessel Wins:

    Reader’s Digest, April 2013 featuring a well-photoshopped image of Justin Trudeau, titled, “The Second Coming of Trudeau.” The “article” states: “Team Trudeau have bet everything on their man’s charisma. If you’re a skeptic, they’re utterly certain seeing him in person will make you a believer…” The article concludes that, “In politics, you underestimate the empty vessel at your own peril.”

    • Rolland says:

      Justin is not an ’empty vessel’. He is full of hope and vision for the future. He represents the best of liberal traditions plus new generation thinking which Canada desperately needs to protect the interest of all Canadians. He will be our best Canadian prime minister because he is his own man not beholden to special interests. Canada desperately needs Justin Trudeau.

  6. JH says:

    Sorry to the dreamers, but that ‘hope and change’ thing worked once for Obama and it’s pretty tarnished right now, even amongst those who still support him.
    Listened to CCC today and someone said to Murpy, of 3 leaders who could you see pulling EU deal off?
    Consensus of many was only Harper. That’s a problem for Liberals and NDP.
    Dreams and aspirations are nice – but hard nosed politics wins the day.

    • Rolland says:

      That’s fine, but Harper doesn’t unite us as a nation, he only divides us. Only Justin Trudeau can unite Canada to fulfill our potential as a great nation. His father did and he can too. Canada must return to it’s liberal roots and Justin Trudeau is the seed from which those roots can grow. Harper has made his contribution and now he must stand aside and allow a newer generation of politicians to raise Canada to new heights.

      I reject those naysayers who demean and deprecate Justin’s motives and sincerity to work for all Canadians. In with the new and out with the old because the old have nothing to offer Canadians.

  7. Al in Cranbrook says:

    A contrast in left/right wing thinking.

    I, and I deeply suspect a great many like me, are very satisfied with Harper at least as much for what he is not doing: He’s not on some phony crusade to save abc from xyz, or to eliminate climate change, or…that trusty old stand by…end poverty, or make everyone his ideological definition of “equal”, or put root beer in every fountain. You know, accomplish the impossible that lots of others have promised but never, ever even remotely succeed…no matter how many kabillions worth (of other peoples’ money) they go out of their way to throw at it. All the time reassuring those picking up the tab (meaning other people, but more to the point, taxpayers…usually generations thereof yet unborn) it’s all worth it.

    Some undoubtedly will say here, “Look at the deficits this government run up!” Two points on that one: a) And the Coalition of the Damned who tried to overthrow the newly elected government wouldn’t have? And at least twice as much, but probably more??? With Jack Layton and the Dippers’ toes on the scales??? Forget about Duceppe et al??? Seriously??? b) It was recently revealed that Harper had to reassure the GG during the two hour meeting to prevent that coup d’etat, that he would take into consideration the demands of the opposition parties. Which he did, fortunately to a far lesser degree than they were arguing.

    That said, the trade agreement with the EU is a massive accomplishment, frankly one very few thought achievable. As implied here already, one merely has to look across the aisle and ponder the likelihood of Mulcair or Trudeau driving such a feat through to conclusion. NOT! The NDP couldn’t get through a trade deal for love nor money because that’s a discussion about economics and enterprise, the former being a total mystery to them, and the latter being antithetical to their raison d’etre. And Justin’s first order of business would be to get schooled on why such things even matter anyway.

    Indeed, it the fact that Harper pays attention to the small details of every day life that irk a great many people which wins him favor. He gets the doable things done, as opposed to running amok with economically/financially disastrous pie-in-the-sky agendas. Think, f’rinstance, of the gobs of zillions dumped into the proverbial crapper by governments everywhere, but not in Ottawa, just on AGW/Climate Change.

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