Quotes proving that Stephen Harper is not a Canadian Conservative:

(thus providing me with further reasons to not vote for his Party ...)

"Toryism has the historical context of hierarchy and elitism and is a different kind of political philosophy. It's not my favourite term, but we're probably stuck with it."

* I told you he wasn't a Tory;

"I think in Atlantic Canada, because of what happened in the decades following Confederation, there is a culture of defeat that we have to overcome."

* Where is his proof for this statement?

"Atlantic Canada's culture of defeat will be hard to overcome as long as Atlantic Canada is actually physically trailing the rest of the country."

* It trails the Country simply because it is sparsely populated and has not won the Carbon-Lottery, in widespread fashion. I guess we should just abandon the unlucky blighters eh ?

"But I'm very libertarian in the sense that I believe in small government and, as a general rule, I don't believe in imposing values upon people."

* Liberatarian ideology is an amalgam of French and American anarchist theory - it is foreign to Canada, and is dangerous to the Common Good;

"Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status."

* I contend that we are a Nation of the First-Rank. In 2005, the UN and OECD agreed. Stephen doesn't like facts that get in the way of making us the 51st State;

"In my judgment Canada will eventually join with the allied coalition if war on Iraq comes to pass."

* He shows good instincts for the National Mood - again;

"I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans."

* Where would he have stood in 1911?

"I think there is a dangerous rise in defeatist sentiment in this country. I have said that repeatedly, and I mean it and I believe it."

* He is proud of his Country, ain't he?

"It was the removing of a regime that was hostile, that clearly had the intention of constructing weapons systems. "

* He believes US propaganda and seemingly, would send Canadian Soldiers to die for it;

"On the justification for the war, it wasn't related to finding any particular weapon of mass destruction."

* He reads from the same Prayer-Book as "Dubya";

"We should have been there shoulder to shoulder with our allies. Our concern is the instability of our government as an ally. We are playing again with national and global security matters."

* I detested Jean Chretien more than most, but he was right about Iraq;

"I will strive to make this not the highest-spending country in the world, but instead the lowest taxing one."

* What about our obligations to our fellow Countrymen? Isn't that more important than reducing our quality of life to below that of the United States ? And one more thing Stephen: Equalisation is enshrined in the Constitution Act, 1982;

"It is imperative to take the initiative, to build firewalls around Alberta, to limit the extent to which an aggressive and hostile federal government can encroach upon legitimate provincial jurisdiction."

* Tories were the creators of a centralised Federal System. I guess Harper is an "Oliver Mowat Conservative" which is a non sequitur, as Mowat was a Liberal;

"The nature of our constitution is that everyone is supposed to be able to do their own thing in their own area of jurisdiction."

* No - the nature of the Canadian Consitution is that the Dominion has a "Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom" and that it is "... lawful for the Queen, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate and House of Commons, to make laws for the Peace, Order and good Government of Canada";


"There is a Canadian culture that is in some ways unique to Canada, but I don't think Canadian culture coincides neatly with borders. "

* What does this mean? I would guess that he would not defend Canadian culture in a trade-dispute with the United States? What about water that courses its way outside of our Borders? hmmmmmmmm?

"Whether Canada ends up as one national government or two national governments or several national governments, or some other kind of arrangement is, quite frankly, secondary in my opinion."

* This would appear to be anathema to traditional Conservative thought on the Constitution and Canadian Federalism;

"You've got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society."

* I was born, raised and lived in Ontario until 1995. I now live in the West. I don't live in a ghetto. And what exactly is western Canadian society? I live in Canada - purely and simply. When I travel this land, I am constantly amazed by the similarity in values from East to West (with the exception of Quebecois' language policy ...) - with the lone exception of those who want us to become Americans !