Prime Minister Stephen Harper assumed office seven years ago today on February 6th, 2006.
Since then the Conservatives, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper have brought some commonsense back to the Governing of Canada.
As he promised, Prime Minister Stephen Harper cut the GST from 7 per cent to 6 per cent to 5 per cent.
Tax-Free Savings Accounts are another way Prime Minister Stephen Harper has helped average Canadians invest and save taxes.
The Universal Child Care Benefit, special tax credits for children’s fitness programs and allowing for the tax deduction of public transit passes are a few other ways Prime Minister Stephen Harper has helped average Canadian families save some of there hard earned income.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper also followed through on his pledge to eliminate the National Gun Registry that did nothing but waste billions of tax payer dollars.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has captained the good ship Canada through the great recession in better shape than most countries in the developed world.
Here's a small excerpt from today's Ottawa Citizen, a notably "Liberal" Newspaper.
Former clerk of the Privy Council Kevin Lynch and his colleague Karen Miske of BMO Financial Group have written: “Canada withstood the financial crisis better than most other countries and has continued to be a leader in financial stability during the aftermath.”
Canada’s banking system has been ranked the strongest in the world for the last five years running by the World Economic Forum. The country’s fiscal framework is solid. Canada’s deficit as a percentage of GDP is only three per cent, compared to seven per cent in the U.S. and U.K. Unemployment in Canada, at 7.1 per cent, is the lowest in four years, and lower than the U.S. at 7.7 per cent. All the jobs lost in the recession have been replaced, and then some. The consensus forecast for economic growth in Canada this year is 1.9 per cent, not spectacular but still steady.
Here's an Editorial from excerpt the from a couple of days ago
The key to Canada's success has been avoiding some of the worst mistakes made by its neighbour to the south.
Americans failed to regulate their banks. Canada's banks are stable.
Americans over-inflated their real estate market. Canada's housing market never went pop.
Americans can't get their elected officials to straighten out health care and entitlement IOUs. Canada's got it better covered, having kept its debt and spending at more sustainable levels than the U.S.
Petrochemicals have helped. Canada is experiencing a gold-rush-style energy boom. The oil sands of Alberta contain enough petroleum to rate serious comparisons with Saudi Arabia. Improved drilling technology has made it practical to tap that vast resource. Money is pouring in, despite lower oil prices.
On a per capita basis, Canada is among the world's most prosperous countries. The Canadian dollar, nicknamed the loonie for the aquatic bird pictured on it, trades at an equal value to the U.S. dollar. Used to be, loonies traded at a substantial discount, but that was before Americans racked up a $16-trillion-plus national debt.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (we know many Americans have never heard of him) has pursued an ambitious trade agenda. He has sought to improve relations with China, enhancing economic ties. He also is expected to ink a free-trade agreement with the European Union this year. That will put pressure on the U.S. to follow suit, as well it should, for the substantial benefits that flow from tearing down commercial barriers and harmonizing regulations.
March 11, 2013, Issue Leader of the West
The progress of Stephen Harper, Canada’s Conservative prime minister
By Jay Nordlinger
In January, there was a rumour that Stephen Harper would appear at CPAC. Harper is the prime minister of Canada, and a Conservative. CPAC is the annual conservative jamboree in Washington, D.C. As a source close to Harper says, it took the prime minister’s office “about 30 seconds” to deny that Harper would be speaking at CPAC. The organization had indeed invited Harper; but he had declined. It was only natural for the organization to invite him: Harper is maybe the leading conservative head of state or government right now. It was equally natural for Harper to decline. For one thing, a head of state or government probably has no business speaking at a partisan gathering on foreign soil. For another thing, Conservatives up north tend to be wary of associating with us conservatives down south. The Canadian media portray us as a bunch of yahoos and extremists. Of course, we are portrayed the same way here, but we have countervailing media: right-leaning media. The Canadians have precious few such outlets.
It is the kiss of death, or at least not an advantage, for a Canadian Conservative to be known as a “U.S.-style” conservative, a Canadian Republican. A leading Conservative says, “Our whole careers, we’ve had to defend ourselves against charges of being lackeys of the American Right.” He remembers the 2005–06 election period, during which “some well-meaning fellow” published an op-ed in the Washington Times, saying that Harper was a conservative in the American image, a Great Right Hope, and the best friend George W. Bush would ever have. “We had to distance ourselves from what he wrote,” says the leading Conservative. “It actually became a major story here, that obscure column in the Washington Times.” Oh, yes. Harper wrote a letter to the editor objecting to the column. In due course, his opponents made an attack ad out of the column, quoting it on the air.
For some months, National Review sought an interview with Harper. In the end, his office declined — politely, their being Canadian and all. Did he not want attention or praise from an American conservative magazine? Was he worried about the Washington Times treatment? Could be. But he grants very few interviews even to Canadian publications. David Frum, the Canadian-born author and analyst, has another point, and a related one: Harper is a very disciplined politician. And “when there is no reason to speak, there is a reason not to speak.”
Forbes magazine has ranked Canada as number one in its annual review of the best countries for business; for the fifth year in a row, the World Economic Forum has rated Canada's banking system as the world's soundest; and both the IMF and OECD expect Canada to be among the strongest growing economies in the G-7 next year.
Don’t ‘sit around trying to rationalize it’: Harper slams Trudeau for response to Boston bombing
Prime Minister Stephen Harper took a swipe at Justin Trudeau on Wednesday after the new Liberal leader talked about the need “to look at the root causes” that led to this week’s terrorist attack in Boston.
In an interview with the CBC’s Peter Mansbridge that aired Tuesday night, Trudeau was asked how he would have responded to the attacks that killed three people and left about 170 injured.
Trudeau said he would offer the American material support “and at the same time, over the coming days, we have to look at the root causes.”
“Now, we don’t know now if it was terrorism or a single crazy or a domestic issue or a foreign issue,” he said. “But there is no question that this happened because there is someone who feels completely excluded. Completely at war with innocents. At war with a society. And our approach has to be, where do those tensions come from?
“Yes, there’s a need for security and response,” Trudeau added. “But we also need to make sure that as we go forward, that we don’t emphasize a culture of fear and mistrust. Because that ends up marginalizing even further those who already are feeling like they are enemies of society.
Don’t ‘sit around trying to rationalize it’: Harper slams Trudeau for response to Boston bombing
Prime Minister Stephen Harper took a swipe at Justin Trudeau on Wednesday after the new Liberal leader talked about the need “to look at the root causes” that led to this week’s terrorist attack in Boston.
In an interview with the CBC’s Peter Mansbridge that aired Tuesday night, Trudeau was asked how he would have responded to the attacks that killed three people and left about 170 injured.
Trudeau said he would offer the American material support “and at the same time, over the coming days, we have to look at the root causes.”
“Now, we don’t know now if it was terrorism or a single crazy or a domestic issue or a foreign issue,” he said. “But there is no question that this happened because there is someone who feels completely excluded. Completely at war with innocents. At war with a society. And our approach has to be, where do those tensions come from?
“Yes, there’s a need for security and response,” Trudeau added. “But we also need to make sure that as we go forward, that we don’t emphasize a culture of fear and mistrust. Because that ends up marginalizing even further those who already are feeling like they are enemies of society. - Doppleganger
Nice of Steve to use the maiming of innocent people as a device for political posturing and political spin.
Justin needs to show more raw emotion like harper:
Mad:
weary:
happy:
Yesterday, the Liberals introduced a motion in the House regarding their concerns with the temporary foreign worker program, and yet their leader wrote to us asking that foreign workers in the food service industry be rushed in to his riding.
What did Justin think that temporary foreign workers could add to Montreal’s food service industry that 100,000 Canadian workers in that industry could not provide?
Does Justin not understand the program, did he forget that he made such a demand, or is he just in over his head?
The leader of the Liberal Party refused to explain himself in Question Period today. We call on him to do so immediately.
The Liberal record on the Temporary Foreign Worker program has been abysmal.
While in government, Liberal Immigration Minister Judy Sgro fast-tracked the temporary foreign worker application of a stripper who worked on her election campaign.
She was then forced to step down from cabinet after she was accused of promising a foreign pizzeria-owner living in Canada that he could stay longer if he supplied her campaign team with free pizza and garlic bread.
Since creating the program in 1976, the Liberal Party has failed to introduce substantive reforms despite having plenty of opportunities to do so. Instead, they fast-tracked the process for several occupations including strippers, and tried to use the program for their own political gain.
In a shocking revelation previously ignored by the media, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was caught telling a reporter that “Quebecers are better than the rest of Canada.”
The full context of the quotation is a CTV interview where Trudeau tells a reporter that “Quebecers are better than the rest of Canada because, you know, we’re Quebecers or whatever. A lot more of us are bilingual, bicultural, a lot more awareness of the rest.”
Nothing says good judgement in a man who wants to be Prime Minister than saying one region of the country is better than another.
Trudeau’s lack of judgement also includes saying “I’d think of wanting to make Quebec a country.” (Canadian Press, February 14, 2012). He told a Quebec TV reporter that Quebecers make the best Prime Ministers (Tele-Quebec, November 2010). Trudeau also thought using words like “barbaric” to describe so-called honour killings and violence against women was wrong (QMI, April 14, 2011).
Until the Conservative Party began running TV ads highlighting Trudeau’s comment, the Ottawa media have ignored this shocking CTV interview.
Forbes magazine has ranked Canada as number one in its annual review of the best countries for business; for the fifth year in a row, the World Economic Forum has rated Canada's banking system as the world's soundest; and both the IMF and OECD expect Canada to be among the strongest growing economies in the G-7 next year. - Doppleganger
Imposs. People on my facebook have assured me he is destroying this country.
