It must be Stephen Harper’s biggest lie. Opinion polls consistently show that Canadians believe he is strong on the economy. Yet, it is in managing the economy that he continues to fail us. He is always pulling the levers of the economy in the wrong direction at the wrong time. And his ‘big lie’ government advertising program—the mythical Economic Action Plan—emphasizes his economic errors.
Canada lost a record number of jobs in April in the key provinces of Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. Here we have been shoring up the manufacturing losses in the east with resource jobs in the tar sands of Alberta and now we find out that both sides of the issue are losing.
And the budget full of federal job creation programs in both Ontario and Quebec is proving to be nothing other than smoke and mirrors promises. The Harper Conservatives are so busy firing civil servants in Ottawa, they have lost sight of what it takes to make this country a success.
Recently our Foreign Minister went to Baghdad to trumpet the opening of a consular mission in Iraq—which despite sectarian troubles has the fastest growing economy in the Middle East. The Canadian presence in Iraq is now an office for Canada in the British Embassy. That was the way Canada handled its foreign affaires before World War II.
And speaking of things British: Canadians thought they had come a long way from being a colony. Yet the Harper Conservatives are spending money to put the word ‘Royal’ back on the military and everywhere else.
But in foreign affaires, the Harper Conservatives have been making enemies for Canada around the world. A country that was once noted for its peace keeping activities is now recognized as a simple sub-set of American imperialism.
As Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has constantly proved that he does not tell Canadians the truth. He has defied parliament. He has defied his own budget officials. His government has gagged Statistics Canada. He makes it easy for his friends to control Canada’s news media. The truth becomes a random thing.
And where are we as Canadians? We no longer trust the media. We no longer trust the government. We no longer trust our institutions. We are a nation of distrust and anguish. We are a country seeking a future.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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