20 things everyone should know about Stephen Harper
and his Reform-Conservative government
1. They rigged a self-serving and politicized infrastructure stimulus program so that most of the money could land in Conservative-held ridings, delaying projects so much that only 12% are in construction and creating jobs.
2. He called Canada “second-tier socialistic country” and a “Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term.”
3. They put Canada on track for a deficit before the recession hit and now holds the record of the largest deficit on record at 56 billion (and climbing).
4. They failed to plan for the H1N1 flu by delaying the order of the flu vaccine and sending body bags to remote communities instead.
5. They spent 5 times more on self-promotion than informing the public on how to protect themselves from H1N1.
6. In the past two months, he has twice failed to defend Canada’s healthcare system against outrageous attacks from ultra-right Conservatives in the United States.
7. He kept ministers in his cabinet who called the medical isotope crisis they helped create “sexy” and made jokes about the listeriosis crisis.
8. He broke his promise not to raise taxes with a $13 billion EI payroll tax.
9. They pick and choose when to protect the rights of Canadian citizens at home and abroad.
10. He called women, minorities, the disabled, and gays and lesbians “left-wing fringe groups” and Canada’s independent judiciary “left-wing ideologues.”
11. He keeps a minister in his cabinet who openly mused about putting 10-year-olds in jail.
12. He denied that the country was in a recession and failed to plan for it, and only agreed to provide economic stimulus after causing a constitutional crisis.
13. He said he doesn’t care if “Canada ends up as one national government or two national governments or several national governments, or some other kind of arrangement.”
14. He holds the record for unelected Senate appointments for a single year — 27 (28 if you count Mike Puffy as taking up two seats, ed.), more than any Prime Minister in Canadian history – after saying he would never appoint Senators.
15. He has presided over the loss of nearly a half million high quality fulltime jobs since October, with no plan to replace them with the next generation of jobs.
16. He has pushed for amending the Canada Health Act to allow for-profit-pay-as-you-go Medicare in this country and abdicated any federal role in ensuring its guiding principles of public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability, and accessibility.
17. He said "There will be no special status, formally or informally, for Quebec or any other province."
18. He pushed for further deregulation and less oversight over banks and financial institutions.
19. He has done nothing to address the hollowing out of corporate Canada due to a weakening in foreign takeover rules.
20. He bragged that he was opposed to government programs to eliminate child poverty and promote cultural identity.
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