Still Fantasizing About Moving to Canada?
Well, forget it.
Thanks to the corruption scandals that the ruling Liberal Party has presided over, Canada’s Conservative Party is about to win an election—not on the strength of its platform, which most Canadians loathe. The Conservative Party and its leader, Stephen Harper, are opposed to Kyoto, pro-Iraq war, and are talking about repealing gay marriage and drug reform. But because they’re not the Liberals, folks are gonna vote for `em.
Harper is against gay marriage and the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouses gases, and he once referred to Canada as a “northern European welfare state.” He also said he would reassess Canada’s decision to opt out of the U.S. ballistic missile program.Martin has warned that Harper also would scrap abortion rights.
But Harper has largely kept his ultraconservative views to himself, and his handlers have successfully portrayed him as a moderate who will work for the middle class.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because that was the load of shit that George W. Bush fed American voters—I’m a moderate! A reformer with results! A uniter not a divider!
One bright spot: Canada has a parliamentary system, and a government that rapidly loses support can be forced to face the voters sooner rather than later. A Canadian Prime Minister with approval ratings anything like George W. Bush’s—40% and below in most polls—would be out of office pretty quickly. Paul Martin, the current Liberal Prime Minister, won an election in June 2004. But in November 2005, the ruling party lost a “no confidence” vote and an election was called. Hopefully that will act as some restraint on Harper.
If the Conservatives win a majority of seats, which is possible, according to some polls, then they won't face the voters for four or five years, unless a number of Conservative members defect over time to the Opposition. The Liberals held a minority of seats in the most recent parliament.