Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Stephen Harper talking like Stephen Harper

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 10:21pm - 139 Comments

CBC gets hold of video of the Prime Minister speaking with Conservatives in Sault Ste. Marie. Full tape is here. Somewhat reminiscent of David Akin’s scoop of earlier this year.

Turns out, the Prime Minister seems to desire a majority government. Who knew? Otherwise, it seems to me, Stephen Harper speaking here sounds not all that unlike Stephen Harper speaking everywhere else.

Tags: election, Sault Ste. Marie, Stephen Harper

More by Aaron Wherry

Riley

Lawrence Martin pretty much summed up why Harper has to go: "Mr. Harper's government is also the one that promised to breathe new democracy into the country but did the opposite, overcentralizing command in the Prime Minister's Office to a degree seldom seen. His Conservatives took attack advertising to new lows, even doing the cluster bombing between campaigns. They put out a 200-page dirty tricks handbook on how to disrupt parliamentary committees. They ran roughshod over the freedom of information process, even attempting to vet communications of independent officers of Parliament, the Auditor-General included. They've given us the Cadman affair, the so-called in-and-out affair, NAFTAgate, a fixed-election date that they unfixed, the use of a budget update to try to undercut opposition party financing, the attempted hamstringing of budget officer Kevin Page, gobs of patronage when they promised not to go that route."

kcm

All more or less true, but was the public paying attention – did they even care? My personal belief is that Harper's been lucky, first the libs put up a dud in Dion and quite honestly the Liberal party had run out of any new ideas.. some would say it became arrogant and corrupt. Now, i'm afraid they may well have put up another dud. I don't really see Ignatieff catching fire with the public…as i said Harper appears to have the luck when he's needed it.

John

One cannot underestimate the degree of narcissism in a particular demographic of the voting Canadian public — the ones that look at Harper and see themselves.
Old School Liberal

"as i said Harper appears to have the luck when he's needed it."

And the media support as well, don't forget.

sbt

And the support of the plurality of Canadians. We shouldn't forget that either.

wilson

I guess the big brains at the LPC wanted the question about the Lib led coalition of losers and a Harper majority out now.!

ooh boogeyboogey, say Harper and majority in the same sentence and watch the polls move up for the 'visitor'.
And what if this doesn't do it?
Another 'back down that hill'?

Of course the Liberal response to this video will be nothing about coalition, and everything about, oh, the 'special interest groups' court challenge money cancelled…..

Libs and LibLuvin media,
get out of Toronto once in awhile,
after having cut off special interest groups, and the 'worst recession since the Great Depression'.
he is still PM and ahead in the polls.
kcm

I still don't get where Harper is coming from on the coalition. Ok he acted like a demagogue when his political life was threatened by it.[ highly distasteful but perhaps understandable in the heat of battle] But is he still claiming [which he seems to be doing on this tape] that the coalition was actually illegal? It may have arguably been illegimate politically speaking, but he seems perfectly willing to have the public believe that the coalition was unconstitutional. If that is his intent it is demagoguery of the lowest order.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

Hear hear.

kcm

God knows where this could be headed to in terms of national unity. Harper may think the road to a majority runs through the coalition, but we all know how that'll play out in Quebec. Is the man really that irresponsible or hungry for power? Ignatieff's response should be: " i'm the guy to repair the damage to national unity that Harper has brought about" Wish i had some confidence in that scenario…i guess they'll stay with the homeboy, and Harper'll gamble he's got nothing to lose anyway. It could get really ugly.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

I agree. I'm not feeling very optimistic, the more so since Iggy totally lacks (as yet) a narrative about the Coalition. If he has no narrative, he can't strike back. So Harper will have an open field for pounding on Quebec. I wouldn't be surprised if the Bloc picks up seats this fall. And meanwhile we'll be no closer than ever to having a majority government. It's going to be the same grind next year. Canadians don't appear to have noticed it yet, but it has effectively become impossible to govern the country.

kcm

Yeah Iggy doesn't really inspire any confidence, at least not yet – what the hell was he doing all summer? Apparently he barely even bothered with Quebec, where he was supposed to be on the up-swing. As you say i hope he finds a narrative and doesn't allow this coalition sabre rattling from Harper to panic him into not talking about the coalition at all. There's a risk there for him, but also some risk for Harper. I'm still of the opinion that electorate were mostly mad at the idea of a man they had decisively repudiated – Dion – becomming PM. What genius in the coalition didn't see that as a likely possibility? I hope you're wrong about the country being effectively ungovernable, but i'm inclined to agree. And it's not just Quebec- who's gonna tell Alberta they can't do what the hell they like with the oil-sands – whether its in the national interest or not. The only bright spot i see may be that if Ignatieff were to gain seats – and he should barring a melt-down – and Harper fail to get a majority or seriously lose ground, well that should be it for Harper at least. Which would be a victory of some sort.
William

Better get used to having PM Harper around—he`s not going anywhere.

You people seem to be an intelligent lot so I cannot understand why you don`t see the massive problem created by this coalition—–forget about debating the constitutional and legal angles of the document. The thought of being governed by this beast leaves a sour taste in the mouths of voters. Iggy and Kinsella know this——maybe they will try to put this election thing off.
Andrew (not P or C)

He's certainly more than half-done his mandate. Even if he wins again, anything short of a majority will send us to the polls again within a year, and I'm not sure how long they'll let Harper kick the can while running massive deficits.
kcm

Ignatieff may well have to swear not to include the bloc in any future coalition thanks to Harper's demagoguery, but coalitions aren't unconstitutional or illegal William, for cripes sake educate y'self man!

http://intensedebate.com/people/Thwim Thwim

The answer to your question: Yes.
http://intensedebate.com/people/DaveFromToronto DaveFromToronto

I get the impression that Stephen Harper's dream is of a majority without any seats in Quebec or Toronto. This election, we'll find out if that is possible, I guess.

Vince Clortho

It will be but not till about 2014 when the next 22 seats go in, likely 905, 519, suburban Van and interior BC and Alberta.

But until then it will be difficult without clean sweeps in those same areas.

Toronto is an odd place, no jokes please, it would elect a couple of Cons, it has in the past, but they havent so they dont. Kind of like Alberta and Liberals. There is no reason they shouldnt elect Liberals in calgary or Edmonton…but until they do they wont believe they can.

Oliver gave Joe Volpe a surprising run for his money in Eglinton. While Volpe eventually got a decent win there was a surprisingly strong Con vote. Incumbency counts for sure. Combiation of the right candidates, resources and campaign. Nobody thought the cons could win in Quebec two elections ago……elections matter, local candidates matter and resources matter.
tobyornottoby

Conservatives can't win in Toronto because they aren't willing to toerate a candidate who actually represents the constituencies. Axed Mark Warner in Toronto Centre because he was addresssing issues the party didn't want to talk about. It's not a big tent party, more like a small prayer tent where you have to listen to rural gun nuts instead of urban gun control concerns, or avoid being seen at an AIDS conference. http://tinyurl.com/ln5gmx

A credible candidate in a high profile contest (against Bob Rae) would have signalled a willingness to build a base there, but the party was afraid that would lose it support elsewhere. In other words they wrote it off, not just for that election but for some time to come.

Anon

I think the worst thing about this video is the bully-boy image that he so desperately tries to hide in public. I wonder if there're any more videos out there.

John W.

And will the Libs use them in the election ad campaign? If they don't use clips from this they don't deserve to win.The Libs can't sit back and let the Cons plaster the airwaves with old Iggy quotes and clips and not respond. At least now therer is some ammunition.

Vince Clortho

Its odd that this is considered news. I mean it was made salacious by it being "taped" was it secretly? And then ent in a brown envelope to the Liberals.

I think the Liberals just got the cons some significant airtime. This really wasnt news, as Aaron indicates. So the question s did the 20 somethings in the Liberal warroom fall for soemthing.
oppo guy

Just like Tom Flanagan predicted “It doesn't have to be true. It just has to be plausible.”

Harper is a divider. Canada deserves a leader who genuinely brings people together.

Oh, and to be clear: that excludes Ignatieff too, who can't even keep his own MPs behind him: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/st…
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Gaunilon Gaunilon

It would be funny if Ignatieff pursued the "Harper is a scary guy with a demonic hidden agenda" espoused by so many posters here. Given how well it worked for Paul Martin back in 2006, and the fact that Harper has been governing for several years now without soldiers taking over our streets, I think it would make for a very entertaining Liberal faceplant. Sort of like a Hollywood car accident in slow motion: painful to watch but you just can't stop yourself from looking.
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Gaunilon Gaunilon

It would be funny if Ignatieff pursued the "Harper is a scary guy with a demonic hidden agenda" espoused by so many posters here. Given how well it worked for Paul Martin back in 2006, and the fact that Harper has been governing for several years now without soldiers taking over our streets, I think it would make for a very entertaining Liberal faceplant.

Sort of like a Hollywood car accident in slow motion: painful to watch but you just can't stop yourself from looking.
Ken S from Ramara

Harpo talks about the benefits accuring because of his Eco-Action Plan, a plan that would not exist if not for the Coalition! An action plan he says the devil (ie Coalition) made me do it. The PM should understand the voters of Canada elected this minority parliament and respect the voters wishes by making it function! Canadians have no desire to give Harpo the unbridled powers of a majority.

Vince Clortho

Wll not exactly true. A choice of minority or majority wasnt on my ballot, was it on yours?

http://intensedebate.com/people/psiclone psiclone

Now we need a tape from a private rouse the troops meeting from Iggy, Jack and Gilles (hey what would a BLOQ rally meeting be like?)to see how their private and public messages differ – persoanlly I like the pseech and thought it was a good one – way to go harper! free press always a good sign.
knick

Not hard to imagine how the Libs will make use of the video of that revelation when the campaign gets down to the nitty gritty.
Vince Clortho

Some interesting advice from a "Liberal Startegist"____http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/silver-power…

The speech MI needs to give….

""There will be one of two results in the next federal election; either the Liberal Party or the Conservatives will win the most seats. I intend to win the next election by presenting a big, optimistic plan for our country's future. If the voters put their faith in our party and we win the most seats, we will form a government that represents all Canadians. If the Liberal Party does not have the most seats after the next election, under absolutely no circumstance will we form a coalition or enter into any accord with other political parties to make me prime minister. If I was interested in taking power through such a deal, I would have become Prime Minister in January. I didn't and I won't enter into any such deals at any time in the future."

kcm

This is utter crap!!! Our conventions clearly allow for coalitions – we've had them before, we'll have them again. Someone needs to call Harper's bluff. [ obviously i'm talking about a situation where an elected government loses a confidence vote. Seems like what your suggesting is a recipe for minority tyranny. The fact is the public has more than once now sent these guys back to parliament to work together, and for whatever reason they've failed to do so. Why the hell doesn't one of our constitutional scholars stand up on his hind legs and say:" actually boys! This is the way it is"?

Dick Richards

Let me be clear on this…it ain't never gonna happen!
http://intensedebate.com/people/NoMoreBorders NoMoreBorders

I don't understand why there are some here who choose to make personal attacks against our politicians. You are attacking those who have given up their family's privacy and their private sector careers in order to serve our country to the best of their abilities.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with our leaders, let's show some respect and appreciation for them by staying on the topic of their policies. Attacking them personally says more about you than it does them.

kcm

Sorry! But have you been asleep for the last 3 years? How much civility and respect for the views of others have we seen from this Conservative gov't? Doesn't leadersip start at the top?
http://intensedebate.com/people/Thwim Thwim

When they personally make promises and guarantees, such as when Mr. Harper was speaking about softwood lumber and said "You do not negotiate when you've won", and then, once elected, personally turned around and just gave a billion dollars of our lumber industry's money over to their US competitors.. I believe at that point the gentleman (that term used in the loosest of senses) has opened himself up to personal attacks upon his integrity at the very least.

http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Gaunilon Gaunilon

It would be funny if Ignatieff pursued the "Harper is a scary guy with a demonic hidden agenda" theme espoused by so many posters here. Given how well it worked for Paul Martin back in 2006, and the fact that Harper has been governing for several years now without soldiers taking over our streets, I think it would make for a very entertaining Liberal faceplant.

Sort of like a Hollywood car accident in slow motion: painful to watch but you just can't stop yourself from looking.

Vince Clortho

We will see it…especially to fight a majority…..

Oddly enough, I think the parties would all secretly welcome a majority….even the Bloc. They all want it to be themselves of course, but they all know they need renewal, all of them, and that can only happen without the focus being on the next confidence vote. You know how people complain that businesses dont make long term decisions and only focus on the next quarter….same argument. We have some long term decisions to make soon and they wont be made if you think you'll have to pay the price before the benefits come to fruition.

http://intensedebate.com/people/LynnTO LynnTO

You know, I'm not surprised or offended that Harper said what he did. He's the leader of a political party, I would expect nothing less than for him to be partisan in his remarks, particularly to a partisan audience.

What unnerves me is that he is also as the Prime Minister. And, to me, a PM doesn't just have the privilege of governing only part of the country, he is responsible for leading the whole nation, minority government notwithstanding.

By suggesting our Supreme Court Justices are left-wing idealogues, by suggesting that cooperating with other parties amounts to having a socialist, separatist coalition, and by suggesting that the gun registry is nothing but a waste of money (boondoggle though it is, it has still helped officers do their jobs) I am left with the impression that there is a conscious attempt on Harper's part to undermine my confidence in our democratic institutions, a confidence that he thinks only he and his party can restore.

And *that's* what scares me about this government.
Fred from Brandon MB

Move along people….nothing to see here.
jay

Whats the big deal about this? All of the political parties behind the scenes do this stuff. I guess it just shows you how desperate the Liberals are! Remember Separatist movement goal is to destory Canada!
connie

What's wrong? Harper just a man who wants to win.Everyone wants to win ,the Liberals are such big silly Liberals.
Avenger

Harpo speaks! Now we know Hidden Agenda is Majority Gov't! This is why we still need the CBC.Bravo!
Terren

I can already see how he will frame this : Majority or coalition!
knick

Don Martin made an interesting observation today on CBC – the camera is so close to Harper that it's hard to imagine that he didn't know he was being taped, and he even seems to look directly at the camera several times. Don speculated that Harper wanted his closed-door message released because his base may be wavering and if he doesn't get his majority then it's game over for him. Ignatieff's Q&A about the tape suggests that they will use it in the campaign. Could be a somewhat interesting campaign – the battle of the tapes.