Comments on: How would you rate the Harper government's handling of the economy?

By: liberatis

liberatis — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:42:03 +0000

The fact is that Harper is the americanized one, not Ignatieff. Your facts are wrong. Ignatieff was not in the Us for that length of time. He was on the world stage in a respected manner as a Canadian. Harper on the other hand embarrasses Canada every time he steps onto the world stage. Wake up, anonymous.

By: Anonymous!!

Anonymous!! — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:36:39 +0000

In response and in all fairness to Canadians. I think we are all intelligent enough to know that all parties have their own agenda and they will lie and steal just like you've mentionned about the Liberal party. As far as an Americanized leader look at what you have now, can't get anymore Americanized than him. Furthermore, at the rate our Conservative Government is going we Canadians will be tenants in our own country. All of, if not close to all of our Natural Resources are being sold off to who knows what countries, as long as the money is right for them and there friends are making a buck. So you tell me who are liars and thieves? Please refer to this article before Americanizing anybody because to me it looks like you've got the wrong man. http://pushedleft.blogspot.com/2009/11/harper-fai...

By: skyroamer

skyroamer — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:12:12 +0000

IntenseDebate Notification

AND your reality is lack of proper representation for the three provinces that are the drivers of the Canadian economy? A senate that is the Liberal party's control of that representation? A Liberal leader whose recent book reads like it was taken right from the nearest geography book? (He drove out of the Eastern Boreal forest onto the Great Plains east of Winnipeg and had to stop to view the vista. Skip to stopping his car just west of Calgary to see the sun set over the foothills.) Who the hell is he, Captain Canada, leaping out of the bedroom of Toronto to the living room of the West? The Forest doesn't just stop on a dime, and anybody with halfa brain know that the sun sets over the Rocky Mountains, not the foothills. Next, he will be seeing buffalo herds and hearing the voyaguers singing and paddling down the river.I know, it all sounds good in the coffee house circuitin the Center of the Universe.

Yeah Trudeau ruined the economy of the west for a decade (the NEP), gave the finger to everyone west of Windsor, he and Lewis gave us the debt that we're still suffering under (from $60 billion in 1970 to nearly $600 billion by 1978), his sidekicks, Chretien and Martin brutalized health care in Canada and raised taxes by 54% to get rid of the Trudeau inspired deficit, and you are still worshipping at the feet of the Liberals.

Granted Mulroney fell in between, but he was a simpleton that continued the liberal policies. I had no use for him either.

Funny all of the governments that I mentioned were all Quebec governments led by Quebec Prime Ministers. Now we've had a Western PM for less than three years, no secret agendas, stable, tight government and you idiots can't stand it. That's modern reality!

By: Thwim

Thwim — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:27:10 +0000

Good grief, you're still venting at Trudeau? No wonder you're in favor of the conservatives, you're obviously too busy being angry at the past to bother looking at reality as it is today.

By: skyroamer

skyroamer — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:29:07 +0000

IntenseDebate Notification

Poor analogy, but Pieree Elliot Trudeau certainly proved that a miser never goes broke or is poor. The man never carried a penny with him or a credit card; he expected everyone else to pay for him, and by god we did!

By: Thwim

Thwim — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:30:35 +0000

No, you can't spend yourself rich, but Argentina certainly proved you can tightwad yourself destitute.

By: Ross

Ross — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:10:22 +0000

A true "conservative"……………..ANONYMOUS

By: Tiny

Tiny — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:33:13 +0000

TOTALLY DISAGREE HERE! The oposition parties are not their job… If they were, they would be in "power" right now… Liberals have "BURNT" Canadian too many times….. Layton (NDP) has lost touch with reality.. He is trying to play with our emotions…I;E: unemployement…. The government can not eliminate unemployment. It's is up to employers to do that! PEOPLE, what else do the Liberals have to do to open your eyes, steal directly form your house… They were stealing from our "wallets"……

By: skyroamer

skyroamer — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:33:08 +0000

IntenseDebate Notification

There are none so blind as those who will not see. Yes the Harper Government is doing its best not to spend all of the money demanded by the Liberals and NDP–this is why they are doing a good job. And Iggy is screaming that they aren't spending enough on one hand then screaming about the deficit on the other. He should make up his mind. Layton and Bob Rae just scream.

The economy will recover on its own. All of the government spending in the world doesn't help, especially in the long term, as goverments, having no money of their own and having to pay for all of the borrowing (deficit and debt), have to take money out of the economy (raise taxes) to do it. This slows down the recovery and causes inflation. Remember the 1980's after the Trudeau/David Lewis excesses of the 1970's? \”It's the economy, stupid\”, as Bill Clinton told George H.W. Bush. You cannot spend yourself rich, I don't care what kind of airy fairy Socialist economics you preach.

By: Quarmby

Quarmby — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:22:05 +0000

good observation anonymous, but Canadians have short memories. I believe that it was Ben Franklin that said " the people get the government they deserve"….and in Canadas' case they are getting more than they deserve at the moment.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:54:22 +0000

COME ON! Have people already forgotten what the Liberals have done to this country? Talk about spending our tax payers money! What about the spending habits of our last 2 fearless leaders? What about envelopes full of money showing up on restaurant chairs, how about dealing with companies that don't even exist… Or even buying your son a huge dealership! People wake up… Liberals are a bunch of liars and thieves! Harper has done an amazing job cleaning up after the LIBERALS! Not the other way around….I don't trust the Liberals, now or ever!

By: Thwim

Thwim — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:04:13 +0000

So make up your mind.. if the government did a great job, and it's because the liberals and NDP that demanded all the spending that's been done, it sounds like you're saying it's the Liberals and NDP who've done the great job.

By: Paulmars

Paulmars — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:59:00 +0000

Do you have any idea how much CMHC collected during the boom??? Any idea of the $$$$ that flowed into their coffers??? They were bursting at the seams.

By: Not for Tories

Not for Tories — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:45:10 +0000

The Liberals didn't skim 40 million from the taxpayers – Harper used up the money that Martin put into a surplus. Harper overspent greatly. Yes, Liberals cost us in Shawinigate. Conservatives cost us much more.

By: TO_young_girl

TO_young_girl — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:17:48 +0000

Well said. This is and should be less about political ideology and more about the facts on how to move Canada to a stronger economic position.

By: fuddleduddle

fuddleduddle — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:46:03 +0000

hello, earth calling,,, Harper has a masters degree in economics …..who would do better? iggy the liberal arts academic or jack the city counselor??? if you look at economic theory i am sure those two have never heard of it

By: Madeleine

Madeleine — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:57:11 +0000

Well said Skyroamer and Canadiansence.
If Conservative Party were majority, they could have done much greater job to solve this economic crisis. People are not stupid. As far as I see many people I know in this province of Quebec, they are switching to Conservative from Liberal. We saw enouch junks of socialisim. Cut off all funding to the special interest groups, and scrap Human Right Commission who are so biased and pressing their own ideologies. Senate should be all elected. New laws made by judicial activists judges should be all debated in the Parliament. Then, only then our Canada will be called really strong nation.

By: kruegerh

kruegerh — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:25:07 +0000

It's the law of nature; "scum floats to the top." How else does anybody think our political and justice system got to where it sits on top of it's people? But we don't deserve anything better, and that is the profound truth, because we just 'let it happen!'

By: skyroamer

skyroamer — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:21:25 +0000

Finally, to all of those who are screeching about Harper's "over-spending", remember that it was the Liberals and the NDP that demanded, and are still demanding, all of that spending. We needed "stimulus", and "social programs", and more EI, and universal daycare, and, and, and….

Socialists have no idea that the government has no money of its own; it has only what it takes out of the economy via taxes. If the economy is in recession, there are fewer taxes collected and thus deficit for already existing programs, never mind more spending.

By: skyroamer

skyroamer — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:20:46 +0000

By: skyroamer

skyroamer — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:09:47 +0000

Along with democratizing the Senate, the bill that was blocked by the Liberal Senate also gave proper representation in the House of Commons to three provinces that are horribly under-represented: BC, Alberta and Ontario. So this PM, Harper, that you all hate, wants to make the country more democratic (elect the senate, and give rep by pop to under-repped provinces), and has acted as a proper steward of the economy according to two UN economic bodies. What a horrible man! You should be so lucky as to have this PM!

By: skyroamer

skyroamer — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:09:18 +0000

Along with democratizing the Senate, the bill that was blocked by the Liberal Senate also gave proper representation in the House of Commons to three provinces that are horribly under-represented: BC, Alberta and Ontario. So this PM, Harper, that you all hate wants to make the country more democratic (elect the senate, and give rep by pop to under-repped provinces), and has acted as a proper steward of the economy according to two UN economic bodies. What a horrible man! You should be so lucky as to have this PM!

By: skyroamer

skyroamer — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:06:46 +0000

Along with democratizing the Senate, the bill that was blocked by the Liberal Senate also gave proper representation in the House of Commons two three provinces that are horribly under-represented: BC, Alberta and Ontario. So this PM, Harper, that you all hate wants to make the country more democratic (elect the senate, and give rep by pop to under-repped provinces). What a horrible man! You should be so lucky as to have this PM!

By: skyroamer

skyroamer — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:02:05 +0000

Harper and the Conservatives have done a great job. So say the IMF and the World Economic Council, both UN bodies so should be loved by all of the left-wing liberal nuts. The biggest reason that the Liberals want an election, besides an insatiable lust for power and their hands on the purse of the country, is to prevent the Conservatives from appointing any more senators and thus gaining control of the Senate. The Liberal controlled Senate has already twice blocked democratization of the Senate by making it elected, and limiting the terms that senators may hold their positions in the Senate. This legislation has been passed by the Commons but blocked by an unelected, unrepresentative body–shame on the Liberals.

By: Thwim

Thwim — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:44:27 +0000

Oh but the banks wanted to. It's just the Liberals wouldn't let them. Remember all the grousing the conservatives did when the Liberals stopped the big banks from merging into super banks?

And then once the Harpers got in, they were quick to make those 40 year mortgages allowable under CMHC. However, one thing I will grant them is that when the US started to collapse they were quick to reverse themselves on it, so that might have staved off some of the eventual pain.

By: Thwim

Thwim — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:44:09 +0000

Oh but they wanted to. It's just the Liberals wouldn't let them. Remember all the grousing the conservatives did when the Liberals stopped the big banks from merging into super banks?

By: Graeme

Graeme — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:52:51 +0000

What a bunch of economic illiterates in the above comments. Small “l” liberal economic policies and “we are entitled to everything from our governments” got us into most of the mess globally. Canada for once was not too much of a culprit and we should be thankful our much maligned banks didn’t go to the levels of ridiculous excess we saw south of the border. However we shouldn’t gloat since the coming collapse of the US dollar , which is part of the end game of globalization realignments, will seriously drag us down as well. Our only saving grace will be our abundant natural resources which will get sucked up by Asian economies.

By: Lord Kitchener's Own

Lord Kitchener's Own — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:27:49 +0000

I'd like some of what 49% of the people here are smoking.

They've done an "amazing" job??? Come on.

We're "much worse off"??? COME ON.

I simply can't imagine that a single person who voted for either of those two options truly believes it.

By: Emilie

Emilie — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:02:14 +0000

Did you all forget that this Harper government is sinking us deeper and deeper in debt because he OVERSPENDS!!! We are going to need a Liberal government again to clean up another conservative mess.

By: David

David — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:57:35 +0000

The fact that Ignatieff has lived in other countries as well as our own makes him more qualified in my book. Living outside of Canada for periods of time help you appreciate the differences of home much better than one who hasn't left. In addition, spending / living abroad allows you to see and bring some fresh ideas to the table when you return. Experience abroad is a benefit, not a hindrance. Plus, Ignatieff lived both in the UK and the USA. Very different perspectives.

What I don't want is a leader that never cared to leave the country and see the world until he had too, and now that he is in power fights transparency in Gov't, refuses to support Canadians when abroad, adopts the very US only dogma against "socialism" — a philosophy I believe underlies our society and differs us from our neighbours to the south. I personally see Ignatieff as espousing much more 'Canadian" ideals than Harper (although I would like to see him speak about it a bit more!!), and feel that Harper falls ideologically closer to the US republicans which is not even remotely Canadian in my book.

By: R Henry

R Henry — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:45:38 +0000

The recession in the world's economy was caused by conservative economic policies of the Bush administration in the US. It was interesting to hear Prime Minister Harper, when asked how he was going to justify his deficit spending to his Reform and Alliance Party supporters, he said that there was nothing in the conservative play book to deal with a recession. That explains why he being a liberal and his supporters still think he's conservative.

By: Thwim

Thwim — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:47:37 +0000

"Threaten the country with an election"? "Oh no! Keep that ugly democracy away from me! God forbid I have to think for a few minutes on the direction my country as a whole is heading"

The opposition IS being an opposition. The problem is that the governing party is not acting as a minority government. They fix that, you'll see the threats of an election go down considerably because their approval ratings will go up.

By: Ardell

Ardell — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:53:04 +0000

I believe our Opposition needs to learn to be an Opposition. If they continue to threaten the country with an election, they are no better than the rebels in the Middle East who constantly threaten democracy. The Opposition can't seem to separate state and their need for publicity.

By: ChrisInKW

ChrisInKW — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:55:25 +0000

The government's backtracking on 40 year amortizations was also quite telling. Doesn't the Bank of Canada also hold billions of Canadian mortgage guarantees that are now backing our currency?

By: ChrisInKW

ChrisInKW — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:55:11 +0000

The government's backtracking on 40 year amortizations was also quite telling. Doesn't the Bank of Canada now also hold billions of Canadian mortgage guarantees that are now backing our currency?

By: ChrisInKW

ChrisInKW — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:54:23 +0000

The governments backtracking on 40 year amortizations was also quite telling. Doesn't the Bank of Canada now also hold billions of Canadian mortgage guarantees that are now backing our currency?

By: Bill W james

Bill W james — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:28:04 +0000

Harpers first move was to dereg. Which let in AIG, Wells Fargo,and a other one. but when the sub-prime hit the fan in the US. Flaherty jumped in and bought about 7 Billion bad bank mortgage paper. Flaherty song is, first I take Ontario then I take the rest.

By: Thwim

Thwim — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:23:55 +0000

To be honest, I'd rather an Americanized leader than a Canadian liar.

By: Quarmby

Quarmby — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:02:59 +0000

Being old enough to be a rabid anti-liberal (actually anti politician period), I agree with anonymous when it comes to IGGY….although IGGYs' commercials are good for the Conservatives, as they show him to be stiffer than Richard Simmons at a Playgirl photoshoot….!!

By: anonymous!

anonymous! — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:44:20 +0000

So you mean to say that you would like Canada to become more AMARICANIZED with Ignatieff lack of Canadian vues, than actually admit that Harper has done a better job than any Liberal has ever done? Face it, this guy has been away so long, he has no clue what Canadians need… I rather stick with Harper, then going back to deal with a bunch of crooks who are only looking out for themselves…. PPPLLLEEEAAASE…. Have you seen his ads? Come on…. Pure BS if you ask me…. Especially when he talks about Canadians…. How would he know about Canada? By the way, in case you haven't notice, Harper has a good relation with the US.. NAd that is as far as it should be… Good relation…

By: Will

Will — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:20:01 +0000

I would rather a leader like Ignatieff who can pull strings with our largest trading partner than a leader who remains in the bathroom during every G8 summit.

By: Will

Will — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:14:25 +0000

Iggy's goal is to become 'King'? If a political leader's goal would not be to become Prime Minister, I would have serious questions about him or her. Do you think Harper's goal was to remain in Opposition? Why did Mr. Harper cause a $300 million election less than 1 year ago? Was it not because of his bloated ego? Stop kidding yourself. This is politics.

By: anonymous!

anonymous! — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:52:26 +0000

I am so amazed that some Canadians are still so gullible to believe anything the Liberals have to say! History has proven to us that they are nothing but a bunch of liars and thieves!

And now, what??? The party coudln't find any "honest" person or at least someone that could pass for honest? They had to go find an EX CANADIAN that spend most of his year in the US! COME ON! PEOPLE! Wake up! Do you really wnat an Americanized leader in power? I sure as hell don't want it!

By: ChrisInKW

ChrisInKW — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:55:19 +0000

All of those lovely VRMs with no cash down. It's scary.

By: SeanStok

SeanStok — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:29:45 +0000

Not half as much as the extent to which you've managed to expose my financial illiteracy does.