Categories: Need to know

Putting the NDP in power would be “devastating,” Harper says

Conservative party turns on Layton’s NDP with days to go before the vote

by macleans.ca on Thursday, April 28, 2011 2:14pm - 130 Comments

With just a few days before the federal election on May 2, Conservative leader Stephen Harper is warning that an NDP-led “band of opponents” would bring “devastating” tax hikes should they take power, Postmedia reports. The Tories looked to be headed for a majority, but are now under threat from Jack Layton’s surging NDP party. While campaigning in Niagara Falls, Ont., Harper singled out certain NDP platform promises, such as an increase to EI and CPP premiums and a $20 billion carbon tax, which he said were deemed by experts to lead to massive tax hikes. He went on to say the NDP surge “lays out for Canadians how clear and stark the choice is,” noting that the opposition will bring “enormous increases” in expenses of all kinds, and a “devastating effect on consumers’ pockets and ultimately on our economy.”

Postmedia

Tags: Election 2011

Yanni

The NDP-Liberal coalition need not be the great disaster for the economy and social peace, but it would require a lot of "Nixon to China" moments. For example, it would be wonderful if the NDP would be able to do the just and righteous thing of allowing mixed public and private healthcare. They would be the most trusted to undertake the reforms by those who are terrified of "two-tier" healthcare, of US style healthcare. Another thing which the NDP-Liberal coalition would be uniquely suited for would be challenging the federal bureaucracy to make it smaller, more modern (why I can't I do most of the forms I need to do automatically online?), and more efficient.

Of course, if the NDP is still the party whose members have wet dreams about collectivization (such as the baffling support for the CWB) and believe there is no place that the government shouldn't intervene and control (nationalizing corporations, centralizing government control, increasing taxes beyond 50% of income etc. etc.) then we are are in for some rough times.
MHL

All supporters of the Liberal Party who are honest and realistic will admit that the chances of a Liberal Party win in next week's election are nil. Therefore if they are truly interested and concerned about Canada's political future direction, they must decide whether Canada should continue its present course or form a coalition with Layton and the Bloc Quebec and make a 180 degree turn towards the far left.
It is my hope that most Liberals will "hold their nose" and vote Conservative–by far the lesser of the two evils.

Guest

Unfortunately some of us can only hold our noses for so long…. 4 years would be too much to bear.

LoveMusic

Steve's and Jim carefully costed out their economic program on the back of a Tim Horton's serviette a couple of weeks ago.
Ethos

Japan's financial sector may be similar but any kind of comparison of the two economies ends rather abruptly there. Japan's crisis was exactly Canada's strength – explaining the different fates. Japan's economy took a rather severre hit due to rising commodity prices, where Canada's economy fell into a windfall for the same reason. Japan builds finished goods, Canada ships raw resources. If you look into Canada's manufacturing, the two are doing comparably. The difference being that Canada's manufacturing is substantially weaker as a percentage of economic production.

As to the Global Bank Tax – there is no reason to suggest any other party would not do the same, since the tax was unduly punitive on Canada.

Same goes for the stimulus plan. I have bery serious questions about its implementation and effectiveness, but ignoring that, would it have been any different under another government? The CPC was not even in favour of stimulus spending, they were forced into it by other parties. Would a Liberal government had done anything truly different? Not likely, good and bad both.
Ethos

As far as your comments on our democracy I can't even say that I can have any kind of respect for your position, so debating you will bring us nowhere.
Mike T.

with much reason!
RagingRanter

Harper finally drives a nail in the coffin of the Liberals. Only too late will he realize what a Pyhric victory that is. (Yes, I know I spelt 'pyrhic totally wrong, but seriously, does anyone know how to spell that?)
hosertohoosier

1. You are right. Without the Bloc or the Liberals, Canada will become a 2 or 2.5 party system. That means that the crucial battleground will shift to the left, and so too must their policies. Plus, the NDP surge has definitely killed his dreams of a majority.
2. I think its got two r's. Pyrrhic?
http://ragingranter.blogspot.com Raging_Ranter

The surge totally blind-sided him too. He focused so narrowly on Ignatieff for so long that he's got no bullets ready for Jack.