The Economist to Harper: Your bullying ways are giving the NDP a chance

National Post Staff | 12/07/06

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques BoissinotBully? Prime Minister Stephen Harper waves to people after speaking at the opening of the World French Language Forum in Quebec City this week

CALGARY - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been ridiculed for being a bully in a scathing editorial by the influential Economist news magazine.

The Economist, a mostly right-leaning British weekly, criticized the Harper government for giving the opposition an opening by being inflexible and claimed the Prime Minister was "intolerant of criticism and dissent."

The magazine said that during his years as prime minister Harper has "acquired a reputation for playing fast and loose with the rules."

"Though the prime minister once campaigned as a crusader for accountability and openness, he has acquired the habit of secrecy," the editorial said.

It cited Public Safety Minister Vic Toews's controversial remarks that anyone who opposed giving police easier access to Internet users' browsing histories was a supporter of child pornographers as an example of the government's "intolerance of criticism and dissent."

The magazine said the Conservative government has accomplishments too, citing the country's economic growth forecast this year and saying the economy stands out from its peers.

But it warned Harper the NDP under Thomas Mulcair was fast becoming more "more credible."

"Thomas Mulcair has started well, imposing party discipline, dropping leftist talk and moving towards the centre. He has called for a balanced approach to developing the tar sands, taking more note of environmental worries. He kept the party quiet during four months of student demonstrations against rises in tuition fees in Quebec - a silence that seemed to flummox the Conservative attack machine," the editorial said.

Seemingly unfazed by any criticism, Harper yesterday claiming it will be next summer before there are any major changes to his government's front benches.

Speaking on an Alberta radio show, Harper ruled out both a major cabinet shuffle and prorogation of the House of Commons until the government reaches the halfway point of its majority mandate.

Prorogation is when the legislature "resets" itself with a throne speech and new bills. Harper said he considered the move, but decided against it for the time being.

"I didn't see any reason to do it right now. We've still got a number of pieces of legislation we do want to pass," Harper told host Dave Rutherford, whose show is broadcast province wide on CHQR and CHED.

"I think what I am more likely to do ... is probably in mid-term - we will probably have a new session mid-term."

Harper said the performance of cabinet ministers will be assessed halfway through his government's mandate and that's when any big changes will be made.

"We'll take a look at how everybody is performing and make some major changes at that point," he said. "But I think between now and then let's keep everybody focused on the job we got elected to do."

Harper's Conservatives won a majority in May 2011 and the fixed-election-date law calls for the next vote in October 2015.

Under the Constitution, the Governor General can dissolve Parliament and call an election at any time and Harper has suggested he is flexible about the fixed date if it conflicts with provincial elections. If the timelines hold, however, the halfway point in the mandate would be August of next year.

Cabinet shuffle talk heated up this week following the resignation of embattled International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda.

While it was expected that hole might be filled as part of a wide-ranging shakeup, Harper only made a minor tweak.

Associate minister of defence Julian Fantino, the government's front man on the fumbled F-35 fighter jet file, was moved to Oda's spot. Fantino's old duties were handed off to New Brunswick MP Bernard Valcourt, minister of state for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay was one of the ministers thought to be up for a change this summer as he's also been dogged by the controversy over fighter-jet spending.

But Harper said MacKay isn't going anywhere.

"We're right in the middle of a whole lot of important initiatives that we launched right after the campaign and I want to see our ministers focused on those things and carrying them through."

Moving forward, Harper said the economy will be his government's top priority.

"The country as you know, like the whole rest of the world, has been through a very difficult period with the economic crisis of '08-'09. We've come out of that well," Harper said on the radio show.

"What we've said our goal is now, is not just to make sure we continue to come out of it, but that this country does not face the problems that we're seeing in Europe, the United States and Japan - that rather than being one of these old economic powers that's in trouble, we want to make sure we join the club of the emerging economic powers."

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From CBC.ca

Trudeau ads not bullying, just part of debate, says PM

Household flyers and ads mock Liberal Leader's early jobs, conclude he's 'in over his head'

By Meagan Fitzpatrick, CBC News -Apr 25, 2013Harper on bullying1:58

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday that flyers targeting new Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau shouldn't be confused with bullying and that the Conservative Party is following the rules on sending material to constituents.

The flyers contain the same messages featured in radio and television advertisements launched by the government immediately after Trudeau was chosen as his party's leader on April 14. They question the Quebec MP's judgment and work experience and use the tagline: "He's in way over his head."

The flyers are known as "10-percenters" and MPs can use their House of Commons budget to mail them, as long as they don't go to more than 10 per cent of homes in their riding. The Liberals said they obtained advance copies of the flyers and are complaining that the Conservatives are using taxpayers' money for negative campaigning.

An image taken from material made available to Conservative MPs this week for use in flyers sent to constituents at taxpayers' expense known as '10 percenters.' Other parties have sent out flyers with similar attacks on the Conservative government in the past.(Supplied image)

Harper didn't mention the Trudeau flyers specifically but said his party is in line with all the others when it comes to the mailouts.

"There are House of Commons rules for communications that we do with constituents across the country. All parties work within those rules and all parties use those activities and use those rules," he said during a news conference with the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

On Tuesday, Harper met with the family of Rehtaeh Parsons, the 17-year-old from Nova Scotia who died after she was taken off life-support following a suicide attempt. Her family says she was raped by four boys when she was 15 and then endured humiliation and harassment by classmates when a photo of the alleged attack was circulated.

The teen's suicide has drawn attention to bullying, and all parties in the House of Commons have been pledging this week to take more action to combat it. When Justice Minister Rob Nicholson met with his provincial and territorial counterparts in Ottawa on Wednesday, they agreed to speed up a review of the Criminal Code to see if any gaps can be filled. A report will be done by June.

The prime minister was asked during a news conference how he can reconcile his government's attack ads against Trudeau and the flyers with its anti-bullying message.

Mixed Tory support for ad campaign

He responded with his comments on the flyers, then added that what happened to the Parsons family is "completely unacceptable" and that he expects all parties to support new legislative measures whenever they are proposed.

"Do not confuse democratic debate in politics with crime. What happened to the Parsons family are terrible crimes and this government will be moving forward with measures to address them and I hope we'll find support among all parties in Parliament to support those measures," Harper said.

Some Conservative MPs aren't embracing the idea of the anti-Trudeau flyers for constituents. "I won't be participating in that program," Alberta MP Brent Rathgeber said.

"Generally speaking, my constituents are not all that thrilled by negative advertising," he said. Rathgeber said Conservative MPs aren't being pressured to send the flyers but they are available for their use if they want them.

"It's just not my style of politics. I like to focus on issues and not so much on character," he said.

Rathgeber backed Harper's statements that making a connection between the campaign aimed at discrediting Trudeau as a leader and bullying shouldn't be made.

"I suppose one could possibly make that link but that's a bit of a giant step, I would think," he said. "Public officials, I think, have to subject ourselves to a higher standard of criticism," said Rathgeber, adding again that his constituents don't respond well to negative advertising.

Another Conservative MP, Stephen Woodworth, said he wouldn't be using the flyers either. "I always, myself, try to focus on policy rather than personality, but I know there are other approaches and I can't tell other people what to do. But for me, it's a different way," he said.

Woodworth said he likes to see factual accuracy maintained whenever he sees political advertisements, regardless of whether they are on policy or people.

British Columbia MP John Duncan, however, said the flyers are standard procedure. He's not sure if they've been sent to his riding yet.

"I consider it business as normal," he said. "It's the way we behave, it's the way other parties have behaved as well."

Conservative MP Leon Benoit said of the advertisements that the party's supporters "really like them." He added that Harper has been the subject of negative advertisements in past election campaigns.

"What is in these ads is absolutely true, taken in context, so they're effective and I think they'll continue to be effective," he said. Benoit said he thinks young people in particular will respond to the message in the ads that Trudeau is not prepared to be prime minister.

"I do think that younger people are starting to understand that just because somebody might be good looking, might appeal in that way, doesn't mean they're really ready to be prime minister and I think that's important," he said.

RMR: Rick's Rant - Harper is a Bully - YouTube

► 1:56► 1:56www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEdzOdqZRBA

Mar 26, 2010 - Uploaded by MercerReport

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Bullying in politics defended by Prime Minister but criminalized for the rest of society