Even the right is beginning to jump down Stephen Harper’s throat, now that the leader of the damnable Conservatives is finally coming clean with his regressive, right-wing agenda.
At least Canadians are being given a real choice in this election: Liberal mush-mouthing (although they’re getting better, at least during the campaign); Conservative menace, malice and meanspiritedness; and the ‘we’re not gonna be the governing party’ meritoriousness of the New Democratic Party.
Dark Clouds on Harper’s Horizon
Tonight, VanRamblings begins with this observation from Sean, at seanincognito …

To say Stephen Harper has had a pretty good first few weeks on the campaign trail would be a generous understatement. He’s successfully outmanoeuvred the ‘extremist’ label, despite both the efforts of the Liberals and the half-cocked utterances of some of his own people (Scott Reid, come on down!)
However Sun columnist Greg Weston analyzes the repercussions that may follow Harper’s “free votes for all, all for free votes” promise — which incidentally has caught media attention outside our own borders — and finds it should be more than a little troubling to the CPC. Weston believes Harper has unnecessarily popped the top on a big ol’ can of very dangerous worms.

During the course of the next 23 days we can only hope that the Conservative campaign implodes, and the ‘new’ Conservatives show themselves to be the same gang of reactionary, rag-tag Reform-Alliance ne’er-do-wells most Canadians wanted nothing to with the past 10 years.
Martin: Same-Sex Marriage Must Be Allowed

PM Paul Martin and NDP Leader Jack Layton discuss their opinions on various subjects during the Party Leaders Forum in St. John’s, Friday.

In a Canadian Press article by Alexander Panetta and Tim Cook, PM Paul Martin made his his strongest statement yet on the issue of same-sex marriage.

“Three of the highest courts in the land have said that discrimination on the grounds of sex, in terms of the definition of marriage, is against the Charter of Rights,” said Martin.
It is absolutely a question of human rights. And under those circumstances, there is no way that anybody should be allowed to discriminate or prevent same sex marriage.”

Watch this CBC report (RealPlayer required), by Linda Calvert, of Friday’s St. John’s, Newfoundland ‘Special Youth Forum’ town hall meeting, the entirety of which aired on CBC Newsworld.
For an insight into where each of the major parties stand on the issues, from health care and the environment, to crime and taxes, click here.
Polls, Those Damn Polls
According to the Globe and Mail, the latest Ipsos-Reid poll results indicate that the Liberals and the Conservatives are in a dead heat.
Meanwhile, today’s CPAC-SES poll is hardly more heartening, showing the Liberals down 4 points, at 37%, and the Conservatives a +6, at 34%. The worst news of all: more Canadians (6% more) find Stephen Harper to be a palatable choice for Prime Minister.
VanRamblings takes some comfort in the realization that there are still 24 long, ardous days of election campaigning ahead, and the Conservatives are just bound to step in it. After all, they’re still that rag-tag bunch of reactionary Reform-Alliance members they’ve always been.
Or, as the Toronto Star’s Ottawa Bureau Chief, Susan Delacourt, writes …

“Child care and abortion, the so-called ‘women’s issues’, have polarized the Liberals and Conservatives in the federal election campaign.
If the campaign stays fixed on sharp social-policy differences, it could re-open gender-gap politics that have traditionally pushed women toward the Liberal left and away from the Conservative right in past elections. In the 2000 election, the old Canadian Alliance had only 27 per cent support from women, compared to 38 per cent support from men.”

VanRamblings will continue to track polling results each day.
For insight into Stephen Harper’s policies, as well as important 2004 federal election news events, click on VanRamblings’ full Decision Canada coverage.

“We’re not spending money that we do not have. In fact we’re not allocating the full amount of the projected surpluses for the next five years.”
Prime Minister Paul Martin, at the public announcement of the Liberal Party platform, Moving Canada Forward.

Maybe it’s that we’re nearing the end of the second full week of the election campaign. Maybe it’s that there’s been no defining moment thus far in the campaign. Maybe it’s that it’s been a dull campaign. Maybe it’s that Canadians didn’t really want a federal election, certainly not one at the beginning of summer.
Whatever the case, here we are at the end of Day 12 of the campaign, and all that one can reasonably do is y-y-y-a-a-a-w-w-w-n-n-n. Thus far, Decision 2004 has been unremittingly dull and unengaging.
Nonetheless, VanRamblings will trudge on, to bring you the ‘important’ political events of the day. Try to stay awake.
Yesterday’s CPAC-SES poll must have been a blip on the political radar on the way to a Conservative minority government (n-n-n-o-o-o-o, say it ain’t so). Today’s CPAC-SES results point to a stunning 4% rise in the polls for the damnable Conservative party, even while the Liberals (still current front-runners) drop six percentage points, since campaign’s outset.
VanRamblings is beginning to see why the CBC has opted not to run polling results on the people’s network. They’re too dispiriting.
PoliticsWatch Vote Selector
Don’t know who to vote for?
Answer the questions posed at PoliticsWatch.com, and PoliticsWatch will help you to determine which candidate — and his or her political party — most closely matches your political views. Surprise, surprise that Jack Layton and the NDP matched my own personal selections at 100%.
The Stench of Desperation – Get A Grip, Mr. Martin
In a timely article published on page A20 of today’s Globe and Mail, Canada’s national paper poses the questions, “(If) Paul Martin is among the best-qualified prime-ministerial candidates in Canadian history … why is he struggling so? Why, with a month to go till election day, does the stench of desperation permeate the Liberal campaign?”
Kevin Brennan, at Tilting at Windmills, thinks he knows the answer …

If (the Liberals) want to win, they need to start acting like they’re proud of their record. They need to realize that running against the Conservatives isn’t enough — they have to actually demonstrate that they have a vision of their own. If they don’t believe in their own record, why should we? If they don’t believe that they ought to run the country, why should we?
The thing is, most Canadians still want a Liberal government. They just don’t trust the Liberals to run it. I still think events will conspire to rescue Martin this time around. But unless he learns how to act like a leader, he won’t win a second term.

Will events conspire to re-elect the Liberals? We’ll know — in 25 days.
Conservative Party Supporter Punches Questioner

Bob Smyth of the group Canadians for Equal Marriage is punched by a Conservative Party supporter at a rally for Stephen Harper, in Guelph Ontario.

You wonder if we’re going to see more of this kind of thing over the course of the next three weeks? You wonder if this picture portends the future?
The first thing that came to mind when I heard about the altercation — graphically depicted to your right — was, “What is this? Nazi Germany? Is there no room for political dissent in the world of Stephen Harper? When valid questions are posed to the individual who might be the next leader of the country, when the questions do not find favour with the potential leader’s supporters, is the only response available to beat down the questioner?”
These are real questions — posed honestly, and not meant to cause offence, or come across as sounding inflammatory.
It’s a sad and regrettable day in Canadian politics when the supporters of a political candidate resort to violence. Why hasn’t Stephen Harper responded to this disturbing incident, and denounced the tactics of intimidation employed by an aggressive supporter of the Conservative Party?
Martin Unveils Platform, Seeks Campaign Shift
As pointed out by the Globe and Mail, “Paul Martin tried to push the focus of an attack-filled election campaign back toward policy Thursday, unveiling a left-leaning platform that focuses on social program spending.”
Watch this CBC video (RealPlayer required) for more information on the Thursday announcement of Liberal Party platform, Moving Canada Forward.
Abortion: A Conservative Party Insult To Women
“If, for a nanosecond, I considered voting for the ‘new’ Conservative Party, that moment has definitely passed,” fumed Dale Robinette, a friend of Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente, on the Globe’s Letters to the Editor page yesterday.
“It’s my body!” shrieked her friend Cathy. “And I don’t need anybody else to tell me what to do with it!”
“So much for the urban Ontario female vote”, writes Wente. “Mr. Harper has been trying to persuade this important demographic his party is not made up of troglodytes. He just lost.”
Watch this CTV video to hear Stephen Harper’s coy reply to the question of Conservative support for changes in current abortion legislation.
Sue Bailey, at the Toronto Star, has this report, subtitled ‘Position provides fresh fodder for critics who say party has hidden, hardline agenda’, on the Conservative Party’s approach to the abortion issue. You may want to read Graham Fraser’s report, as well, on Prime Minister Martin’s challenge to Stephen Harper on the abortion issue.
Tory backs death penalty
Third discrepancy for party in a week
And, as if we all weren’t concerned enough about the prospect of a Conservative government, and what that would mean for Canada, there’s this Toronto Star story detailing Ontario Conservative candidate Tom Jackson’s support for the re-instatement of the death penalty.
Jackson is the third candidate in a week to contradict party policy on a hot-button issue.
Scott Reid was forced to resign his post as the party’s official languages critic after calling for cuts to minority-language services.
Harper was forced to contradict Rob Merrifield, the party’s health critic, after he said women seeking abortions should get third-party counselling.
And, yesterday, Harper opened the door on another controversial issue when he said he believes the Supreme Court would back off if a Parliament led by him spoke its mind on the issue of same-sex marriage. Harper personally favours reserving marriage for heterosexuals.
For insight into Stephen Harper’s policies, as well as important 2004 federal election news events, click on VanRamblings’ full Decision Canada coverage.

“His nice image notwithstanding, Stephen Harper’s plans for the country are not benign, and they would fundamentally change the nature of Canada.”
Ralph Goodale, the federal Finance Minister, in a meeting yesterday with the Toronto Star’s editorial board