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Harper’s Plans for a Non-Election Derailed
CPS Election Analysis 2008 - Week 5
FOS
The Conservative Party brain trust planned a snap federal election without the people. Public opinion in particular the fight back of organized labour has prevented that from happening. Issues will be discussed.
Harper planned to talk about “hard working Canadians” rather than Canadians working harder, longer and for less. Harper planned to incite public opinion against the youth. Harper planned to dodge a discussion on the economy. Harper planned to evade a discussion on the war in Afghanistan.
· Youth - Harper planned to discuss “youth crime” rather than his government’s crimes against the youth. Stats revealed that youth crime rates were down from 6958 in 2000 to 2758 in 2004. Ontario reported that it saved $18.5 million between 2004 and 2006 because of unused detention facilities.
· Economy - Harper planned to extol the capitalist economy and then a $700 billion day light holdup of US taxpayers by his pal President Bush to bail out fraudulent corporate investors blew away that idea.
· Jobs - Harper planned to throw a sop at manufacturing sector workers in Ontario and Quebec to cover his corporate giveaways to the energy sector and then organized labour stepped in and started talking about working class issues.
· Afghanistan - Harper thought he was protected by the Manley Report from discussing the war in Afghanistan and then came the findings of Nanos Research that 51.8% of Canadians oppose Harper’s Plan to spend $490 billion over 20 years to fund the war in Afghanistan and militarize the Canadian economy.
· Agriculture - Harper planned to capitalize on rising grain prices as a cover to get rid of the Wheat Board and then came the global credit crisis and the threat of tight credit and rising interest rates that will cripple the anticipated rise in farm income.
· Ethics - Harper planned to drape himself in the robes of piety and virtue and then came the tasteless jokes of Agriculture Minister Ritz, racist and homophobic blogs and US style attack ads.
· Federal Provincial Relations - Harper planned to pose as the master of federal provincial relations and then along came Danny Williams and ABC (Anything but the Conservatives.)
Harper’s plan to dumb down the election and breeze back to power confronts reality, a sceptical electorate. The upside is that Harper’s arrogance provides an opening to the left to enter the campaign and raise not only the tone, but the awareness of what is really at stake for working people.
The CPS takes the view that celebrity elections and the musings of self promoting media pundits is not where the people are at. Confidence in the Canadian people and the working class is the bedrock of a clear class analysis of where the country is heading.
Without it – labour and the forces for peace and progress will find it more difficult to overcome the fog of Conservative and Big Business propaganda that “we are all in this together.”
Harper is the oracle of unrestricted capitalism. Canadian capitalism is unable to answer the needs of working people. It is a system in permanent crisis. The way out for the working people is to begin the discussion on how to replace it. That historic task falls to the working class. Harper wants to exclude workers and farmers from the 40th Federal Election. It is the urgent task of the left to prevent it.
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