Friday, September 5, 2014

A Voice From The Past



The always mellifluous Brian Mulroney offers some less than sweet-sounding words for the Harper government. As reported in The Globe and Mail, in an interview with Don Martin on CTV's Power Play, the former prime minister is quite critical of aspects of of the current, and warns that the electoral appetite for change is real and needs to be respected.

About Harper's very public and disgraceful dispute with Canada's Chief Justice, he says:

“You don’t get into a slagging contest with the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, even if you thought that he or she was wrong ... You don’t do that.”

On Canada's current relationship with the United Natons:

“When Canada, for the first time in our history, loses a vote at the United Nations to become a member of the Security Council . . . to Portugal, which was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time, you should look in the mirror and say: ‘Houston, I think we have a problem.’”

Without explicitly criticizing the Harper record on the environment, Mulroney says that

a “pristine environment” is important to Canada’s middle class.

“There are very few things that the middle class value more than the environment . . . and that’s one thing we can deliver on,” he said.

“The prime minister alone has to make it a very strong priority of the government, has to make sure it has the funds and the clout.”


About Justin Trudeau:

“His program is that he’s not Stephen Harper ... When I ran in ‘84... I won because I wasn’t Pierre Trudeau and then Jean Chrétien 10 years later won because he wasn’t Brian Mulroney. So it’s part of a desire for change, which is normal, and so I think it’s going to make for a great election [in 2015].”

Like a priest inspecting the entrails of a sacrificed animal, Mulroney's words suggest impending darkness for the Harper crew. And like many imperial presences of the past, Emperor Harper is likely to ignore these auguries at his peril and our gain.

6 comments:

  1. Lorne, other than his personal problems Mulroney was quite progressive P.M. With regard to Harper he has hit the nail right on the head.

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    1. Personally, LD, I never cared for Mulroney's bluster, but compared to the current crew in Ottawa, his leadership was stellar.

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  2. Lorne
    The tightfisted control over information that Harper exerts with the PMO and caucus does not extend to the public including ex PC Prime Ministers. The gloves are off!

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    1. One can only be thankful for the fact that there are those willing to say that the emperor has no clothes, Pamela.

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    2. Lorne
      I think more and more people will be vocal about their criticism of Harper. I'm not sure why, but I feel like we've turned a corner of sorts. Harpers consistent authoritarian behaviour has reached a tipping point. I'm not sure what spawned it. Maybe it was the nomination of him for the Nobel Peace Prize. I sense that Canadians are catching on to the fraud this guy really is and their tired of the charade.

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    3. I sincerely hope you are right, Pamela. Envisaging Canada past 2015 with Harper at the helm is too horrible to contemplate.

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