Another disasterous about face on established Canadian policy will follow a Harper majority: Harper open to missile-defence talks with U.S.
Stephen Harper said a Tory government would consult Parliament about whether Canada should join the U.S. missile-defence system.
Harper told Radio-Canada in an interview Thursday that he would wait for a formal, written offer from the U.S. before deciding whether Canada should participate in the ballistic missile defence program.
Prediction: the written offer will show up soon after any Harper-led majority. If he wins a minority, the American’s, and Harper, will back off until the next election, where Harper is almost certain to get a majority.
Make no mistake – a Harper minority is an easy stepping stone to a Harper majority. I disagree with Harper on a great many issues, but I would never suggest that he is not cagey enough, and ruthless enough, to stickhandle his coalition of radicals and moderates through a minority in good shape to win a significant majority, at a time of his chosing.
Canadians if given the facts on Ballistic Missile Defense will sound a resounding NO! but it doesn’t seem that the inept opposition – Liberals and NDP alike – are very effective at raising issues of true historic national importance to a useful level of public awareness.
Its official now: Harper would turn his back on Kyoto
A Conservative government would turn its back on the Kyoto accord and set its own targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, party leader Stephen Harper said Thursday.
The accord’s targets cannot be met either internationally or within Canada, Mr. Harper said, citing the country’s woeful record on climate change since the agreement was signed in 1997.
“The Kyoto accord will not succeed at achieving its objectives and this government â the Canadian government â cannot achieve its objectives,” Mr. Harper said.
While this is extremely disappointing, it can hardly be said to be a surprise. Harper and policy critics in the Conservative Party who have a hand on the environmental file have been saying for years that Kyoto was a mistake and that they’d rip it up if ever given the chance.
Kyoto isn’t a perfect agreement, but its the only international effort to do something about climate change.
A Conservative government led by Stephen Harper, directed from the background by the petro-chemical industry, doesn’t care about climate change, doesn’t want to recognize it. Fact: Stephen Harper has said in this election and before that he would rip it up. Fact: The Conservative policy declaration, the first official policy document of the newly merged party, of March 2005 doesn’t mention climate change even once. Doesn’t mention greenhouse gas or CO2 emissions even once. Fact: That same policy document in plain view says that a Harper-led Conservative government will tear up its international treaty obligations.
For more detail on how those opposed to Kyoto and Canada’s participation use deception to further their agenda, see Greenhouse Gas Emissions Misdirection.
And Stephen Harper… who DID contribute to your run for the leadership of the Canadian Alliance? Canadians have a right to know.