How do Canadians feel about PM Steven Harper? (college, safe)

[aggo]

Harper is a bastard and I'd rather not see him as prime minister, but there is really no viable alternative....and unless "Iffy" magically gets his act together during this campaign we'll just have another Conservative minority.

[lucknow]

I really don't like Harper one little bit. He's the most arrogent PM we have ever had. He disrespects parliment and our long political traditions.

If he ever got a majority government we would be in a very bad way.

[Cornerguy1]

Originally Posted by aggo

Harper is a bastard and I'd rather not see him as prime minister, but there is really no viable alternative....and unless "Iffy" magically gets his act together during this campaign we'll just have another Conservative minority.

LOL Don't hold back, aggo. Tell us how you really feel.

[Cornerguy1]

Mod Note:

Hey folks, this isn't a general politics thread.

The thread topic asked how you felt about Stephan Harper.

Let's stick with that topic.

[beenhereandthere]

Have very mixed feelings about him. Is he the Bush lapdog I thought he would be? No....but there have been some things about the way he does things (like being so anti choice) that aren't traditionally Canadian or by Canadian standards, very far right....
However, he will probably win again since, the alternatives, seem to be almost worse....what happened to Stephane Dion?

[The_gateway]

He's okay in my opinion. He's not great, but have we ever had a good PM in the last 50 years? I think he's trying to get Canada out of this socialist cloud that we're in.
Basically he got elected because people from the west were tired of being bent over by Quebec/the east. We were tired of supporting the whole country, so we put someone in to stop it. We were all sick of paying ridiculous taxes, and do I even need to bring up Pierre Trudeau/Satan?
The funny thing, even more people from Central Canada and the east are supporting the conservatives.
The biggest problem we now face is liberals that cannot comprehend reality. The libs today are so far out of touch with how a modern 21st century world runs. Hopefully we see a majority witht his next election.

[taigagirl]

I hate the guy. I think he has very little respect for the average Canadian, and I'd gladly ship him further out west to Alberta. Here he's yours. I'll vote but I feel like I'm choosing from a barrel of rotten apples. I'd hate to see him with a majority government.

[Stubblejumper]

Originally Posted by taigagirl

I hate the guy. I think he has very little respect for the average Canadian, and I'd gladly ship him further out west to Alberta. Here he's yours. I'll vote but I feel like I'm choosing from a barrel of rotten apples. I'd hate to see him with a majority government.

We'll take him, so long so long as you send our $14 billion in equalization payments back with him.

[GeorgeLucasLongLostChin]

Originally Posted by Future Trooper

Though I have never lived or been to Canada I have seen Steven Harper before and I think that he is a good PM who knows what he is doing, is very educated, very precise, and represents Canada very well. Ofcouse what I state is my opinion.

I don't really care if he looks educated or respectable...his policies is all I care about. Most canadians think this way. We do have cheerleaders for certain parties or politicians, but generally, our politics are not very partisan. I want a competent PM, not a charismatic one. We haven't had a charismatic PM since like Trudeau, who was overrated, and I'm fine with it.

I voted for Conservatives when they took over from the liberals. I agreed with parts of their program even though I am generally left leaning and I was very please at how Harper followed through with his promises. But I'm singing a different tune now that the Conservatives seem to be importing ugly politics (slanderous ads) from the south. The attitude of his cabinet with journalists is deplorable and unprecedented in canada, despite the fact that he ran on transparency after the sponsorship scandal.

And since Harper failed to get a majority government twice, he is increasingly using dubious politics to get his way. The government shutdown, his clientelism with conservative religious communities which revives closed debates like abortion or gay marriage (who cares?), ridiculous amount of money spent on disputed ridings...etc

That title of "natural governing party of Canada" belonged to the Liberal Party for a long time. Harper is trying to grab that title for his party, but I think he's pushing a little too hard for my taste. The political map is not what is used to be. Back then, Liberals had an open field with irrelevant NDP and a fractionned right-wing. They didn't have to use ugly politics to get their majority since they were pretty much the default option. They had an open field to run the country and I think that this is how they managed to cut expenses and produce surpluses, unlike other western countries, without political backlash.

Now it's different. Conservatives can barely get a minority government so they are wasting money left and right to grab disbusted ridings and their political tactics bother me.

I vote according to context. I don't care about party and ideology. I don't mind Harper remaining PM, but I don't want him to have a majority government...I just don't trust him. My riding will be a close race between Tories and the Bloc. While I don't care for the Bloc and their ideals (if they have any), I'll probably vote for them just to do my part in my keeping one less seat out of Tories' hands.

The campaign is still young though, so I might change my mind, but I'm under the impression that Harper will simply disappoint as we get closer to election day.

[taigagirl]

Originally Posted by Stubblejumper

We'll take him, so long so long as you send our $14 billion in equalization payments back with him.

Sorry, no refunds. Just, please take him back.