Monday, January 10, 2011

Conservatives' Mediocre "Vision" For Canada

The party that just hates "elite" experts, scientists, mainstream economists, and SMEs (subject matter experts) has compiled quite a brutal record in "governing" the land over the past year.

Here is Ralph Goodale's take on Conservative mediocrity:

THE “GRINDING MEDIOCRITY” OF 2010

A year ago, the Harper government got 2010 off to a bad start by “proroguing” Parliament – i.e., shutting it down to hide from scrutiny. Not a good omen!


Prorogation was followed by revelations of cronyism in the Geurgis/Jaffer affair which exposed Conservative insiders seeking special favours. Trouble continued with police investigations into Conservative contracting, and Ministers’ offices caught blocking Access-to-Information.

In June, the G-8/G-20 fiasco cost taxpayers a billion dollars for an orgy of Conservative extravagance – from glow sticks and ornamental gazebos to fake lakes.


The misbehaviour continued with Mr. Harper’s attacks on the Census, damaging the credibility of Canada’s official statistics.

That was followed by the high-risk $21 billion deal to buy stealth fighter-jets, with no mission definition and no competitive bidding to get value-for-money.


Meanwhile, our Armed Forces got evicted from their base in the United Arab Emirates, and the Harper government bungled Canada’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.


Then came the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) with news of $10 billion in secret, unbudgeted prison costs.


And then, revelations that veterans are being insulted and mistreated by Harper Ministers and bureaucrats, including the political misuse of private health records. Along the way, the Veterans’ Ombudsman, the PBO, Canada’s Chief Statistician and the senior management team at the RCMP all became political road-kill under the wheels of the Harper regime.


On the economic front, the Conservatives produced the worst federal deficit in history ($56B), a 25% jump in poverty among seniors, and a 50% explosion in household debt.


Worst of all, 13 Conservative MPs from Saskatchewan sat mute and useless while Stephen Harper maneuvered to say “yes” to the sell-out of Saskatchewan’s potash. Only a determined stand by Premier Wall and a forceful political threat by the Liberal Opposition in Parliament forced the Conservatives to back-down.

post signatureVICTORY FUND

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd just like to thank Ralph for sucking my balls last night . . . hope you have room for this comment on your awesome blog, WG.

Harper majority in 2011, thanks to grit ineptitude.

WesternGrit said...

Another very astute and intellectual Conservative response above. Seriously, where does the collective Conservative "braintrust" come from when they allow ignorant peons like "Anon" above to represent them?

Typical Harper fan/supporter, I'm certain.

When I first saw this comment, I didn't care to publish it, but thinking about it realized this is the perfect illustration for the Conservative mindset in Canada. Angry, ignorant, lowbrow, and uncouth.