Conservative leader talks priorities
Ethics top Harper’s pre-campaign laundry list
Tessa Vanderhart, Staff
Photo by Tessa Vanderhart.
Opposition leader Stephen Harper was in Winnipeg last week to talk policy and tax cuts, but he didn’t speculate on the coming election, despite the topic of his speech.
And, joking aside, he served up much of what will form the Conservative party policy to an expectant crowd.
Addressing 300 members of the Canadian Club at the Winnipeg Convention Centre on Nov. 10, Harper spoke on “Restoring Ethics and Accountability in Government.”
He began by quoting a speech from Robert Borden, which refers to Sir Wilfrid Laurier as a “dictator,” expressing dismay that Borden’s speech on corruption in Canadian government is still applicable.
“When I become prime minister, I will make the task of cleaning up government and changing the way Ottawa works my top priority,” he said.
“In fact, a colleague recently told me: ‘Stephen, I don’t worry that, when you’re in office, you’ll reward your friends — because you don’t have any friends,’” said Harper.
He noted that the “criminal conspiracy” was made fact by the Gomery report, but it requires action — action he was not willing to speculate on.
“I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think I can say with some confidence that the election is closer today than it was a couple of days ago,” Harper joked.
He said that the Liberal party’s preoccupation with scandal has cost the government the “moral authority” required to move the country forward in terms of policy — and caused a shift from election speculation to predicting election issues.
Harper described the Conservative party’s “Standing Up For Canada” platform as dedicated to middle-income Canadians, seniors and tax cuts. Features of the platform include the implementation of maximum waiting times in hospitals, financial assistance for all parents, support for the military and changing relations with the U.S..
Harper provided a comprehensive list of campaign issues, also mentioning his intent to cut down on crime and elect senators.
He reminded the audience that the bill to allocate revenue from the federal excise tax on gasoline to municipalities for infrastructure was a Conservative party initiative — something he intends to follow through on.
“But we will provide flexibility: if the mayor and the City of Winnipeg want to use that money to improve the road system, we will allow them to use the money in that manner,” Harper noted.
He added that tax breaks for transit users are another part of the party platform.
“But our ability to deal with these, and other important public policy challenges, is hampered by the overriding question of ethics and accountability in our government. To put it bluntly, Canadians will not trust the government to deal with new challenges if they will not clean up old messes.”
The proposed Federal Accountability act, which Harper said would be the first bill passed in a Conservative government, would “hold our government accountable . . . . We will open the windows on government,” Harper noted.
He added that the Federal Accountability act would mandate the Auditor-General to “follow the money” and audit the end recipients of government contracts.
Another feature of the act described by Harper is the potential to crack down on the “revolving door” between the House of Commons and federal lobby groups, by requiring five years between public office and private lobbying.
“Most importantly, the Federal Accountability act would crack down on the big money and lobbying culture that has thrived under this prime minister. I will ban all remaining corporate and union donations to federal political parties, period,” he said. “I would close loopholes that allow MPs and candidates to accumulate secret trust funds, and I will cap donations to federal political parties at a maximum of $1,000 a year.”
“Only if the Liberal party is held politically accountable will the principle perpetrators ever be held criminally accountable — and only then will things begin to change in Ottawa,” Harper said.
Provencher MP Vic Toews said that polls are irrelevant to Harper’s calls for an election, and that weekly fluctuations between the Conservatives and Liberals are more misleading than the general sentiment he has perceived from Canadians.
“They do that very deliberately in my opinion: [polling companies] basically say ‘a week has passed, and Canadians have forgiven the government;’ never, never, believe polls,” he said.
The most current CBC polls show a slight lead for the Liberals.
Steven Fletcher, MP for Charleswood, said that he predicted the thrust of Harper’s speech without difficulty, citing a number of issues that the Conservative campaign will focus on. He noted that the question of the election date is irrelevant for him: “I started working on my election campaign in June 2004,” Fletcher noted.
“I thought it was a great speech: he addressed everything that I’d hoped he’d address,” said Jeff Heintz, a U of W student. “I’m really looking forward to Conservatives actually making a difference in the government.”
Craig Glennie, a student at the U of M, said that he enjoyed Harper’s speech.
“We’re looking forward to Stephen actually winning the office; it’ll be a good change for Manitoba, especially with students I think he’ll work hard with students to help us financially, with tuition, decrease our loans — also getting crime off the streets,” he said.
