If you are, or if you really think that this is an innocent Private Member Motion to simply discuss updating the “when does life begin” law, then you need to give your head a shake.
Of course, the timing of this is to distract Canadians from the F-35, prisons, crime bill, Bev Oda, election fraud, etc. etc. And the motion itself is intended to appease the red meat social cons from the west and in rural Canada.
The end game is to take away or limit right-to-choose rights from women. There is no doubt in my mind.
Harper micromanages and controls all messaging coming out of the CPC. All of it. This PMM did NOT just sneak though. It has the full support of the PM.
Didn’t he say last election “Let me be perfectly clear, we will no reopen the abortion debate”
I had an extensive back and forth with some conservative friends the other day on FB. I was referring to a piece by WK on how the abortion issue is NOT really off the table for the CPC. I don’t cut and paste these things very often, but it was a good debate.
Names removed to protect the innocent…
What do you think? Just an outlier of an issue or the long CPC long game?
What does uber-Liberal Kinsella have to do with anything? Harper has said repeatedly, no opening of this issue! ps – other parties have their share of members with similar views.
11 hours ago ·
Trashy: I guarantee that this will gain traction over the next 12 months. Take it to the bank. And while the Grits have 2 MPs who want to open the issue (no Dippers that I can think of) there are at least 16 Cons who are evangelicals and would love to see the issue opened up again.
10 hours ago ·
It’s a back bencher….let’s not get all “I told you so…” The guy’s got the right to an opinion…..it’s nothing…..
10 hours ago ·
Trashy – Guys – this is the most whipped caucus since Voldemort took over Slitherin.
Never going to happen Trashy and deep down I think you know it. Stop being so desperate to find faults!
10 hours ago ·
Trashy – I’m not. Just looking at this logically.
Think about it and put aside your partisan hat for a moment.
Can we agree that caucus discipline is of utmost importance to this government? That all messaging is carefully scripted and approved through the PMO? And that Harper himself, along with Mssrs Baird, Flaherty, Kenney, Clement and Toews, exercise strict control over the PMO?
If we can agree on this – and I really don’t see how it can be disputed – then why is it that a backbencher from Kitchener along with a few other Christian social conservatives, have managed to repeatedly raise the issue of “when does life begin”? They HAD to have the blessing of the PM.
Again, I’m not speaking as a partisan.
Here’s what I think. And don’t dismiss it out of hand. The PM knows that he is going to have about 8 years of a majority government. Yes, 8 years. It pains me to say that, but realistically, I cannot see the Grits (the NDP will decline without Layton) challenging the Harperites in the next election. I do think that the Cons won’t make any significant gains, but they will win another majority unless something unforeseen happens.
So, in the long game, claims and promises can legitimately change. He is telling the truth when he says that this government is not opening up the debate. For now. But IF a “discussion” happens about when life begins and IF the Cons see an opening, they will slowly start to suggest that maybe, just maybe, the laws should be revisited… in light of the “new” evidence that sprang for the “discussions”.
I think we can all agree that Harper is a social conservative and he personally is against abortion, right? So then, why wouldn’t he try to change the policy to fit his own weltanschungg and those of his fellow So-Cons.
Think about it. Point out the flaw in my logic.
Tuesday at 07:57 ·
IF a discussion is opened I (in his shoes) would know my job is about to end. I don’t think he is as stupid as many claim and job security and personal beliefs don’t make good bedfellows in his arena.
Tuesday at 08:29 ·
Personal freedoms and a “right to choose” will always trump one’s personal beliefs.
Tuesday at 08:29 ·
…because Harper is a political animal and he saves his capital for that which matters most; he uses the fringe stuff to his own means and he concentrates on those issues that matter…. this “issue” ( and it isn’t one for 80+ percent of the nation) is a time consuming, capital wasting journey into a social quagmire that he just doesn’t need. Harper may be anti abortion at home; but he’s too smart a politician to open this box….. think about it; why would you bring the social agenda into play when you don’t have to; in this case it’s a losing card to play and if you open it; it might just bite you at the polls. The “pro life” camp has tents, the pro choice crew drive honkin big RV’s and sleep at Hiltons….. no way Harper lets this get legs… private members bills are like Christmas cards, they get written; sent; read and thrown out….and waste a lot of resources and time.
Oh, I am not suggesting that he is stupid! Rather the opposite. The one and only thing I admire about the guy is his skill as a tactician… brilliant! And this is the weakness in my argument. He is too smart to touch this thing with a ten foot kingfish… but then explain why he is giving so much platitude to some nobody backbenchers? And no XXX, I disagree with your outright dismissal of PMB’s and the MPs who sponsor them… these are the hearts and souls of the CPC!
And yes, you make valid points. But look at what Greg noted… will, in this case, personal freedoms and the right to choose trump Harper’s personal beliefs? I’m not so sure in this case.
And I don’t even believe in the absolutes of good and evil. My complete lack of belief in things spiritual prevents such thoughts.
But I cannot explain the following without thinking that evil may really and truly exist.
And it resides in Ottawa.
Out for a drive on the Rockcliffe Parkway yesterday with C and 2 of the subunits. We get to the roundabout outside Rideau Hall (if you’re from O-Town, you’ll know where I mean). And I was going a little quickly as I pulled up to a stop to allow a black Chevy Tahoe to go through. The SUV came to an almost complete stop and the two guys in the front gave us a really good look over… like our little Malibu was gonna ram them or something.
The back windows were blacked out and the two big guys in the front wore ear pieces and dark sunglasses. They carried on, and then I felt it.
A tingle up the spine. A feeling of foreboding… like I was in the presence of real evil… kind of how I would imagine Harry Potter feeling when running up against he-who-shall-not-be named. The truly weird thing is that at this moment, C turns to me and ask “did you just get a tingle up your spine? I bet that was Harper.”
I really don’t get this one. Where’s the upside? They will piss off DND and the Coast Guard – which are two constituencies that the Harperites like to cow-tow to. They would be dismantling a Canadian institution – we are known globally to be one of the best at search and rescue. And they would be putting the safety of the public at risk, which would be odd given their focus on public safety through getting tough on unreported and imaginary crimes.
Oh wait! I.D.E.O.L.O.G.Y.
Why should the government pay to rescue some family whose boat broke down off the coast of The Rock? It’s their own damned fault! And they’re probably Liberals anyhow!
Thank you for calling Sam’s Search and Rescue – a Division of Walmart. I’m sorry that your boat is taking on water and that you and your family will surely die, but rescuing you at this time doesn’t represent a good ROI. If you would like to reach an operator, please push #.
While I do strongly support the MotherCorp, I don’t see any reason why it should be immune from the same review that my and all government Departments are going through right now. The Harperites are going to put everyone through mucho pain as they fight the deficit that they created on the back of the Public Service… just like Paul Martin did.
For some time now, the Harper government has appealed to Canadians’ sense of loyalty and patriotism in order to advance its own policies. Keep ‘em waving the flag, they say, and we can pretty much say or do whatever we want.
In the broader context, Harper’s glorification of the armed services appears to fit his goal of stirring a new Canadian patriotism. Canada Day was an example as crowds of unprecedented size, displaying hero worship for non-heroes, turned out to cheer on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. As Harper beamed, Prince William spoke in superlatives about the work of the Canadian forces in Afghanistan.
Appeal to the base instincts and the insane purchase of those lemon fighter jets will be overlooked. We have to protect the troops!Are you against the troops having the best equipment? They say. Or like the bumper stickers say (and it ain’t a good policy unless it can be described on a bumper sticker)
If you’re not behind the troops, feel free to stand in front of them…
The Harperites love these bumper stickers. And dyed-in-wool conservatives love the military and Harper is at their lead.
Understand that despite the fact I am a pacifist, I acknowledge the need for the military in some circumstances in today’s world. And indeed, many of those who serve in the military deserve the respect of Canadians – especially those who perished in that ridiculous quagmire called Afghanistan. But I am very much against the glorification of the military. For example, having a military presence at citizenship ceremonies is in my mind completely ludicrous! The subtle support of our troops that has been the tradition of we Canucks has been something I have always been proud of.
Not so subtle anymore.
Of course, this begs the question: what will Harper do to keep the military front and centre in people’s minds now that the combat mission is over? Let’s see… those damned Swedes have been a bit cheeky lately… c’mon, my military friends… whaddya think???
I REALLY have to wonder about our American neighbours sometimes...
Um, gas prices?
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