Keith Lacey, editor, Osoyoos Times
Stephen Harper. He’s just not ready … to lead this great country any longer.
More than a week after the stunning federal election results that gave Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party a stunning majority government, there’s been endless analysis of how it all went wrong for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party.
My analysis is that Canadians were simply sick and tired of Harper – the man.
While many were sick and tired of his policies as the Prime Minister for almost 10 years, many more were angry and fed up with him as a leader, politician and human being.
Despite the public image that he has always tried to portray – with his vast collection of sweaters, fake smile and tireless belief that his Conservative values are the only values that matter – Harper isn’t a very likeable guy.
If you’ve ever taken the time to read about what he’s really like, you would quickly find out that Harper is a mean-spirited, ill-tempered, abusive, nasty, egotistical jerk who ruled this country with one of the stiffest iron fists in Canadian history.
There was really no such thing as an “advisor” at the upper echelons of the Conservative Party for the past decade.
It has been “my way or the highway” with Harper for a very long time and everyone involved with the party knew it and wouldn’t dare challenge his authority out of fear for swift and nasty retribution.
Harper has long thought that he’s the smartest man in the room, but that wouldn’t be unusual when it comes to politicians.
This longest Canadian campaign in modern history clearly proved Harper isn’t the genius he thinks he is.
His campaign never took off because Harper didn’t have anything new to say.
It was the same old garbage over and over again. Harper is unable to change and preached the same old mantra that Canada would fall apart and be in danger if he and his government weren’t re-elected.
The nasty attack ads against Trudeau and the Liberals clearly didn’t work and obviously offended many Canadians.
Harper and his cronies believed that attacking the opposition parties and their leaders and trying to defend their economic policies would form the core of their campaign.
But Canadians aren’t stupid.
Harper bragged over and over again about how the Conservatives balanced the budget this past year.
Yes they did. But the only reason they did was because an election was pending.
The reality is since Harper and the Conservatives came to power back in 2006, this country’s national debt load has skyrocketed by more than $120 billion.
They have accumulated some of the largest federal budget deficits in Canadian history.
Harper and his government did have to deal with one of the worst economic recessions in history back in 2008 and deserved credit for spending tens of billions of dollars on a national infrastructure program that created hundreds of thousands of jobs and helped rejuvenate Canada’s economy.
But with those spending policies in place not so long ago, it seemed completely hypocritical for Harper to continually bash the Liberals when Trudeau announced early in the campaign that his government would spend billions on infrastructure and running deficits to try and stimulate our struggling economy once again if elected.
The country’s economy is not great right now and this stimulus spending the majority of Canadians endorse.
If it was good policy for Harper six years ago, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be good policy for a new government voted in with a massive majority.
Instead of being a leader with a vision for this country, Harper has continually promoted his personal politics of fear, hate and divisiveness.
Harper seldom talked about what makes this country great. He only talked about what’s wrong with this country.
He wanted us to believe there are terrorists, murderers and criminals lurking everywhere and his government would show them who is boss.
Even after the crushing defeat, it’s clear that millions of Canadians still believe in the Conservative Party.
Despite the massive backlash against Harper, the leader and man, the Conservatives still managed to win 99 seats and the party will continue to have a very strong voice in Parliament and on the national political stage.
With a new leader with a new vision, they will likely soon return to power on the national stage.
In Trudeau, Canadians have voted to elect a man with a great deal of charisma and youthful enthusiasm.
His lack of political experience may not necessarily be bad as pundits believe he will have no choice but to put together a team of experienced political veterans to help with the transition to power.
Unlike Harper, Trudeau appears to be a man with empathy and a desire to end the politics of fear and concentrate on making this country great again.
His promise to provide tax cuts to millions of middle class Canadians and ensure that our wealthiest citizens pay their fair share of taxes was clearly another popular strategy.
No one knows what the future holds as the Liberals return to power for the first time in a decade, but there’s real optimism that better days lie ahead for the first time in a long time.
Harper certainly won’t go down as one of the worst Prime Ministers in Canadian history, but he may go down as one of the most disliked.
Stephen Harper. Canada is no longer ready to have you as our Prime Minister.
But you do have nice hair.
Good riddance and goodbye. You won’t be missed much at all.
Keith Lacey is the editor of the Osoyoos Times.
