Dear Editor:
This letter is written in response to the recent letter that appeared in this newspaper two weeks ago under the headline, ‘History will prove Stephen Harper was one of Canada’s greatest Prime Ministers.’
K. Cline writes that Stephen Harper is “an intelligent man whose passion for good government kept Canada safe through one of the biggest financial downturns in world history and guided Canada along the steady path of growth and employment.”
Here’s a reality check.
Under Prime Ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, Liberal governments navigated through a recession, stimulated economic growth, eliminated a then-record deficit, and delivered nine straight surplus budgets.
When Harper was elected in 2006, he inherited a surplus of $13.8 billion. But after nine years of Harper’s “good government”, that surplus became a debt of over $150 billion.
For summaries of the Harper regime, Google: Harper Watch, (harperwatch.wordpress.com), Harper Chips (http://hchips.ca), Harper, Serial Abuser of Power: The Evidence Compiled, (http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/08/10/Harper-Abuses-of-Power-Final), and the nine-part series “The Stephen Harper Non-Answer Generator” on the Operation Maple website (operationmaple.ca).
Thank you for allowing me to respond.
David Buckna
Kelowna, B.C.
