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Harper's Conservatives Reflect U.S. Right-Wing Values
22/01/2006
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from Liberal Party : Prime Minister Paul Martin today characterized Stephen Harper’s Conservative party as a Northern version of the extreme U.S. conservative movement.

“We have a party that basically draws its influences from the furthest right of the U.S. conservative movement,” the Prime Minister told cheering supporters during a campaign stop in Brampton.

“Let me tell you, Stephen Harper, we have our own values in Canada of compassion, generosity and understanding and respect from each other and we don’t have to borrow from the furthest right in the U.S. conservative movement.”

The Prime Minister made clear that Mr. Harper’s Conservative party does not embrace the principles of the now defunct Progressive Conservative party, whose leadership featured such moderates as Robert Stanfield and Joe Clark.

“What we have got now is some kind of a rehashed version of what Preston Manning left or a dolled up version of Stockwell Day’s Canadian Alliance,” said the Prime Minister, referring to the hard-right grassroots parties where Mr. Harper played a formative role.

“I can think of a government that it reminds me of. A government that you knew well in Ontario – and that was Mike Harris’ government,” added the Prime Minister.

Earlier, Prime Minister Martin called on all progressive Canadians to join him in stopping Mr. Harper because Jack Layton has abandoned the field.

“Stephen Harper has shown in the last few days that he had a social agenda of the extreme right,” the Prime Minister said in a fiery speech to several hundred supporters in a campaign stop in St. John’s Newfoundland yesterday.

The Prime Minister pointed to Mr. Harper’s recent comments attacking the impartiality of the judiciary and suggesting they would be an obstacle to “absolute power” should a Conservative government be elected.

He also singled Mr. Harper’s dismissal of a woman’s right to choose as “too complex to explain” during an election campaign.

The Prime Minister said NDP Leader Jack Layton has sacrificed the interests of progressive voters in favour of his own narrow partisan interests.

“Jack Layton abandoned the fight for the progressive forces before he began. He spent this whole campaign telling anybody who will listen that he can work with a Stephen Harper government,” the Prime Minister said.

“I say to Jack Layton if you're not willing to take the fight to Stephen Harper, then move over, because I am.”

The Prime Minister said that leaves the Liberal party as the only alternative to Mr. Harper’s extreme right-wing agenda.

“To Canadian men and women I'm saying the same thing. Liberal party is the only one that can stop him,” he said. “I believe that there is no limit to what we can do together. So if you believe in a political party that believes in this economic success, equality of choice, the Liberal party should be your choice.”

Prime Minister Martin said that now is the time for Canadians to choose their Canada.

“That is what this election is all about. It is about our values. It is about the kind of Canada we believe in,” said the Prime Minister.

“I'll tell about my Canada. I believe in protecting rights. I believe in standing up for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And I believe in protecting the rights of all Canadians, all the time. And I believe in the strength of our judiciary,” he said.

“I believe in a Canada with a strong economy. We pay down debt, we reduce taxes for the middle class. I believe in a Canada that has a foreign policy all of its own, one that is based on our values and our interests, not a foreign policy made in some other country.”

Stephen Harper has said that if elected, one of his first commitments would be to cancel the national child care program, the first new national social program in a generation.

He is prepared to break his word to the child care workers, to the families and to the provinces of this country. And he would break his word to the United Nations on Kyoto.

The Prime Minister urged Canadians to think twice before casting their ballots, saying “Use your vote to stop Stephen Harper. Use your vote to elect a prime minister who will protect your interests. Vote for your Canada. Let me just say to you that we Liberals are on a march and we are marching towards a remarkable comeback,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that if Canadians say no to Stephen Harper, then Stephen Harper will be stopped. He is already losing ground. He has been losing ground important the last number of days and we are gaining and we are gaining big-time.

“What I'm asking all of you dig a little deeper, goes further, fight a little farther and on Monday we will stand up for Canada, we will stand up for your Canada, we will stand up for my Canada, we will stand up for our Canada and we will win,” the Prime Minister said.