Quote:
Originally Posted by MarchHare
- The "war on science"
- Scrapping the long-form census against the advice of the nation's chief statistician
- 2% reduction of the GST against the advice of every economist in the country
- Erosion of civil liberties, increased spying on Canadian citizens (Bill C-51)
- Income splitting that only really benefits wealthy couples with a stay-at-home parent
- A "tough on crime" agenda with mandatory minimum sentencing (Bill C-10) that even far-right Republicans in the US admit is a failed policy
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Just to address this stuff as someone who's casually engaged with Canadian federal politics but not by any means following it with any real zeal...
I really liked Paul Martin. I actually liked Ignatieff too, personally speaking (heard him speak a number of times and spoke to him at an event), but not as a politician.
But if this is the whole case against Harper, it's not much of a case for me. The long-form census means nothing to me; I have no sense that the GST reduction had any negative consequences in particular (happy to be educated on this point); the "erosion of civil liberties" is a paper tiger IMO and I'm pretty confident in the Supreme Court's willingness to deal with those issues; income splitting is fine with me even though it doesn't benefit me (not what I would spend the money on but I can't quibble with it policy wise).
I agree on the baffling crime agenda, but that alone isn't enough to make me want to turf the guy. As for the "war on science", that's a nice tag line but I'm only vaguely aware of the existence of such a campaign. If it's spelled out for me during the lead up to the election it might influence my vote.