Gimme a Break

I'm afraid that these electioneering candidates for the highest office of the land are succeeding in steering me straight away from my life-long support of left-wing parties - that should be singular. I've always voted NDP. Never Liberal that I can recall, and most certainly never, ever Conservative. But I'm so bloody fed up with the chicanery in misrepresentation by the competing parties in desperately attempting to unseat the current government from its aspirations toward attaining a majority that I'm teetering on the cusp of voting Conservative.

Oh, the pain of it. My parents, were they still alive, would most certainly feel their impressions of me to have been confirmed. I keep reminding myself that Stephen Harper was all for Canada joining the "coalition of the willing" in Iraq. Then that little voice back there says well yes, one of the front-runners for leader of the Liberal party, still lingering there in hopes of succeeding, was of a like opinion. Michael Ignatieff has long since disavowed the intemperance of his willingness, but the deed would have been done.

In any event, since the minority Conservative government came to power in Canada, I've been mightily impressed, for the most part, with the way that Stephen Harper has governed. Oh certainly not completely; that he's intent on super-control of his caucus, that his office has been tasked with complete oversight of the actions and statements of Cabinet colleagues, isn't quite a plus. His incendiarily poor relationship with the press does him no favours. And he's reaping his rewards now, reporters giving him no quarter.

I'd like for him to be a little more sensitive to some vital items like assisted housing, like increased commitment to increased funding for foreign aid, to become a trifle more focused about the environment. But by and large this man has demonstrated integrity, purpose, fairness, international awareness, and has been a steady hand at the helm of government. He may be aloof, but he is not arrogant, as I discern the man's personality. His demeanor is naturally grave, and that's fine.

Where once I might have shuddered at the very thought of giving personal support to a Conservative government, I no longer feel that way. Truth: I do have some qualms, but they're being successfully squelched by the opposition antics. Prime Minister Harper strikes me as a reasonable, moderate, highly intelligent and principled man, one deserving of the opportunity to govern with a majority. Four years is not forever.

Although it can seem that way, when someone of the questionable ilk of Jean Chretien hangs in there. To imagine Jack Layton as prime minister simply transcends sober reality. It saddens me that someone like Howard Hampton was overlooked as NDP leadership material at the federal level. And while Stephane Dion might not be a disaster as head of government, one feels at this point that Canadians have had more than enough of Liberal government for a little while. Neither he, nor Bob Rae nor Michael Ignatieff inspire confidence.

While, given his two years and more performance as prime minister, Stephen Harper does. When Mr. Harper speaks calmly and reasonably in the current financial crisis upsetting world economies he has good reason to do so. And when he states that "I think there's probably some great buying opportunities emerging in the stock market as a consequence of all this panic", what he is conveying is responsible optimism. The deliberate attempts by Messrs. Dion and Layton to instill fear and a sense of panic in the Canadian electorate redound poorly on their purpose and intelligence.

In fact, it's a downright insult to the collective intelligence of the electorate. Canadian banks are better regulated, more risk-averse than their American counterparts. Where their lending institutions were weighted down with 40% sub-prime mortgages, ours stand at roughly 4%. Canadians are assured of the safety of their cash deposits through a $100-K federal deposit insurance. The federal governing is still forecasting a surplus. Our employment rate is considerably higher than in the early 1990s.

No, Canada is not immune to the crisis afflicting the global economy. It will give us pain, but we've no reason to succumb to panic simply because the New Democratic Party and Liberal leaders are urging us to do just that. We will most certainly see a downturn in our economy and much of that is due to the fact that our largest trading partner bar none, won't be in the import business for commodities at quite the same rate as formerly.

The simple fact is that the situation is exacerbated by a loss of investment confidence. Those investors who can yet afford to buy up very good, temporarily devalued stocks should be encouraged to do so. Some, in fact, are admitting to doing just that, squeamishly, but with conviction. Mr. Harper's common-sense attitude - deliberately misconstrued by Dion and Layton in their hysterical attempts to demonstrate just how out of touch with ordinary Canadians Mr. Harper is - should be applauded.

The opposition leaders' denigrating accusations against Stephen Harper reveal their own lack of economic grounding, their inability - or unwillingness - to see the larger picture. It may make inroads in electors' confidence in Mr. Harper, to accuse him of disinterest in the well-being of ordinary Canadians, but it's a deliberate falsehood. They delight in deriding what they call his ineptitude, but in fact Mr. Harper is restrained and controlled and eminently capable.

Loans for innovation in the aerospace and automobile industry makes good business sense and encourages research that will be helpful in easing our carbon-related deficits. With success comes pay-back on several fronts. In a way it's too bad that the Conservatives have been so hard-pressed on their ill-timed announcement of a paltry $45-million cut-back to the culture industry that has haunted their sought-after break in Quebec, necessitating that they abandon that plan.

I'll opt, in a minority position, to place credence in Mr. Harper's pledge to maintain a balanced budget, and when he states, "Let me be crystal clear. A Conservative government will not be raising taxes. We will not impose a carbon tax. We will not cancel planned tax reductions for business. We will not be running a deficit. We will keep our spending within our means," I interpret that to mean that in parlous economic times he will act in our best interests.

Granted, the message doesn't entirely resonate with my personal values. But I'd rather, at this point in time and circumstances, place my trust in him than in the hysterical denouncements and absurd platform announcements of his opponents in the race toward the election. Unlike his political adversaries he isn't promising what he isn't prepared to honour; no big-spending pledges to placate special interests, nor empty reassurances to soothe elector fears; just the truth.

Hard facts and sensible reactions. We're a commodity-export nation, and we can do little about that in the face of a global recession. The Prime Minister has emphasized that he is quite well aware of the potential financial upset affecting Canada, but he has confidence in our economic stability and all indicators are that his confidence is not misplaced. He has offered modest relief to Canadian manufacturers.

And he has attempted to reassure Canadians that we will ride out the storm with far less disruption than will be seen elsewhere in the world. Bob Rae claims Stephen Harper exhibits no empathy for people to take comfort in. Perhaps he could give the Prime Minister some lessons in the kind of empathy he practised as Premier of Ontario when he lost the support of the ordinary electorate, along with unions, students and outraged civil servants.

Come election night all will be revealed, for good or for ill. Settled, and we hope for another four years.