Harper’s Campaign Nasty already under way

Harper’s Campaign Nasty already under way

Columns

By: Debora Kelly

Here we go again, for the third time in four years, foisted with the burden of sorting through the lies, slander and exaggeration in an attempt to make an informed vote in a federal election.

Why do politicians have to make it so hard for us? It becomes so much “work”, it’s no wonder so many Canadians just decide it’s not worth the effort to vote.

Is it too much to ask for a campaign focused on civil discourse about the issues and ideas? Is it too much to ask those vying to be our leaders have as much passion for the values of fairness, honesty, respect and dignity as they do for their partisan platforms?

Apparently it is too much to ask, judging by week one.

Rather than focus on their record in government and vision for the future, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives resorted to lies, distortion, evasion and character assassination.

As Campaign Nasty headed out of the gate Monday, the prime minister proclaimed a Liberal government would jeopardize Conservative gains by bringing in a new carbon tax, cancelling the child care benefit and raising the GST.

I speak for many of us, I’m sure, when I say I’m confused about the impact of the Liberals’ Green Shift proposal, but I do know leader Stéphane Dion has stated he won’t cancel the child benefit or raise the GST.

Who do you trust in the face of such deliberate lies? From our prime minister, no less?

Who do you trust in the face of such deliberate lies? From our prime minister, no less?

The Conservatives launched a new website, www.notaleader.ca, in which an animated puffin (a puffin?) poops on an image of Mr. Dion. Mr. Harper had to apologize for the “tasteless and inappropriate error”, which was amended but not removed.

If this juvenile stunt represents the qualities of leadership the Conservatives are offering, voters can be thankful for the insight.  

The Liberals, too, had their moment in the gutter.

They were red-faced when 2007 remarks made by Whitby-Oshawa candidate Brent Fullard came to light, in which he compared Mr. Harper to Adolf Hitler and applied Nazi analogies to Canadian politics.

Following the candidate’s apology for the inappropriate and unacceptable comments, Canadian Jewish Congress co-president Rabbi Reuven Bulka decried the negative campaign tactics.

“We can be passionate about issues, but at the same time we must be passionate about respect and human dignity.”

It’s not too late for candidates to talk about their party’s plan for the economy.

Our economy has had its worst performance since Brian Mulroney’s day, with a deficit budget now looming.

Yet the Conservatives have racked up about $9 billion in pre-election spending promises and, in just three budgets, they’ve outpaced the former Liberal government in spending by $33 billion.

In Ontario, thousands of manufacturing jobs have disappeared, while Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s response is to continue to bash us as the “last place to invest”.

And what about the environment?The World Wildlife Fund says under Mr. Harper’s leadership, Canada is the second worst G8 country in the fight against climate change, barely ahead of the United States.

The Sierra Club gave the Conservatives an F+ “for setting emission reduction targets that amount to nothing more than regulating the status quo”.

The Conservatives have said they would cut in half the excise tax on diesel fuel to “benefit consumers who buy virtually anything that moves by truck, train, ship or plane”.

Wouldn’t that actually increase carbon emissions?

Yet, what about the Liberals’ environmental plan, which purports to balance a carbon tax with income-tax cuts, and includes a rural tax credit and incentives for businesses to upgrade to greener and more fuel-efficient equipment?

The Tories have lambasted the proposal, saying a carbon tax would be devastating for our weakened economy, kill jobs and drive up the cost of living.

I firmly believe voters want to be engaged in legitimate discussion about the issues facing our country.

Candidates, you only insult us and our country by refusing to recognize that.

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