Thank You Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper and I

Stephen Harper has been the best Prime Minister of Canada in my memory.  These have have been the best 10 years of my life.  It wasn't Stephen Harper that made them great but I must acknowledge the man who created the conditions for that to happen.

The GST cuts alone have put thousands of dollars where they belong: in my pocket.  If you bought a house, car or some other big ticket item you can count your savings in the thousands as well.  I'm thankful for the TFSA and the UCCB.  These are things that affect my family directly and I will always respect and appreciate the consideration the Harper Government has shown us.

If Stephen Harper were a monarch I would have called him Harper The Trader.  I'm still amazed at the deals Harper's team was able to reel in.  A trade deal with Europe and another with the nations of the Pacific as well as many others are golden geese that the Harper Conservatives can be most proud of.

Canada's position in a world of turmoil and evil demonstrated courageous morals and emotional discipline.  We can be proud of our clear support for Israel and against Russian aggression.  I'm proud of our humanitarian efforts in the world despite opportunist claims to the contrary.

I used to think of Harper as the accidental Prime Minister.  It seemed so unlikely.  Here we are after almost 10 great years.  How unlikely that he turned out to be the best of them all.  I'm glad he didn't take a walk in the snow.  Stephen Harper ended his tenure as Prime Minister the same way he started it and practiced it; fighting all the way.

 The Economist PM was always a hard sell.  It was never about him honestly.  Conservative voters wanted policies based on values and economics.  Stephen Harper was the delivery man, never the package.  Yet. after all the Minority Years, the Coalition Crisis and even terrorist attacks, I've come to both love and admire this unlikely hero Stephen Harper.

That democratic pendulum has swung ferociously back to the natural governing party now.  There is an eerie symmetry in the accidental Prime Minister being replaced by someone who was born to be one.  These are silver linings of a very dark cloud, but I see hope in Trudeau's easy win.  If Trudeau was aiming at Harper he's managed to hit Mulcair between the eyes.  That's where strategic voting gets you.  Liberals with their shiny pony PM and their majority will have no excuses now.

Conservatives may have lost the mantle of power but Stephen Harper's record is one we can all be proud of.  The Conservative party never had a divine right to govern.  The privilege Canadians have assigned them is of the Loyal Opposition.  It's a job Conservatives, including lowly MP Stephen Harper, are ready and eager to do.

Capital Flight Question Dodged by Mulcair During the Economy Debate

Stephen Harper did just fine in last night's Globe and Mail debate on economics.  The policies speak for themselves.  They are clearly proven to be the best ones.  This government significantly lowered taxes while increasing revenue.  Higher revenues allowed a balanced budget and increased spending.

Only Stephen Harper knows how to do that.  We know because he did it.  He promised us he would have a surplus and increase the UCCB and he did it.  He did it in a sustainable way.  He did it despite volatile markets, sovereign debt instability and blooming global security threats.

Stephen Harper has it covered.  You can put Conservative promises in the bank.

Nobody believes the NDP will have balanced budgets.  They have a raft of spending promises that they pretend will be paid in real time with higher taxes.   Not even the NDP believes it.  It's unsettling that they can so casually look people in the eye or into a camera and make impossible claims.  We are being asked to believe that Thomas J. Mulcair of the NDP is a better economist and conservative that Stephen Harper.  We are being asked to accept that a party that has never been in power and has ruined every province they stumbled into will somehow be better than the decade of sound fiscal judgement that is the hallmark of Stephen Harper's leadership.

There was a moment in the debate last night where Harper could have scored one on Mulcair.   The net was open.  The puck was loose.  Harper didn't take the shot.

Here is the exchange:

David Walmsley:   If corporations move their money elsewhere, you lose both your balanced budget and your revenue.

Hon. Tom Mulcair:  That’s why you’ve also got to work at the same time against tax havens. Mr. Harper has done nothing about that. We’ve had cases where other authorities in other countries have given full lists of Canadians who have been using illegal tax havens, and Mr. Harper has done nothing about that.

The economic phenomenon Walmsley describes is called Capital Flight.   If a government makes business conditions unfavorable by raising taxes or imposing onerous regulations those businesses will eventually leave that jurisdiction.

Mulcair didn't deny that was a possibility, instead he evaded the question by promising to go after a specific form of tax evasion.  That will not attract a dime of foreign investment.  There is no way to punish foreign investors into bringing their money to Canada.

Capital Flight is on my mind.  I lived through capital flight.  I spent months in Saskatchewan and British Columbia two weeks at a time.  The Progressives in Alberta decided to have a royalty review (tax hike on drilling) and so all the majority of smaller Operators fled east and west.  What did they expect?

What does the NDP expect to happen after they hike taxes?  There is oil and gas practically everywhere.  Even Canadian oil companies aren't obligated to invest here.  There is no law saying thou shalt drill.  No one would put their money into a place with such laws.  That is exactly the problem the NDP is creating.

Yes there's a global oil glut.  Good!  OPEC is dead.  Very good!  I've read that unconventional oil can handle some very low prices.  There is money to be made helping Operators cut costs.  That's Capitalism baby and we rock it.

We aren't made of sclerotic union shops like the government itself.  You can keep your tax funded bailouts for the mega zombie corps that are ready to die at the slightest trouble.  But before you do.  Just take a moment to recognize how things are stacked in these left wing parties.

Ontario's auto sector gets bailouts.  The West's economy get's what?  Taxes.  Anti-bailouts.  From our own insane NDP government no less.  Trudeau and Mulcair have a double dose of goodies in store for us should they win this election.  Carbon taxes.  Cap and Trade.  Endless regulations.  Only the rigs aren't going to British Columbia or Saskatchewan.  They are going to North Dakota and further.

Are they crazy though?  Do they not understand they are killing our jobs and industry?  Well ask them?  Every second policy mentions ending fossil fuels.  The left doesn't care about our jobs.  They don't give a damn if the resource industry shuts down like Venezuela's.  That is what they are after.

So these left wing parties are going to cut back on spending because they killed off their biggest source of revenue from resources right?  No they won't they never do.  Its the green shift under another name.  Either the green shift works and there is no Oil and Gas industry.  Taxes then have to come from other industries.  Or nothing shifts and everyone just has to pay ridiculous economy stifling taxes.

Programmers are just as talented in Belarus or India.  What magic will make these "good jobs" come and pay for NDP mistakes in Canada?  Same goes for manufacturing.

The NDP is bad news.

Trust Stephen Harper.  He knows what he's doing.  He's proved it. Surpluses and tax cuts exactly on time.  That is the kind of government we demand.

Rally Ho! Experience a Conservative Rally.

Last night Conservatives rallied in Calgary.  I highly recommend attending one of these rallies when Stephen Harper comes to your town.  It's one thing to watch it on CPAC, another thing entirely to be there.

I've captured the essence of being there in this video.  I didn't cut any of the thunderous cheers and applause.  That would take forever and besides what is the point of an event like this if you aren't going to hear things that make you want to shout and clap.  I even left a lot of Jason Kenny's introduction in as well.  It deserves to be heard.

You'll see the view swap to a wide angle and the sound is lower about halfway through.  I had battery issues and had to switch to my backup device.  It still works though.  Harper is that good.



There are a few things you should know before you go.  Don't expect the Prime Minister to be precisely on time.  He's the Prime Minister.  He runs a country and a party and a campaign.  He arrives just when he means to.  It's ok if you are late.  You might have to stand though.  If you are really late, you might be standing behind a hundred or so other people standing.  It's all good though.  You're in good company.  Strike up a conversation.

You are among friends at a rally.  I'd never met most of those good people but I felt I knew them anyway.  We are patriots and active participants in democracy.  It's not enough for us to observe or click 'like' here and there.  The outcome of this election is our personal responsibility.  It's our job to put a face and a friendly smile to our important message: that Canada is the greatest country in the world on purpose.  That is our purpose:  Keeping Canada great through sound fiscal and foreign policy. 

We've seen some of the greatest global upheavals during Stephen Harper's watch and come out on top.  That's how we know Conservative principles can weather any storm and capitalize on every windfall. 

Harper keeps his promises and reaches his goals.  It's an easy sell.  We just need to get the message to enough people.  For that we kindly need your help.

Mulcair doesn't know

On Friday Thomas Mulcair responded to a question about yet another bozo eruption by saying "I don't know." He said his years as a politician have taught him when to say "I don't know."

There is a lot more he doesn't know.  Mulcair's NDP has promised never to run a deficit.  Never ever.  How will he do that?  He doesn't know.  Nobody knows.  

Would he cut services?  He would hike taxes.  That's a fact whatever happens in the global economy.  But that doesn't ensure he'll break even, not while he promises to gut the oil patch in favor of these mythical "good jobs."  

What exactly is a "good job" anyway?  He doesn't know.

How will he create these "good jobs".  He doesn't know.

The NDP is promising $15 per day child care.  How exactly?  He doesn't know.

Mulcair touched on funding his day care plan by abolishing the Senate in the last debate:

"I believe sincerely that the only way to deal with the Senate is to get rid of it. One billion dollars has been spent on the Senate... Can you imagine how many child care spaces we could have created with $1 billion, Mr. Wells?"

How will Mulcair abolish the Senate?  He doesn't know!

Does that sound like someone who knows where they will get the money for his day care plan?

Thomas Mulcair doesn't know any of that.  He does know that what we need is "1 million day care spaces."  Why one million?  Where?  He doesn't know.

These day care spaces will likely only be in big cities.  Rural families will be forced to subsidize urban ones.  Ask your NDP candidate how many of the magical million spaces will be in your riding?  They don't know.

How much will these lebensborn government nannies be paid?  How long before that isn't enough? How will you handle government nanny strikes?  What hours of the day will $15 get me?  Would a Syrian refugee take precedence over my child getting a space?  Will you distribute these spaces based on household income?

They don't know.  They don't know.  They don't know.


The media doesn't want to know.  They don't ask.  They don't want us to know.  They just want to see the back of Prime Minister Harper no matter how good he is.  It doesn't matter how good the economy is or how many refugees we take.  They are in the business of interesting times.  The middle east is very interesting.  It dominates the news every day.  The media wants an idiot in the PMO so they can say "oh how did this happen!"

Well I don't care what the media wants.  I want Stephen Harper and so does Canada.  Thomas Mulcair can say "I don't know" to his media all day.   We deserve to make an informed decision on election day.  We deserve to know Thomas Mulcair and the NDP even if they don't know themselves.  I suspect that the NDP is nothing more than a collection of words some people want to hear.