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From the Australian - News Corp, conservative daily national broadsheet
www.theaustralian.news.co...01,00.html
Canada to take a turn to the Right
David Nason, Toronto
January 24, 2006
STEPHEN Harper, a man even hardline conservatives once dismissed as too right-wing for Canadian voters, is expected to be elected the country's prime minister today, ending the 13-year reign of Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal Party.
Voting in Canada's first mid-winter election in 26 years began overnight and will close at 1pm (AEDT) today. A result should be known a few hours later.
Canada has 22.7 million registered voters but voting is not compulsory. A turnout of just 65-70 per cent is expected, even though a mild day is forecast in most parts of the country.
Final polls released on Sunday continued to show the Conservative Party holding a commanding 10- to 12-point lead, causing the usually cautious Mr Harper to predict the Liberals would lose every one of their rural seats as the Tories swept into power.
It was a rare moment of exuberance from Mr Harper, who has been widely praised for a disciplined campaign highlighted by easy-to-understand policies on tax, childcare, health and law and order and an oft-repeated promise to restore clean government to Canada in the wake of the Adscam corruption scandal.
The scandal provided the spark for the early election. Mr Harper used it to persuade the New Democrat and Bloc Quebec parties to join the Conservatives in a vote of no confidence in the Martin Government after judge John Gomery released the results of his inquiry into bribery and kickbacks involving the Liberal Party in Quebec.
While Justice Gomery's report cleared Mr Martin of wrongdoing, it implicated his predecessor as prime minister, Jean Chretien, and several other Liberal figures who were accused of awarding government contracts in return for kickbacks paid to the Liberal Party organisation. Mr Harper's corruption agenda got a lucky boost mid-campaign when police ordered another criminal investigation into claims the Liberal Party had leaked information to certain investors about a decision on taxation rules.
The announcement of the investigation coincided with a sharp improvement in Mr Harper's polling, which continued to improve.
Roger Gibbons, president and chief executive of the Calgary-based Canada West Foundation, said there was a "great sense of anticipation" in western Canada about Mr Harper, who cut his political teeth in the oil-rich province of Alberta.
"Western Canadians have felt left out but now there is a feeling that, finally, a shift in political power to the west is going to occur to match the shift in economic power that has occurred over the last 20 years," Dr Gibbons said.
But if Mr Harper fails to win the 155 seats needed for an outright majority, he will lead a minority government with no natural allies in the 308-seat Canadian House of Commons, raising the prospect that he may be forced back to the polls well before his five-year term is up.
Mr Harper has undergone a remarkable political transformation, shedding the extreme right-wing image that allowed Mr Martin to maul him in the 2004 election campaign.
After years of promoting the virtues of private healthcare, he has promised to leave intact Canada's government-supported healthcare system, along with the nation's liberal abortion laws.
He has pledged to reduce Canada's GST from 7 to 5 per cent and scrap capital gains tax if the money is reinvested. And after once vowing support for the US war in Iraq, he now says a Tory government would not send Canadian troops there.
________________________
www.smh.com.au/news/world/canadian-conservatives-eye-poll-win/2006/01/23/1137864864498.html
Sydney Morning Herald - Fairfax, liberal-lefty daily Sydney broadsheet
Canadian Conservatives eye poll win
By Clifford Krauss in Toronto
January 24, 2006
UNLESS every national poll was wrong, Canada's Liberal Party was heading for a humiliating defeat in yesterday's general election.
Stephen Harper, 46, appeared poised to lead his Conservative Party to victory over the party of the Prime Minister, Paul Martin, something that seemed highly improbable just a few weeks ago.
The Liberals won the last four general elections, governing Canada for 13 years - as the party did for three-quarters of the past century.
But whether a Harper victory would represent a seismic shift in a country that has long promoted itself as a beacon of social democracy and frequent critic of US foreign policy remains an open question. If he cannot muster a majority in the House of Commons Mr Harper may lead a weak, unstable government opposed by three left-of-centre parties represented in Parliament.
Mr Harper promised to cut the national sales tax, grant families child care for preschoolers and introduce mandatory prison sentences. The absence of strong ideological overtones would appear to make a Thatcherite revolution unlikely, even if there is a strong Conservative showing. Mr Harper even noted that judges appointed by Liberal governments and an appointed Senate filled with Liberals would serve as checks on his power.
A change in Ottawa would almost certainly bring, at the least, a warming of relations with Washington, which have been strained since the US-led invasion of Iraq and have worsened over a series of recent trade disputes and Canadian moves to soften domestic drug laws.
Mr Harper, while careful not to appear over supportive of President George Bush, has suggested he would reconsider Canada's refusal to join the US missile defence program. He has also promised to increase military spending and make a bigger contribution to NATO and peacekeeping operations in places such as Haiti and Afghanistan. But he also said recently that he had no intention of sending troops to Iraq.
The results are expected this afternoon, Sydney time.
The New York Times
____________
The Age - Fairfax, liberal daily Melbourne broadsheet
www.theage.com.au/news/world/canada-set-to-ditch-consensus-politics/2006/01/23/1137864861750.html
Canada set to ditch consensus politics
By Francis Harris, Ottawa
January 24, 2006
AN UNASHAMEDLY right-wing politician is poised to shatter decades of middle-ground consensus in Canada's general election that began last night.
The emergence of Conservative leader Stephen Harper has panicked opponents and cheered those demanding a radical change of direction for a country they describe as vanquished by the adherents of political correctness.
Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin has whipped up voters' fears in the final days of campaigning, saying Mr Harper would overturn the newly enshrined right of homosexual marriage and cosy up to President George Bush, who most Canadians dislike. He even claimed that the Tories would attack abortion rights, which the party denies.
"We have a party that wants to take this country to the far, far right of the US conservative movement," Mr Martin said.
But despite days of such allegations, opinion polls showed the Conservatives were a steady 10 per cent ahead of the Liberals.
Such a result would mark the first Conservative victory for almost 20 years, although it might not be enough to deliver a majority in the House of Commons.
A Strategic Counsel poll for CTV showed the Conservatives with 37 per cent of public support compared to 27 per cent for the Liberals, who have been in power since late 1993. A poll released by the same firm on Saturday showed the same figures.
The polls suggest the Conservatives will win the election but will not gain a majority of the 308 seats in Parliament.
An SES Research daily tracking poll for the CPAC television network showed the Conservatives on 36 per cent, down one point from the previous day. The Liberals were on 30 per cent, up two points.
The Conservative campaign has been marked by a moderate election program based on tax cuts, a crackdown on crime, increased defence spending and devolution of power to the provinces.
Mr Harper, 46, an economist, has been careful not to threaten too much change. But most who have watched him during 20 years in politics say he is far from the typical Canadian consensus-seeking mould that has typified leaders of both left and right for decades.
According to his biographer, William Johnson, the country has never had a leader like him in the 139 years since Britain handed over power. The biography describes him as a brilliant conviction politician who admired the no-nonsense styles of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.
An introverted policy pedant, he distrusts the Canadian political elite and has a taste for necessary but unpopular policies. Many Canadians, including some on his own side, say this mix will make the sparks fly if he becomes prime minister.
Unlike almost all recent prime ministers, he did not originate in the Francophone heartland of Quebec. A fluent French-speaker who has promised to leave Quebec's controversial language laws alone, he is unashamedly English by culture, temperament and origin.
In the lead-up to war in Iraq, Mr Harper gave voice to the minority who were uneasy that Canada's old allies in America, Britain and Australia were about to engage in a conflict without Canadian units at their side.
On the day war broke out, he berated Canada's Government for its "insecure anti-Americanism". He no longer insists on sending troops to Iraq but few doubt that when he spoke to the House of Commons, MPs saw into the heart of the real Stephen Harper.
TELEGRAPH, REUTERS
________________
I say John Howard, because behind his desk in the PM's office in new Parliament House, he has two framed photos, one of Margaret Thatcher and one of Ronald Reagan. :lol
www.theaustralian.news.co...01,00.html
Canada to take a turn to the Right
David Nason, Toronto
January 24, 2006
STEPHEN Harper, a man even hardline conservatives once dismissed as too right-wing for Canadian voters, is expected to be elected the country's prime minister today, ending the 13-year reign of Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal Party.
Voting in Canada's first mid-winter election in 26 years began overnight and will close at 1pm (AEDT) today. A result should be known a few hours later.
Canada has 22.7 million registered voters but voting is not compulsory. A turnout of just 65-70 per cent is expected, even though a mild day is forecast in most parts of the country.
Final polls released on Sunday continued to show the Conservative Party holding a commanding 10- to 12-point lead, causing the usually cautious Mr Harper to predict the Liberals would lose every one of their rural seats as the Tories swept into power.
It was a rare moment of exuberance from Mr Harper, who has been widely praised for a disciplined campaign highlighted by easy-to-understand policies on tax, childcare, health and law and order and an oft-repeated promise to restore clean government to Canada in the wake of the Adscam corruption scandal.
The scandal provided the spark for the early election. Mr Harper used it to persuade the New Democrat and Bloc Quebec parties to join the Conservatives in a vote of no confidence in the Martin Government after judge John Gomery released the results of his inquiry into bribery and kickbacks involving the Liberal Party in Quebec.
While Justice Gomery's report cleared Mr Martin of wrongdoing, it implicated his predecessor as prime minister, Jean Chretien, and several other Liberal figures who were accused of awarding government contracts in return for kickbacks paid to the Liberal Party organisation. Mr Harper's corruption agenda got a lucky boost mid-campaign when police ordered another criminal investigation into claims the Liberal Party had leaked information to certain investors about a decision on taxation rules.
The announcement of the investigation coincided with a sharp improvement in Mr Harper's polling, which continued to improve.
Roger Gibbons, president and chief executive of the Calgary-based Canada West Foundation, said there was a "great sense of anticipation" in western Canada about Mr Harper, who cut his political teeth in the oil-rich province of Alberta.
"Western Canadians have felt left out but now there is a feeling that, finally, a shift in political power to the west is going to occur to match the shift in economic power that has occurred over the last 20 years," Dr Gibbons said.
But if Mr Harper fails to win the 155 seats needed for an outright majority, he will lead a minority government with no natural allies in the 308-seat Canadian House of Commons, raising the prospect that he may be forced back to the polls well before his five-year term is up.
Mr Harper has undergone a remarkable political transformation, shedding the extreme right-wing image that allowed Mr Martin to maul him in the 2004 election campaign.
After years of promoting the virtues of private healthcare, he has promised to leave intact Canada's government-supported healthcare system, along with the nation's liberal abortion laws.
He has pledged to reduce Canada's GST from 7 to 5 per cent and scrap capital gains tax if the money is reinvested. And after once vowing support for the US war in Iraq, he now says a Tory government would not send Canadian troops there.
________________________
www.smh.com.au/news/world/canadian-conservatives-eye-poll-win/2006/01/23/1137864864498.html
Sydney Morning Herald - Fairfax, liberal-lefty daily Sydney broadsheet
Canadian Conservatives eye poll win
By Clifford Krauss in Toronto
January 24, 2006
UNLESS every national poll was wrong, Canada's Liberal Party was heading for a humiliating defeat in yesterday's general election.
Stephen Harper, 46, appeared poised to lead his Conservative Party to victory over the party of the Prime Minister, Paul Martin, something that seemed highly improbable just a few weeks ago.
The Liberals won the last four general elections, governing Canada for 13 years - as the party did for three-quarters of the past century.
But whether a Harper victory would represent a seismic shift in a country that has long promoted itself as a beacon of social democracy and frequent critic of US foreign policy remains an open question. If he cannot muster a majority in the House of Commons Mr Harper may lead a weak, unstable government opposed by three left-of-centre parties represented in Parliament.
Mr Harper promised to cut the national sales tax, grant families child care for preschoolers and introduce mandatory prison sentences. The absence of strong ideological overtones would appear to make a Thatcherite revolution unlikely, even if there is a strong Conservative showing. Mr Harper even noted that judges appointed by Liberal governments and an appointed Senate filled with Liberals would serve as checks on his power.
A change in Ottawa would almost certainly bring, at the least, a warming of relations with Washington, which have been strained since the US-led invasion of Iraq and have worsened over a series of recent trade disputes and Canadian moves to soften domestic drug laws.
Mr Harper, while careful not to appear over supportive of President George Bush, has suggested he would reconsider Canada's refusal to join the US missile defence program. He has also promised to increase military spending and make a bigger contribution to NATO and peacekeeping operations in places such as Haiti and Afghanistan. But he also said recently that he had no intention of sending troops to Iraq.
The results are expected this afternoon, Sydney time.
The New York Times
____________
The Age - Fairfax, liberal daily Melbourne broadsheet
www.theage.com.au/news/world/canada-set-to-ditch-consensus-politics/2006/01/23/1137864861750.html
Canada set to ditch consensus politics
By Francis Harris, Ottawa
January 24, 2006
AN UNASHAMEDLY right-wing politician is poised to shatter decades of middle-ground consensus in Canada's general election that began last night.
The emergence of Conservative leader Stephen Harper has panicked opponents and cheered those demanding a radical change of direction for a country they describe as vanquished by the adherents of political correctness.
Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin has whipped up voters' fears in the final days of campaigning, saying Mr Harper would overturn the newly enshrined right of homosexual marriage and cosy up to President George Bush, who most Canadians dislike. He even claimed that the Tories would attack abortion rights, which the party denies.
"We have a party that wants to take this country to the far, far right of the US conservative movement," Mr Martin said.
But despite days of such allegations, opinion polls showed the Conservatives were a steady 10 per cent ahead of the Liberals.
Such a result would mark the first Conservative victory for almost 20 years, although it might not be enough to deliver a majority in the House of Commons.
A Strategic Counsel poll for CTV showed the Conservatives with 37 per cent of public support compared to 27 per cent for the Liberals, who have been in power since late 1993. A poll released by the same firm on Saturday showed the same figures.
The polls suggest the Conservatives will win the election but will not gain a majority of the 308 seats in Parliament.
An SES Research daily tracking poll for the CPAC television network showed the Conservatives on 36 per cent, down one point from the previous day. The Liberals were on 30 per cent, up two points.
The Conservative campaign has been marked by a moderate election program based on tax cuts, a crackdown on crime, increased defence spending and devolution of power to the provinces.
Mr Harper, 46, an economist, has been careful not to threaten too much change. But most who have watched him during 20 years in politics say he is far from the typical Canadian consensus-seeking mould that has typified leaders of both left and right for decades.
According to his biographer, William Johnson, the country has never had a leader like him in the 139 years since Britain handed over power. The biography describes him as a brilliant conviction politician who admired the no-nonsense styles of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.
An introverted policy pedant, he distrusts the Canadian political elite and has a taste for necessary but unpopular policies. Many Canadians, including some on his own side, say this mix will make the sparks fly if he becomes prime minister.
Unlike almost all recent prime ministers, he did not originate in the Francophone heartland of Quebec. A fluent French-speaker who has promised to leave Quebec's controversial language laws alone, he is unashamedly English by culture, temperament and origin.
In the lead-up to war in Iraq, Mr Harper gave voice to the minority who were uneasy that Canada's old allies in America, Britain and Australia were about to engage in a conflict without Canadian units at their side.
On the day war broke out, he berated Canada's Government for its "insecure anti-Americanism". He no longer insists on sending troops to Iraq but few doubt that when he spoke to the House of Commons, MPs saw into the heart of the real Stephen Harper.
TELEGRAPH, REUTERS
________________
I say John Howard, because behind his desk in the PM's office in new Parliament House, he has two framed photos, one of Margaret Thatcher and one of Ronald Reagan. :lol