Harper Index
BY Matthew Elliot
Photography by Reuters: Jim Young
Stephen Harper’s minority Conservative government survived its first parliamentary session, which ended June 22. From supporting Israel’s assault on Lebanon to Harper’s refusal to attend the AIDS conference in Toronto, the federal government has further demonstrated its priorities are not consistent with those of most Canadians. Harper Index will watch the Tory regime as it strives to consolidate power. This is part two of what we continue to hope will be a short-lived series.
June 7, 2006: Environment Minister Rona Ambrose chooses not to attend Toronto’s annual Smog Summit, a move that contributed to the NDP’s call for her resignation. Liberal environment critic John Godfrey refused to support the motion, saying, “We would rather leave Ms. Ambrose in place because she represents the total incompetence of the government.”
June 19: Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day introduces a bill aimed at killing the long-gun registry.
June 20: Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice threatens to scuttle a 20-years-in-the-making UN declaration to protect the human rights of Aboriginal people worldwide, claiming it’s inconsistent with Canada’s laws and policies.
June 22: Feds move to raise age of sexual consent to 16, from 14; sodomy remains illegal for those under 18.
June 23: Harper declines invitation to attend annual International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August.
June 26: Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor announces plans for $15 billion in new military spending.
June 29: The Globe and Mail reports the Tories may have broken campaign-financing laws by not noting entry fees to their 2005 policy convention as political donations.
July 7: Harper writes a letter to the editor of the Calgary Herald announcing an intention to end “racially divided” commercial fishing rights for Aboriginals.
July 10: Harper reportedly calls conservative Mexican presidential candidate Felipe Calderon to congratulate him on his election—although the election had not yet been declared.
July 13: PM describes Israel’s military response in Lebanon to the kidnapping of two IDF reservists by Hezbollah as “measured.”
July 14: Harper brands Canada an “emerging energy superpower” in a Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce speech.
July 20: Harper reroutes his plane to help evacuate around 100 of a reported 50,000 Canadians from Lebanon to Ottawa. No journalists are allowed on the trip, but the PM’s official photographer and three members of his communications team are on board.
July 26: PM refuses to condemn Israel for the bombing of a UN post that killed four peacekeepers—including one Canadian; questions why the post was manned during what is “more or less a war.”
