The Hardening of Stephen Harper – Staffing through his terms as Prime Minister of Canada – Cornwall Ontario – July 29, 2010

Cornwall ON – Sometimes you’re only as good as the person pulling your strings in Politics.   It’s funny, especially in the Western world how much we attribute to a leader.

For example does anyone really think George W Bush actually could spell policy never mind actually conceptualize one and implement it?

I may not like Stephen Harper or his policies, but I will always give him credit for achieving and generally realizing his plans.

When he came to power he couldn’t overwhelm Canadians with the ideology he stood for so he tried going easy on the public for awhile and then he brought in his man.  The person he felt could drive his staff towards his vision or  at least the vision he bought into.

That man is Guy Giorno whom Mr. Harper made his Chief of Staff in 2008.

There’s a great article by Lawrence Martin in today’s Globe and Mail.   It even mentions Keith Beardsley our own View from the Hill columnist.

LINK

n bringing in Mr. Giorno, whose way of relaxing is to slip into a straitjacket, the PM was tightening the bolts even more. The changeover may come to be seen as the turning point in Mr. Harper’s governance, the moment when the die was cast, when the chance of these Conservatives ever becoming a big tent party ended.

With Mr. Giorno came a-house cleaning. Out went the moderates. In came the true believers. Among those who departed were top policy adviser Bruce Carson, a veteran Tory of no fixed ideological address, and Keith Beardsley, who had worked for Joe Clark and Jean Charest. They were older, experienced men, both prepared to challenge Hr. Harper when they thought he was overreaching.

Politics can make for strange bedfellows indeed.   What do you think Canada?  You can post your comments below.

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8 Comments

  1. If your team is not all on te same page, house cleaning is the only way to go. Where has anyone ever worked that allows you to shall we say sell Burger King at McDonalds?

    We in Canada have had enough special interest and independant issues being dealt with. If we continue down that path as sure as the sun will set tonight so will our country. If I may Jamie, we are going to hell in a hand basket and we are all jumping in willingly.

  2. Another interesting article is that by James Travers posted this am “Census Clamour wakes Sleeping nation” at http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/census/article/841407–travers-census-clamour-wakes-sleeping-nation?bn=1

    “After making the wrong decision in the wrong way for the wrong reasons, Conservatives are resorting to the Big Lie in hopes of being mistaken for defenders of the little people.” ~~~~ James travers

    Wow , Jim Travers nailed it.

    Who knew better this truth than the poor old trust investor who was the victim of bad policy which turned into the big lie to cover the mess.

    Before the election , the Conservatives said we were the victims of Liberal injustice & that they would protect us at all all cost—they said income trusts were a truly Canadian product & were a benefit to the country.

    Ten months after the election we were now stealing food out of the mouths of ordinary Canadians ,we were stupid investors without a lick of common sense & that income trusts were ruining the country.

    Asked to prove their point , they presented the nation with 18 blacked-out pages which they subsequently recalled when we were in the process of uncovering the truth.

    I just wish the country would have taken more heed as we warned everyone that this was just the tip of the iceberg to come—we were labelled as nuts & told to just “shut the f–k up” (maybe that was someone else , but the point remains).

    The Summit , the census debacle , the RCMP mess are more symptoms of the Harper disease that has been allowed to fester by an ineffective opposition too scared to do it`s job.

    Unless the people wake-up to what these politicians in Ottawa are up to & if they don`t wake-up soon , we are doomed to a country run by a very few mostly unelected individuals in the PMO.

    Dr Mike Popovich — Rodney Ont

  3. Dr Popovich
    Are the conservative’s again just victims of their predecessor’s injustices and financial debauchery?

    The trust funds can still be Canadian but not a sound investment. If you so choose to invest there it is your responsibility

    They are primarily made up from.

    Business Trust
    Which is manufacturing based, I think the loss in that field speaks for it self. We have no more massive manufacturing.

    Income Trust
    Which is based on commodities, if they tank it affects the trust fund. Hedge funds have a huge impact on these trusts

    Utility trusts
    Though they are relatively stable and in Canada they are Crown corporations. Hmmm can you say pension funds? Not a very secure investment.

    Real Estate Investment Trusts
    That highly depends on the real estate market and again not very secure

  4. Author

    smee speak for yourself. If we all try to do our thing to help then I have a hunch now hand basket journeys will be necessary.

  5. Good post, Dr Mike. With this government PMO, as I’ve said many times, stands for Propaganda Management Office, and Canada is experiencing a Goebbels moment.

  6. As Canadians wake up, Harper had better prepare his bunker.

  7. Admin the problem is everyone doing their own thing.
    Use the row boat scenario. What happens if everyone does their own thing when rowing? Kiss

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