Stephen Harper and the Perfect Storm that Will Defeat Him

He has yet to comment on the latest twist in the Duffy scandal. But in his shadowy bunker Stephen Harper must be feeling the heat.

For by now even he must realize that the writing is on the wall.

And that he could soon be sweating in a witness box.

Trying to explain under oath what Nigel Wright meant when he said that Harper had told him the deal to pay off Duffy was "good to go."

The leader of a tired, increasingly unpopular government with nowhere to go but down. 



This government likes to control the political narrative, fight back accusers and drown scandals, but as it looks ahead to the next phase of the Duffy scandal, the trial, it finds it doesn’t have many viable tactics left to deflect blame. Part of that is this particular scandal. Part of it is eight years in power.

Faced with a nightmare that can only make him and his Con regime even MORE unpopular.

There is real danger for Conservatives. The Senate scandal, especially Mike Duffy’s part in it, is more than an Ottawa-bubble affair. Each big twist has caused Tory support to dip. For them, a trial is a lurid thought, with Conservatives, including senior aides and perhaps even the Prime Minister, testifying about efforts to keep the expense scandal quiet.

And unable to pin all the blame on Duffy. Not when he appointed him.

Not when he was so useful...



Not when Harper's scuzzy PMO gang tried so hard to cover-up what he had done.

The RCMP investigation has already provided ample evidence the instinct of Conservatives, and the PMO, was to protect Senator Duffy, and keep the scandal as quiet as possible. Some of those machinations would be aired in any trial.

The bribery charge that Senator Duffy faces is, after all, for accepting a $90,000 cheque from Mr. Harper’s then-chief-of-staff, Nigel Wright, to cover his expenses. Even if Mr. Wright doesn’t face any charges for his part in that transaction, the RCMP’s investigation made clear the secret payment changed hands as Mr. Harper’s team desperately sought a way to close down the story.

Not when he can no longer count on the economy to deflect attention away from the scandal. 

Never mind Mike Duffy and the Senate expense scandal, Stephen Harper has much bigger problems — Canada’s economic numbers are going the wrong way heading into an election year.

With the Senate expense scandal and a mood for change working against him in the last year, the prime minister has always been able to fall back on the narrative of the Conservatives as expert stewards of the economy. It has long been their trump card, and if they lose it, they’re done.

Not when so many Canadians no longer share his corrupt government's priorities. 

Public-opinion research for the federal Finance Department suggests key government policies are out of step with Canadians' priorities, including the Northern Gateway project.

And among the 12 groups consulted — from Coquitlam, B.C., to Bridgewater, N.S. — the economy itself was not a top-of-mind concern. Rather, the groups spontaneously raised education, health care, pensions and veterans as their key issues.

And not when his criminal failure to do anything about global warming can only become a bigger and bigger issue as the world gets hotter and hotter. 



The globe is on a hot streak, setting a heat record in June. That’s after the world broke a record in May. 

And with a likely El Nino this year – the warming of the tropical Pacific which influences the world’s weather and increases global temperatures – it is starting to look like another extra warm year, said University of Arizona climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck.

And like all of the above, that too will come back to haunt him.

Yup. As I've said so many times before, Stephen Harper and his old and tired government aren't just facing a devastating scandal, they are facing a perfect storm.

One the monstrous control freak cannot control.

Time is not on his side. 

The heat is on. 

And sooner or later, it WILL destroy him...



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