The Bigot Stephen Harper and the Nightmare in Quebec

He just can't let go of that burning issue. He's got the bit, or the niqab, between his teeth.

Stephen Harper really is trying to use bigotry to win the election.

And he will miss no chance to pour fuel on the flames.

Stephen Harper took the politics of niqabs to a higher level Wednesday, suggesting a re-elected Conservative government would consider legislation banning the Muslim face covering for anyone dealing with – or working for – the federal government.

Claiming he's only following the example of Quebec's Liberal government.

“I believe the Quebec government has been handling this controversial issue in a responsible manner and we will do exactly the same thing in Ottawa,” Harper said during a campaign stop in Saskatoon.

While unleashing a barrage of hideous ads aimed at Justin Trudeau...



"Justin is totally disconnected from the values of Quebec. Trudeau says YES to the niqab. Justin thinks that most Quebecers are wrong. He's just not READY!!!!"

In the hope that the ghastly wedge issue will destroy Justin, as it is destroying the NDP in that province. 

And what makes it even more disturbing is that if this poll is right, the Con's bigot game is working.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party has edged into first place in Quebec, buoyed by the divisive debate over Muslim women wearing niqabs, according to a new public opinion poll. 

The latest EKOS Research poll, conducted earlier this week, found the Conservatives in the lead with the support of 28 per cent of respondents compared with 25 per cent for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and 24 per cent for Tom Mulcair’s New Democrats.

Which if true would be stunning, and a real kick in the stomach to our chances of winning the election...



If the trend continues, it could mean 25 or more seats for the Conservatives in Quebec, Graves said. Going into the election, the Conservative had only five seats in Quebec – all but one in areas just outside of Quebec City.

How could this happen in a province like Quebec, which has long led the resistance to the Harper regime? It's a long story that begins when Quebec threw off the crushing weight of the Catholic Church more than fifty years ago. It continues through the Bouchard-Taylor hearings into religious accommodation, and it's ghastly by-product the PQ's so-called Charter of Values. 

And culminates with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, which hardened attitudes in that province, to the point that many Quebecers don't believe they are bigots, they believe they are just standing up for their secular values. 

So no wonder Stephen Harper and Lynton Crosby found fertile ground to sow their bigot seed. 

Because while many Quebecers may have their heads up their asses to the point they can't see the forest for the trees, or the turds, that is what it is and it couldn't be more shameful.



This may be remembered as the “citizenship election.” For the first time since the Second World War, we are seeing the conspicuous use of identity politics by mainstream parties on a national level. This type of campaigning haunted the 19th and early 20th century, and we thought it was gone. But, in this election, that grave has been dug up, to our shame. And the preposterous idea that some citizens are more Canadian than others is being rattled in our faces like old bones.

The free-trade election of 1988 settled the question: “Are Canadians brave enough to enter the global economy?” The citizenship election of 2015 will decide if Canadians are brave enough to trust each other in the face of fear-mongering and bigot-baiting.

And the good news? Because French-speaking Quebec is still one of the most homogenous societies on earth, public opinion can turn on a dime, or change direction like a school of fish.

So if Justin Trudeau does as well as this new poll suggests he is doing.

Quebecers could still flock to join him to head off the threat of a Harper majority, as La Presse suggested they do yesterday, when it endorsed the Liberals.

But what it does tell the rest of us is that we cannot afford to waste a single vote. 

That this must be the Anyone But Conservative election.

For we must defeat this bigot monster before he shames us forever.

And sets this country on fire...



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