We always knew Stephen Harper was a miserable coward, who at the first sign of danger ran for the nearest closet.
We always knew that he hated Canada, and its values.
And that he once called this country "a northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term."
But this is the absolute limit.
This is nothing less than treason.
Stephen Harper has come out against his successor's handling of NAFTA negotiations with the United States, with the former prime minister declaring the negotiations in real peril in a memo titled, "Napping on NAFTA."
The memo was obtained by The Canadian Press and it criticizes the Trudeau government in several areas: For too quickly rejecting U.S. proposals, for insisting on negotiating alongside Mexico, and for promoting progressive priorities like labour, gender, aboriginal and environmental issues.
For not only have the Trudeau Liberals not been napping, they've been working overtime to defend Canada's economic interests.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and an energetic corps of diplomats have likely seen more of America over the past six months than most Americans will ever see of their own country.
The massive effort, spearheaded by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton, has enlisted premiers and parliamentarians, mayors and ministers, and Liberals and Conservatives alike, united by one basic goal: talk to any American official, at any level of government, who’s willing to stand up for NAFTA as negotiations begin in August.
And Chrystia Freeland is right to call Harper's advice what it is: CAPITULATION.
While others are also right when they accuse Harper of trying to knife Canada in the back.
"This is a gift to the Americans," said one current Canadian official.
"There's nothing Wilbur Ross and Robert Lighthizer (from the trump administration) want to see more than prominent Canadians standing up to suggest making concessions to the Americans. Make no mistake: Wilbur Ross and Robert Lighthizer will be very happy with this letter."
Like a traitor, or a coward...
But then why should we be surprised that Harper should put his hatred for Justin Trudeau before the interests of his own country?
Or be surprised that he should say something like this?
"Did anyone really think that the Liberals could somehow force the Trump administration into enacting their agenda — union power, climate change, aboriginal claims, gender issues? But while the Canadian government was doing that, the Americans have been laying down their real demands."
When Trudeau, the man his Cons claimed "just wasn't ready," humiliated him beyond recognition.
And Harper was always a reactionary, a union buster, a climate change denier, a misogynist, an enemy of our aboriginal people, and about as Canadian as a three dollar bill.
Who can be surprised when we've seen this treasonous Con pantomime before?
And Andrew Scheer himself led the charge to try to stab Canada in the back...
Which could have cost Canada hundreds of thousands of jobs.
And should cost Scheer any chance of ever being Prime Minister.
I can't wait to see whether our shabby Con media will demand that Scheer denounce Harper, like they demanded day after day, after day, after day, that Trudeau denounce the decent Bill Morneau.
Or are they traitors too?
But most of all I'm just glad that we have a Prime Minister who knows how to handle the monster Trump better than any other leader in the world...
A man who we can trust to stand up for our country and its values.
And as for Stephen Harper who wouldn't know a Canadian value if one jumped up and bit him in the face.
May he never be heard from again.
And may his tattered legacy live in infamy forever...
treason is a good way to describe
ReplyDeleteHi Steve...working to undermine the work of those who are trying to save tens of thousands of Canadian jobs, and suggesting that Canada should simply lie down and roll over is in my opinion treasonous. Harper should remember that he's Canadian and act accordingly...
Deleteif NAFTA doesn't get done, it will be those 35 American states which will be feeling the pain, much more than Canada. They don't have the social safety net we do. No work, no salary, no health care in the U.S.A. To loose your job and your health care in the U.S.A. would be catastrophic for those Americans. We in Canada will have E.I. and our health care system. We will have other trading partners. Those 35 American States will be in deep trouble.
DeleteWhat do Trump the CHUMP"and Harper the Carper have in common!Bumpkins,Bullies BHeadlongers,Egregious cloven Narcissistic super stars.
ReplyDeleteHi Dave...I despise bullies of all stripes, and when I look at Trump and Harper I see two of the worst I have ever seen. Neither man can feel the pain of others, and for that alone are unfit to lead anyone...
DeleteHarper, Scheer, Levant and the rest of that Rebel inspired CPC party will never be happy with Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party. With the help of their newest traitor, Hamish Marshall of Rebel Media, they would damage Canada just for spite. I am waiting to see what the main street media will say but I am not holding my breath.
ReplyDeleteHi anon...I've been waiting to see if any members of our pundit class might have anything to say about Harper's treasonous letter, but so far the usual suspects have remained silent.I don't expect that to change, because their corporate masters miss Harper, and anybody who criticizes him can expect to lose their job. It's that bleak, but we have the numbers and the social media tools to teach them a lesson the Con media will never forget...
DeleteJust in time for the Mexican day of the dead, a zombie shuffles in to sight; whining and moaning because he never having the skills or smarts to emigrate to the US.
ReplyDeleteHi rumleyfips...yes, zombie is the right word to describe Harper, and he does seem to spend most of his time peddling his wares in the U.S. Which isn't that surprising since people in this country know him too well, and the way the Canadian economy is flourishing since he left must be a source of endless pain and frustration...
DeleteWow. What a scumbag is Harper. Even Shrub never came out of the woodwork to criticize Obama. He actually did with Trump, because as bad as he was, Trump is bigly worse. I think Shrub was a puppet of his father's old Reagan-era spooks, PNAC and Darth Cheney. He's just as appalled by Trump's atrocious behavior and maniacal, self-serving style of governance as anyone with at least two brain cells to put together (which means Shrub finally proved that he has at least two). But Harper is clearly still bitter about the son of his iconic former nemesis defeating him in the election, and is putting personal vendettas ahead of what's best for his country.
ReplyDeleteHe said so himself, something along the lines of how he wanted Canadians to "not recognize" Canada when he "got through with it." He wanted to wipe out Pierre's Just Society, turn Canada into America's de facto 51st state, and prioritize what he called "old-stock Canadians" -- white people, specifically white Anglo people, and really, only WASP heterosexual men. Which is why he's accusing Trudeau of pandering to what conservatives always call "special interests" in the NAFTA negotiation. A lesser cohort of "others" separate and not equal to the superior master race. He clearly regards Indigenous people, Middle Eastern and African refugees, and even French Quebecers as 3/5 of a Canadian (unless they're kapos who serve his interests). Whereas Trudeau is a student of what they call intersectionality, who sees the unique yet overlapping concerns of a diverse coalition of Canadians, including and especially Canadians from marginalized groups, as inextricable from the greater interests of Canada as a whole.
What a disgusting human being, and I use the term human being very loosely. Adolf Harper, his cabana boy Andrew Rommel, and their chief propagandist Ezra Goebbels, can all go sit in the rancid, infested swamp of Moscow-on-the-Potomac with the rest of the rassenhygiene and Arbeit macht frei fanaticists of the GOP.
I couldn't have said it any better, Thank you
DeleteHi anon 11:52....well said, Harper is a scumbag, and one without an ounce of class. But it's been two years and a few days since Justin Trudeau defeated him so soundly, and I guess he couldn't help himself. Like Trump Harper could only destroy rather than build anything, it really is just more of the same. I just hope that American businesses don't just rely on him for advice because if they do they will end up paying for it. He liked to pose as a Great Economist Leader, but like all his other claims that one was also fraudulent...
DeleteFreeland and Trudeau negotiating our future trade relations? I'm not a religious man, but I pray for children every night that these talks last long enough for an adult to complete one day. 30 billion and rising daily. Wake up sheeple
ReplyDeleteAn adult? JFK was the same age as PM Trudeau while managing the Cuban Missile Crisis ... a NAFTA treaty should be no problem...
Delete@ Karen third -- and don't forget, Pierre was only a few years older than his son is now, when he was elected PM in 1968. Justin was 43 in October 2015, turned 44 in December.
DeletePierre had just turned 49 in October 1968. He faced down the FLQ terrorists in 1970 right around his 51st birthday. Harper, meanwhile, hid in the bathroom during the Parliament Hill shooting of 2014. He was already 55.
Justin has a different personality from his father, who could be pretty darn tough at times, but that's got nothing to do with age. Six years isn't that much difference. Justin and his brother Sacha grew up into very competent, intelligent and compassionate young men -- fathers, husbands, and devoted sons. It's a tragedy that Misha didn't get to make the journey with them.
So we've got people saying that "middle-aged" Justin's getting a bit long in the tooth to be calling himself a youth leader, and yet Justin's an immature child who shouldn't be handling grownup stuff like NAFTA? Must be a new form of that quantum math that he can be too old and too young at the same time... Nice Goldilocks though (wait, isn't his hair brown? But I digress). I'd say he's doing just right.
Especially when you consider, Scheer is 38 going on 83 and wants to be a strict disciplinarian, except when it comes to the Apt Pupil he's mentoring to turn the party into Nazi Bros Gone Wild. And of course, Trump is 71 going on the terrible twos. Age is nothing but a number.
Hi anon 1:46....the Canadian economy is booming, unemployment is down, and the stock market is at a record high, so Freeland and Trudeau ,and yes Morneau, must be doing something right. Nothing Harper ever did in his almost ten years in power can match what the Liberals have achieved in only two years. So I think the Con sheeple should be baaaing gratefully rather than whining like losers...
DeleteHi Karen...excellent point. That grumpy anonymous must be about 129 years old if he or she thinks that Freeland and Trudeau are too young to handle the NAFTA negotiations. Besides, as that article I linked to clearly showed, they are leading an impressive team that includes some decent Cons, so grumpy should be cheering for them instead of putting them down...
DeleteHi anon 3:42...yes, the Con media keeps trying to portray Scheer as the new and exciting youth leader, when as you point out he's 38 going on 83, and as boring as can be. In my opinion you are as young as you feel, or even better as you say, age is just a number...
DeleteHow ironic Anon 1:46, I prayed for the children as well on a special October night in 2015. I prayed that they wouldn't be brought up in a country where they would look at people of colour with disdain while watching their every move and reporting it to the Harperazis.
DeleteI prayed they wouldn't grow up thinking that the road to success was paved with the misery of others and corruption was the center line. That mowing down lives didn't matter as long as you and your cronies prospered.
My prayers were answered that night but not by a God. They were answered by decent, caring and engaged Canadians who finally said enough is enough when they booted out the absolute worst PM in our history.
Were you praying that night too?
JD
let me get this straight. We're looking at a part time high school drama teacher who did motivation training who happens to have the famous last name of his father but not the IQ and comparing him with JFK? That's downright delusional. If these are the qualifications to lead a nation, then anyone of us should run next time. When a leader (and he is not) will not compromise his unrealistic ideals, the cost to the country is tremendous, emotionally and especially financially. Our kids and grandkids will be burdened with paying off a debt that our "leader" ran up in less than 3 years just as Canadians in the 80's and 90's paid for his father reckless spending. Emotional intelligence must be a qualification for any leader. Unfortunately, the leaders in both America and Canada do not have this and that's when, we as citizens, suffer immeasurably. Therefore, I was not referring to age but to EI (emotional intelligence, not the EI, our money, that every Liberal wants to pay jobless young people with to hang out at their parent's home all day). It is a shame that there are great men and women in industries and business, with ideal leadership instincts that will never lead us as a nation because they can earn more in private than as our PMs and Premiers. For us, that means putting up with somebody with nice teeth or nice hair that travels the world on out dime who worries only about their own wonderful legacy and not the country's. We lose out! Do you really believe that Americans will allow Canada to dictate their policy on gender issues?
DeleteOur illustrious leader had one million in his bank account before he drew his first breath. Does anyone really think, if he had the ability, he would care about honest working class Canadians that are struggling to support their families and way of life? Tax and spend is always the solution. NAFTA agreements should be negotiated by business experts. Not personalities.
Delete(part 1)
DeleteWow, Anon 9:38/10:01 you sound bitter. The harmful Reaganesque "welfare queen" stereotype about people collecting unemployment benefits, for one. The same stale old "nice hair," "drama teacher" insults that have been flung at Trudeau since he began his career. How do you know he isn't intelligent? You do know that he only spent a year as a substitute drama teacher because the full-time one took maternity leave? Other than that he taught mathematics. But Trudeau's career is beside the point. He's not an idiot by far and for you to continue thumping the drum (or Drumpf) that just because he is compassionate and has a high "E.Q." means he's got a trade-off in "I.Q." shows how petty you are.
First of all, even Stephen Hawking said that people who brag about their intelligence are losers. Trudeau simply leads by example. He is who he is and if you don't like it, well, I'm sorry, but he's not just going to change that or roll over and die for the selfish, ignorant Americans. He's going to fight the good fight for fair conditions for all Canadians and everyone involved in what is a trilateral trade deal.
He's not going to throw Mexico under the bus, especially knowing that Trump's hatred of Mexico has less to do with jobs and factories than it does pure, unadulterated, rabid racism. Meat to his savage base. If Trump's dislike of Mexico was purely related to economic factors, he wouldn't have ICE going in and arresting a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy the minute she got out of recovery, or completely ignoring the earthquake down there other than a boilerplate tweet that people in his cabinet had to twist his arm to make.
Trudeau is not abandoning these desperate people. It's a heavy burden for him to bear as the unexpected leader of the free world, and also a delicate balancing act because Trump is a lunatic who seems to think that Trudeau is either on "his side" (the quintessential "polite Canadian") or, like you, that he is too stupid to negotiate with the "smartest man in the world" for a fairer deal for Canada.
(part 2)
Delete@ anon 9:38/10:01
The US team is annoyed that Trudeau and his team not only wish to stand up for Canada but to bring Mexico in and even the concerns of Americans whose lives and livelihoods have been severely affected by the unrestrained greed of big business. Why the heck do you want business negotiating the deal? A "business leader" like Trump has better leadership skills than Trudeau despite having declared so many bankruptcies he couldn't get money from anyone other than the corrupt, thug Russians? The "business leaders" in Silicon Valley who allowed Russian psy-ops to take over their networks and influence the political process in the name of "free speech" and clickbait? You want them at the table? Wasn't it Mussolini who said that the conflation of government with business is fascism? So you're saying you prefer fascism?
Do you want Harper sitting at the table and telling Rex Tillerson that he can have all the oil he wants for the right price, those tree-hugging sissies with their environmental concerns be damned? Do you want Winnipeg or Vancouver or any of Canada's great cities to become Flint, Michigan? Heck, do you want Vladimir Putin to have access to the tar sands and the pipeline? Do you want Canadians to have to work two full-time jobs (or multiple part-time jobs) to make end's meet, and then be SOL because they don't have healthcare? How can you say that "gender issues" aren't important? How is it not important to you that 50% of the population makes 80% of the salary for the same job as the other half? Maybe Trudeau should teach you some remedial math.
(part 3)
Delete@ anon 9:38/10:01
You should kiss the ground and be thankful that a young man with a well-balanced combo of emotional intelligence and mental acumen is negotiating the deal, and that he's willing to bring on a team of advisors who he respects and whose advice and counsel he values. The fact that women are part of the team is even more of a poke in the eye to Trump and his cabinet of woman-hating Weinstein wannabes -- and the fact that Freeland is one of them is a poke in the eye to Putin. No, Americans will not allow Canada to dictate policy on "gender issues" or anything else for that matter. Not Americans under Trump anyway. We can speculate all day about whether NAFTA would have even come up as an issue if Hillary was president. But the Americans are turning inward, turning hostile and turning against their few remaining allies in the world.
If NAFTA collapses, no one besides a few trolls who already hate him will blame Trudeau. Canadians know that he is negotiating with an irrational, self-serving nutcase. He has already dispatched ministers to speak to state governors and other local political people. And there's always CETA and APEC. Trade has been a reality since Babylonian times. Globalization of some form has always existed. No country is an island (even if literally so). So what harm can it do for him to stake a claim for doing the right thing?
having a million in the bank is no big deal these days in B.C. it won't even buy you a decent house in greater Vancouver. A. 10:01 Leaving things up to "business" experts is usually how countries get into trouble. all they care about is their business, not the business of the taxpaying voters. Business experts would be ever so happy to hand out tax breaks for foreign corporations as they did in B.C. under the previous "business friendly" government. They so drained the economy in B.C. these "business friendlies" disbanded the RCMP gambling squad so that hundreds of millions were laundered through B.C. casinos and then "invested" in lower mainland real estate. All Harper did was give the Business friendly former premier a cushie job in London.
DeleteWe have seen how business friendly governments handle things in the U.S.A. Just ask the people of Flint, Michigan.
while Harper raked as much back from Veterans as possible Trudeau has implemented cash for families with children who live below the poverty line. I'd rather have Trudeau running the show any day. Spend you bet he is, on children living below the poverty line.
Harper never cared about kids. Just ask the First Nations people. Spent less on Indigenous children than white kids. Harper was a piece of garbage. He is now also a traitor in my opinion. I'm sure Harper is much happier with his racist buddies in the U.S.A.
get help. Your head's in a bubble
DeleteIt's horrible to think what might have happened to this country if Stephen Harper had been prime minister at a time when Donald Trump was president. All Trump would have had to do was squeeze Harper's hand, and our "Great Leader" would have given him everything he wanted. He would also have faithfully defended him,and what was left of Canada's reputation would have been shattered beyond repair. Thank goodness for Justin Trudeau!
ReplyDeleteKeep him and cherish him for as long as you can. Scheer being church buddies with Pence would be just as much of a nightmare.
DeleteHi anon 2:48 pm...yes it is a horrible thought. During his ten awful years in power Harper embarrassed again and again in the eyes of the world. But if he had still been prime minister when Trump came to power, Canadians travelling abroad would have had to wear paper bags over their heads to try to lessen their humiliation, or avoid getting hit by an egg in the face...
DeleteHi anon 3:27 pm...you're right that Scheer and Pence would be an ugly combination, but I honestly believe that Trump is mentally unhinged, so I'd rather take my chances in one of Pence's concentration camps, than try to survive a nuclear war....
DeleteSo Harper's an expert now on NAFTA and Canada/US relations? Bullshit! He's a traitorous idiot, "a no brainer". And on that I "wont take no for an answer." Just like when he thought he could heavy-hand Obama on the pipelines with his dummy diplomacy he proved that he never was ready for the world stage.
ReplyDeleteThe vulgar part in all of this is besides his hatred for JT, I think what really bugs him is that the Liberals are trying to add their progressive priorities to the pact. Of course any white supremacist wouldn't like that eh Steve you big turd.
I would like to thank Benedict Harper for reminding me that he's one of the biggest assholes I've ever known but it's now time for him to STFU.
JD
Hi JD...you're right, it would be hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic. Stephen Harper posing as a Great Economist Leader again, after having left the Canadian economy more dead than alive. But I guess he just couldn't help himself. The letter came out just a few days after the two year anniversary of his humilating defeat, and knowing Harper he must still be smouldering. And yes, the idea that the Liberals would try to make the deal more progressive is enough to drive him crazy. But the good news is that he has reminded Canadians why they were so desperate to throw him out, and we can use that to encourage Canadians not to vote for Scheer and hopefully keep the Cons out of power for at least a generation...
DeleteSo I ask, naïvely, why doesn't some daring writer at the Slop & Pail, woops Globe & Mail, put references to Benedict Harper into his article this coming Monday morning?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous-A
Hi Anonymous-A....the Slop & pail has covered the news story, but I very much doubt we will see an opinion piece written about it. Nor do I expect to see Scheer being asked for his opinion about the behaviour of his mentor Harper. The Con media is out to destroy the Liberals and return the Cons to power, and only if enough Canadians make them pay a heavy price for that will they back off...
DeleteI find this memo of Harper's most reassuring. The memo should never have been released though we probably cannot get charge of treason laid but I interpret the material as an indication that things may be going better than we currently think.
ReplyDeleteHarper has a perfect record of being wrong or making decisions in the international sphere. Actually there may be one relatively minor thing he got right but it escapes me at the moment. So if he says things are not good ....
Hi jrkrideau...well that's one way to look at that story, and it certainly is true that Harper does have the reverse Midas touch. His record as an economist or a statesman was absolutely dismal. His ideology blinded him, and I can't recall a single solitary achievement So yeah, if he thinks the NAFTA negotiations are going badly, they might actually be going better than we imagine. I only hope that he doesn't charge his clients too much for his advice, or he might end up in prison after all, this time charged with fraud...
DeleteHarper Con is my name; king oil consultancy is my game. Kill trade ,education, new technology and manufacturing and replace it with a river of glorious oil sprinkled with some other resources on the side. A glorious vision for a glorious country forged in the likeness of Venezuela, Saudi or Russia.
ReplyDeleteRT
Hi RT....I wish I could find out who Harper's clients are, because quite frankly if they're counting on him to give them a good read on anything, they must be either desperate, really ignorant, or out to lunch. The only job I can see him succeeding at is as a travelling salesman for Mr Lube...
DeleteReminding us that the "napping on NAFTA" memo was addressed to his clients, Lisa Raitt has seemed to suggest that it wasn't intended for exposure to the general public. How thoughtful of both of them.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, the excessive anxiousness that Canadian leaders have always expressed over these deals have made all of them easier to play. Harper's untimely and regrettable contributions to the discussion, as well as those he made earlier this month, can do nought but aggravate that impairment. But what else would we expect from him?
of course Harper issued the memo he did, most likely being paid by the financial/corporate elites in the U.S.A. We do remember his little visit to Vegas to join his good buddy, one of Donnie's backers?
ReplyDeleteHarper has no loyalty, no sense of humanity or the need for social justice. He is just fine if the environment is destroyed. He never cared about Canada's either. There is nothing in his memo which surprises me. Its simply the usual Harper trash.
Freeland has been doing a good job. The federal Liberals did their ground work with the Govenors of all 35 states, which have Canada as their biggest customer. They support NAFTA. Trudeau took the principled stand of saying we would not support a deal which did not include Mexico. As it now stands, Mexico has a future, the U.S.A. not so much. If Trump and his ilk make demands which are not in keeping with Canadian values, incur into our social fabric I'm good with sending NAFTA down the toilet. We can always have NAFTA with Mexico and leave the U.S.A. out of it. Yes, the Canadian economy will take a hit but it will recover.
Those 35 American states do not have the social safety net we do. there will be outrage when those American voters start to loose their jobs and they realize their president is no deal maker. He's a deal looser.
As to Harper being a traitor, of course. He had no loyalty to anyone but himself and his version of his god. his beliefs included the bible was inerrant and the end was coming quickly. Like who can take that man seriously. of course he is very much at home, I am sure, with this fellow religious zealots south of the border. He can stay there.