A year later, that pledge appears to have been broken in some key areas. Future seniors' pensions are being cut. Health-care funding is being curtailed. Environmental controls for energy projects are being loosened.
And thousands of public servants are losing their jobs — which will presumably affect the quality of services given to Canadians — despite Harper's assessment in last year's campaign that the bulk of the "modest" savings could be handled through retirements and "consolidation" of computer systems.
As parliamentarians prepare to mark the one-year anniversary on Wednesday of the Tories' majority victory, there are starkly different views about what Harper has done so far with his mandate.
The Conservatives proudly point to a string of promises that have been kept: passage of the omnibus crime bill; the abolition of the long-gun registry; and the dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board. As well, the government has reached a perimeter security border deal with the United States; and have put a continued emphasis on striking trade deals throughout the world.
Moreover, in his now-famous speech in Davos, Switzerland, this winter, Harper vowed more action.
"Regardless of what direction other western nations may choose, under our government Canada will make the transformations necessary to sustain economic growth, job creation and prosperity now and for the next generation," said the prime minister.
But opposition parties have a different view of the Harper government.
"Their approach is to take Canadians for fools," NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said in an interview with Postmedia News Monday.
Mulcair said Harper's Tories refuse to admit they have broken pledges on medicare and pensions, are obsessed with secrecy, and refuse to allow public debate of important issues.
"They're still not only behaving as they have a minority, they're still behaving as though they were in opposition. They are angry. They're full of recrimination. They act like they're victims and they don't know how to act like statesmen."
Deputy Liberal leader Ralph Goodale said in an interview Monday that the government suffers from a "misinterpretation of its mandate" — forgetting that most Canadians did not vote Conservative— and that its ministers now act with an "attitude of impunity."
"Their behaviour is false bravado every day, it's triumphalism. And that kind of thing is going to lead to bad governance."
Goodale predicted three issues — "deceit" about the real costs of the F-35 military jets; plans to cut seniors pensions; and the continuing robocalls scandal — will ultimately boomerang back to hurt the Tories.
A year ago this week, no one saw these political landmines on the horizon.
Canadians had just witnessed a fierce campaign in which Harper warned voters that the Liberals and New Democrats were plotting to form a coalition government and that Canada's very future hinged on whether the country would elect a "strong, stable, majority Conservative government."
Harper got his wish. The morning after the vote, he appeared at a news conference in Calgary, promising to be "true to the platform."
Harper indicated he wasn't about to move off in a direction that would take the country by surprise.
"We'll always sit down and see how we improve but one thing I have learned in this business is that surprises are generally not well received by the public. So we intend to move forward with what Canadians understand about us and I think with what they are more and more comfortable with."
In fact, Harper has surprised the country with a series of moves.
Among them:
- Pensions
Starting in 2023, the age of eligibility for Old Age Security benefits will gradually increase to 67 from 65. Harper said the changes are needed to ensure the future pension system is financially sustainable, although experts disagree.
- Health care
During the campaign, Harper pledged to continue to increase health-care transfers to provinces by six per cent annually, once a 10-year accord with the provinces expires in 2014. Seven months later, the government stunned the provinces by revealing that, in fact, health-care transfers would only rise by that rate until 2016-17. After that, increases will only be tied to economic growth including inflation.
- Energy projects
Harper's government has embraced the oil sector. The prime minister and his natural resources minister, supporters of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast, have complained that foreign-backed "radicals'' are slowing down regulatory hearings.
Now, the government has unveiled a new regulatory approach for mining, oil and gas projects to ensure ventures get off the ground earlier.
How did these policies emerge from nowhere? Opposition parties say Harper is acting irresponsibly, but the prime minister says he is making tough decisions to put the long-term interests of the nation first.
The first hint of what lay ahead came in a TV interview in late December.
"You know, I've seen too many majority governments — bureaucracy talks them into going to sleep for three years and then they all of a sudden realize they're close to an election. So we've tried to keep busy and we're going to try and keep busy through the whole four years."
One year into its majority mandate, the Harper government is not asleep. What remains unknown is whether it has awoken a groundswell of anger among Canadian voters.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mark Kennedy
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