In his story, "Justin Trudeau victory is bad news for U.S. conservatives," Kennedy writes that Harper's defeat by the "unprepared, gaffe-prone but well-coiffed" Trudeau was "to the detriment" of Americans and the world at large.
Kennedy suggested "fickle" Canadian voters were ungrateful toward Harper, who helped his country prosper as other countries flailed in the 2008 financial crisis.
Harper's fate is all the more shocking when you consider how well Canada weathered the 2008-2009 financial crisis under his watch. He didn't bail out anyone (except the U.S.-based auto industry), no financial institutions failed and the Canadian economy hummed along [...]
The fickle Canadian voters were tired, though. Tired of the scandals and unforced errors that come with years of unchecked power (Canada's parliamentary system is a unitary executive-legislative branch).
He suggested voters mainly disliked Harper for flirting with American-style politics, which was offensive to Canadian sensibilities.
"In Canada, identity is tied up in a few things (hockey, universal health care) but none more powerful than a genteel anti-Americanism that tinges every political debate in the Great White North," Kennedy observed, going on to criticize the "wing nuts of Canada's left" and "ecowarriors" for fanning opposition to Harper's environmental policies.
Describing Canada as a "conservative wonderland with balanced budgets, increasingly low taxes and a robust foreign policy aimed at taking on terrorists," Kennedy lamented that Trudeau would usher in many changes that run counter to conservative interests.
In addition to pulling out of Iraq and bringing in 25,000 Syrian refugees, Trudeau was also strongly pro-choice on the abortion issue, Kennedy pointed out.
"Although the abortion debate has been 'settled' for a generation by repeated diktats from Canada's uber-leftist Supreme Court, Trudeau has stamped out dissent within his own party over abortion, where a thriving anti-abortion wing once existed," Kennedy wrote.
While Kennedy's analysis was widely circulated on social media, readers had mixed reactions to the CNN writer's analysis, with some wondering if Americans were getting the right information about Canadian politics.
"I hope this is not the only information Americans are getting about our election," one commentator wrote. "Harper served our country and we are happy for his service... Read BBC or CBC if you really would like to know about the sentiments of our country and our decision to vote Trudeau in and vote Harper out. Harper's stance on Aboriginal rights was particularly disturbing to all Canadians."
"This writer has obviously no idea [about] Canadian politics...Go back worrying about your own elections since [the] majority of you will probably be voting Trump. Good luck with that," another wrote.
"What a biased piece. Fickle Canadians? You know nothing of Harper's tactics to split the vote of the other major parties. You fail to mention his last ditch attempt to pick up more conservative voters by appearing with Rob Ford, disgraced former Toronto mayor. The list goes on. Please do like Cruz and go back to the States with your divisive Limbaugh rhetoric."
Original Article
Source: nationalobserver.com/
Author: Jenny Uechi
No comments:
Post a Comment