The better question may be, what has he done right?
That’s not to say it’s a right/wrong binary, but rather: What has he made better? How has he improved the lives of people living here?
His biggest accomplishment has really been not being Stephen Harper, Andrew Scheer, or Erin O’Toole. And the biggest reason to vote Liberal in the next election is him not being Pierre Poilievre.
Child Benefit, Daycare subsidy 10$ a day, Greener homes grants, Greener home loans, new tax bracket on the rich (twice), home building accelerator funds, huge infrastructure spending, independent senate, supporting trans rights including affirming care benefits for federal workers, women’s healthcare access including pressure on previously restrictive provinces to provide, pension boost from 1/4 to 1/3, GIS increase, rollback Harper’s change to retirement age(OAS) back to 65 from 67, Canada disability benefit, lifted 91 long term water boil advisories, student loan interest cancellation and extended repayment terms.
But anyway he’s done nothing of note, and we should treat him with scorn and derision. It will be especially helpful if that scorn and derision help reenforced the done nothing image the CPC wants to project on Trudeau, and helps elect a Majority CPC government.
I guess. But when assessing the PM tenure, I’m more concerned whether the political landscape was good enough to pass good legislation or not, regardless of who proposes/pushes the most for it. Otherwise I’d end up just assigning almost everything good the Liberals did right as an NDP win (which may be fair but it’s not useful when discussing PMs).
But I see the Liberals as important articulators the NDP can only negotiate with when the Liberals leadership has the social capital to side with progressives. I think they did a good job managing the average Canadian voter-base for a decade, before the pendulum swing inevitably going back to retrogrades.
As someone who was in elementary school under Harper and (obviously) not into politics…can I ask for an abridged version of your view on Harper’s terms and what your biggest complaints were with his leadership?
I’ve done some looking online for a while, but it’s hard to find good retrospectives on his whole stint as prime minister and not old single-issue news articles.
All that comes to mind when I think Harper is:
Islamophobia
some budget problem that caused some kind of short-lived governmental crisis
He converted several social welfare programs to tax credits (meaning people had to have the money up front to participate, and wait for a refund at tax time). He slashed funding to scientific research that didn’t promote his worldview. He fired public researchers for speaking about their research that contradicted his narratives. He sold off the federal wheat pool to foreign interests. He began the country’s push toward a private healthcare system. He slashed funding for social support systems. He changed provincial equalization payments in a way that put extra strain on poorer provinces.
He made things easier for the rich and those from hegemonic social and ethnic groups, while making things harder for the rest. As is the conservative way.
The better question may be, what has he done right?
That’s not to say it’s a right/wrong binary, but rather: What has he made better? How has he improved the lives of people living here?
His biggest accomplishment has really been not being Stephen Harper, Andrew Scheer, or Erin O’Toole. And the biggest reason to vote Liberal in the next election is him not being Pierre Poilievre.
Weed, dental care, capital gain tax, carbon tax, decent COVID response (by western standards)
Can’t say much more because I wasn’t paying attention to canpoli 3y ago
Child Benefit, Daycare subsidy 10$ a day, Greener homes grants, Greener home loans, new tax bracket on the rich (twice), home building accelerator funds, huge infrastructure spending, independent senate, supporting trans rights including affirming care benefits for federal workers, women’s healthcare access including pressure on previously restrictive provinces to provide, pension boost from 1/4 to 1/3, GIS increase, rollback Harper’s change to retirement age(OAS) back to 65 from 67, Canada disability benefit, lifted 91 long term water boil advisories, student loan interest cancellation and extended repayment terms.
But anyway he’s done nothing of note, and we should treat him with scorn and derision. It will be especially helpful if that scorn and derision help reenforced the done nothing image the CPC wants to project on Trudeau, and helps elect a Majority CPC government.
Oh hell yeah, the CCP changes have been good. Great list!
The NDP got dental care through. The Liberals delayed enacting it significantly, and we’ve ended up with unnecessary needs assessments.
But I’ll grant you the rest.
I guess. But when assessing the PM tenure, I’m more concerned whether the political landscape was good enough to pass good legislation or not, regardless of who proposes/pushes the most for it. Otherwise I’d end up just assigning almost everything good the Liberals did right as an NDP win (which may be fair but it’s not useful when discussing PMs).
But I see the Liberals as important articulators the NDP can only negotiate with when the Liberals leadership has the social capital to side with progressives. I think they did a good job managing the average Canadian voter-base for a decade, before the pendulum swing inevitably going back to retrogrades.
As someone who was in elementary school under Harper and (obviously) not into politics…can I ask for an abridged version of your view on Harper’s terms and what your biggest complaints were with his leadership?
I’ve done some looking online for a while, but it’s hard to find good retrospectives on his whole stint as prime minister and not old single-issue news articles.
All that comes to mind when I think Harper is:
He converted several social welfare programs to tax credits (meaning people had to have the money up front to participate, and wait for a refund at tax time). He slashed funding to scientific research that didn’t promote his worldview. He fired public researchers for speaking about their research that contradicted his narratives. He sold off the federal wheat pool to foreign interests. He began the country’s push toward a private healthcare system. He slashed funding for social support systems. He changed provincial equalization payments in a way that put extra strain on poorer provinces.
He made things easier for the rich and those from hegemonic social and ethnic groups, while making things harder for the rest. As is the conservative way.