Harper Out Of Touch With Canada

Aloof, cold, unapproachable, distant, serious, all those adjectives ascribed to Stephen Harper place him outside of main street. As does his politics. Good thing he has his garret in Ottawa where he can run the country solo. But he should never say he speaks for us or for them.

New poll released that shows Canadians overwhelming support Kyoto's objectives: Prime Minister Stephen Harper has rejected the Kyoto Protocol, an international pact to cut greenhouse emissions that cause global warming, and federal officials suggest their top priority is air and water quality, not climate. McAllister's poll suggests that the great majority of Canadians don't agree with that stance Canadians: Massive Support for Kyoto

Put all the data together, and the SES-Sun poll paints a political landscape that is pocked with major challenges for the Harper government between now and the next election.

First, the war in Afghanistan and, to a lesser degree, Harper’s pro-Israel stance on the conflict in Lebanon, are taking a definitive toll on Conservative popularity, particularly in Quebec where the party has tanked since the spring.

Second, the Conservative communications strategy of making the government “all Harper, all the time” has also turned him into the lightning rod for voter discontent.

Asked what they don’t like about the Harper government, voters didn’t point to Conservative policies, but “his policies.” Steve, it’s time to wake up

Canada's ruling Conservatives are not in a position to win an overall majority in a new federal election, and many voters dislike their tough foreign policy positions, according to two recent opinion polls.

Pollsters Ipsos-Reid, whose survey was published in the National Post newspaper on Saturday, said a tough pro-Israel line appeared to be lowering support for the Conservatives, especially in the French-speaking province of Quebec, where the Conservatives must do well to win an majority. Poll finds aversion for Harper's foreign policy

September 4: Majority (54%) Feel P.M. Was Wrong Not To Attend Recent International AIDS Conference

Canadians seem to have figured out for themselves that Afghanistan could turn out to be a disaster: a Strategic Counsel poll this week found that 55 per cent opposed the military mission in Kandahar, up from 41 per cent in March. Reversing that trend might seem like an obvious step for Stephen Harper. Yet the Prime Minister hasn't made explaining Afghanistan to Canadians much of a priority, beyond his speech on a motion in the House last spring to extend the mission by two years to February 2009 -- a parliamentary ploy that looked more designed to expose a rift in the Liberal party on the issue than to spark serious debate.Bullets fly. Ottawa ducks

Also See:

Harper


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Harper, Ottawa, Canada, Conservatives, Government, PM, PMO, politics, media,

Afghanistan, AIDs, polls, poll, polling, SES, IpsosReid, Sun, Weston, Canadians, Bush, CanadaUS, Lebanon, Israel