There are two ways for the Canadian media to deal with the success of Prime Minister Stephen Harper – grudging admiration or venomous hatred. Let’s slot Michael Byers in that latter category.
The Ottawa Citizen labels his November 2 column as an example of ‘Harper Hatred‘. Byers obviously sees the Prime Minister as some kind of national threat. The mission therefore is to get rid of the Conservatives. The only way to accomplish that objective is to unite the left. So forget good policies and trying to figure out what Canada really needs. It’s still all about the power, ideology and fear-mongering for Byers:
…The chances of the Liberals forming government appear to have slipped away. The future of the country is in the balance. Whether we like it or not, the parties of the progressive centre have reached a decision point.
Will we let an outdated electoral system deliver a majority Conservative government on the basis of the preferences of less than 40 per cent of voters – and less than 25 per cent of those Canadians who are eligible to vote?
Or will we seize the moment, pull together, and put the country back on course?
The Citizen calls him on out it:
...In media interviews, Byers suggests that a Conservative majority would be a tragedy for Canada. Basically apocalyptic. The end of our country as we know it, he seems to think. Now the Citizen’s editorial board has been as critical of Harper as anyone, but Byers’ fearmongering is so over the top that you expect him any moment to come out and call for the Conservative party to be outlawed…
(Yeah well, he’s not the first to suggest that.)
By way of contrast we see that Lawrence Martin at least attempts to conceal his contempt for all things Conservative and instead focuses on Stephen Harper’s gift of political acumen:
…Harper’s conservatism is making Canadians feel good, or at least not dismayed, about what’s going on. He’s been lucky, helped along by the ineptitude of the Liberals. But in part, it’s been the prime minister’s craftiness that has made them appear that way….
But in the real world I sense that Canadians are by and large quite content with the way Prime Minister Harper has been competently managing the economy and other crises such as H1N1. (H/T Mary T)
People are not marching in the streets. There is no call to ‘throw the bums out’.
Rather than attempting to take down the Conservatives with desperate columns like Byers’, the Canadian media might try suggesting that the opposition parties try a little introspection and come up with a better vision of Canada – one that the average Canadian can relate to.
Of course, Stephen Harper is already doing that. So the best his enemies can hope for is that he stoop to their level of insults and anger.
But lately he has managed to stay above the fray. I strongly urge him to remain there.
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Update:
Dear Tommy Clark: It’s Peter Braid, not Bain. Did you not think that was a coincidence? Was that intentional or just another amateur-hour goof?
P.S. Memo to Peter: Total class. Well done.
