THUNDER BAY – Are the Conservatives hypocrites? Prime Minister Harper met with the parents of a young girl who committed suicide recently. Commenting on the cyberbullying that led Rehtaeh Parsons to use a belt to hang herself, the Prime Minister said “As a father, it sickens me”.
The video that the Conservatives just released on Justin Trudeau is, in my opinion, a form of cyber-bullying.
In addition, the Conservatives are using tax dollars to print and distribute ‘ten-percenters’ that are attacking Justin Trudeau’s leadership. More bullying.
It is a terrible message to send across Canada and around the world from our Canada.
To be using tax dollars to promote their agenda of anger sends Canadian taxpayers a message that the Conservatives simply are increasingly out of touch with ordinary Canadians, and have become as “Ottawashed” as the Reform Party used to say the federal Liberals were.
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Instead of offering debate on the merits of their policies, the Conservatives have taken, once again to the low road and are attacking the new Liberal leader.
Real leadership means doing things differently.
The Conservatives have their roots in doing politics differently. However the strategy team around the Conservatives, the ones that Ottawa insiders are calling the ‘short pants crew’ are demonstrating their youth.
Perhaps some were using similar approaches in high school and got away with it back then. Now they are offering that style of attitude, and in the case of the ten-percenters, are using tax-dollars to act like bullies.
Sad.
Real leaders offer a positive vision
The approach taken by the Conservatives, if taken by young people putting up videos online attacking a fellow student, or putting up posters in the neighbourhood attacking another young person it is likely police would be called and the Conservative Prime Minister would feel ‘sickened’.
Prime Minister Harper, and likely his wife and children know better. Why the Prime Minister is allowing his party to act like a bully when he is speaking out against bullying is incredible.
Conservative attack ad
Instead of taking the high road, and demonstrating a path forward for young people and all Canadians that Canada can do better, the Conservatives are acting like the very cyberbullies that growing numbers of Canadians are seeing as unacceptable.
If Prime Minister Harper were the leader that Conservatives say he is, he would be attacking Justin Trudeau on the merit of his ideas and on the contrast between the Liberal and Conservative visions for Canada.
“Your actions are speaking so loudly, I can’t hear what you are saying”
The Conservative Party had its roots in the now long dead Reform Party. Few of the principles of Reform appear to remain in the hyper-partisan Conservative Party of today. It is likely that the majority of the team planning and plotting Conservative strategy today were old enough to vote back in the heady days of Reform when Preston Manning and a group of idealistic Western Canadians wanted to fix what was wrong in Ottawa.
The Conservatives in attacking Justin Trudeau are acting like bullies.
Justin Trudeau is taking the high road so far. His response to the Conservatives has been asking Canadians to ‘change the channel’.
Liberals respond to attack ad
Yes, bullies. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said, “The prime minister made it clear (to the family) there is a point where bullying goes beyond youth misbehaving and becomes criminal activity. We need to end cyberbullying”.
If the Conservatives meant it, they would stop the attack ads.
If they don’t they are hypocrites.
The Conservatives in acting like bullies are demonstrating a massive fear of Justin Trudeau. In taking the best punches the Conservatives can throw at him, Trudeau is demonstrating a mastery not unlike he did during his fight against the Prime Minister’s hand picked Senator Patrick Brasseau. Trudeau won that fight, after weeks of verbal attacks.
If Canadians are truly sick of the current state of entitlement in Ottawa under the Conservatives chances are he will win this fight too!
While it is not a criminal offence to use tax dollars like they are, nor are political attack ads, the Conservatives will face a judge and jury. Canadian voters will decide the fate of Prime Minister Harper and the Conservatives.
In the face of their actions not matching their deeds, chances are voters are going to find the Conservatives guilty as charged and sentence them to third party status in the House of Commons.
A sad legacy for a government that promised to do things differently.
James Murray
