Conservative Leader Stephen Harper delivered a speech in Montreal to a secret ultra-right-wing American think tank, the Council for National Policy (CNP), in which he denounced Canada as a “Northern welfare state in the worst sense of the term.”
“Your country, and particularly your conservative movement is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world,” Harper told the American audience in his June 1997 speech.
Yesterday, a spokesperson for Mr. Harper tried to excuse this piece of his history, saying it was intended to be “tongue-in-cheek.” This is simply not credible, given the serious topic and the audience he addressed.
Mr. Harper’s speech, billed as a discussion of “Developments in Canada’s Political System,” not only disparaged every major political party, but also universal medicare, women’s rights, the unemployed and francophone Canadians.
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This is very serious. These are the words and views of a man who aspires to be Prime Minister of Canada in 40 days. And this is the way he describes our country to a gathering of Americans.
Even more alarming is that Mr. Harper’s comments were never meant to be made public. They were made to a secret ultra-right organization composed of U.S. conservative leaders, financiers and religious right activists. Founded in 1981 by three Texas conservative millionaires, the group meets three times annually with council meetings closed to the public and off-limits to the media.
http://www.liberal.ca/news_e.aspx?id=11254
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