May 20 – Behold the Most Powerful PM Ever
iPolitics.com – Posted on Fri, May 20, 2011, 4:31 am by Lawrence Martin
By historical standards, the Conservative majority that Canadians have elected is a small one. With 103 seats, the NDP has as much representation as any second-place party has ever had.
But to say Stephen Harper’s majority is smallish would be to veer wildly off the mark.
It could be argued that on May 2 Canada elected its most powerful government ever, a juggernaut stronger than the 200-plus seats majorities of John Diefenbaker or Brian Mulroney, a government with fewer obstacles in its path than the heavyweight Liberal governments, a government that could well be here for a three-term or 12-year run.
It sounds farfetched until you examine the infrastructure of power and the control Stephen Harper now has over it. Read more
Jan 15 – John Ivison: Canadians better off even if they don’t feel it
National Post – John Ivison
OTTAWA — Jan. 23 marks the fifth anniversary of Stephen Harper’s 2006 election victory and in early February, he will pass Lester B. Pearson’s time in office to become Canada’s 11th longest-serving Prime Minister. As Mr. Harper told Postmedia News this week, it has been a roller-coaster ride: “Some days it feels like five months, and other days it seems like 50 years.”
The five-year milestone has presented the Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff, with his latest electoral gambit — to ask middle class Canadian families whether they are better off after half a decade of the Harper government? In fact, by almost every pocketbook metric, Canadian families are better off than they were five years ago – even if they don’t feel it. Read more
