Quote:
Originally Posted by MrOilers
This is where Harper's opponents are making a huge mistake - they are trying to find something damning about Harper and the Conservatives that would equal the Adscam scandal that damaged the Liberals, but this approach is failing.
So far Harper has stuck to his campaign promises that people care about, such as: abolishing the gun registry, ending the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly in the Western provinces, and adding Parliamentary seats to regions in Canada where increased populations warrant it.
None of these gripes or mini-scandals are big enough for most people to care to change their votes from Conservative to another party.
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Your list of campaign promises that people care about is pretty nonsensical. Those were never major issues, they had little to no affect on the last election, and the few people who were deeply committed are strong partisans who's votes were already locked in. I mean really, the CWB? Those affected are at best split on the decision; those unaffected, the majority of Canadians, couldn't care less; and, the seats in question are generally Conservative fortresses no matter what.
The Conservatives were essentially elected because voters trusted their handling of the economy and public spending. Vague, and illogical, unease about crime helped but it wasn't the major determinant. This scandal will likely have little affect on the way that people think the Conservatives are the best handlers of the economy but it could seriously continue to degrade voter's impression of their trustworthiness to manage public spending in a transparent, fair, and effective manner.
The issue of ethics, an area where the Conservatives once had the public trust but have managed to really piss it away over the last few years, was not hugely important in the last election but it could become so in the future. It was what gave the Conservative's their minority governments after all. Peter MacKay straight up lied to Canadians about the F-35 being the only plane that meets the DoD's requirements. Worse, this is beginning to fit into a continuing narrative. Voters are increasingly losing respect for the government on this file. In my opinion, there is still a strong feeling that the Tories are the best option despite ethical problems but there is a breaking point. If these ethics scandals continue for the next three years (or more guilt is attributed to them, the Robocall issue seems to get worse all the time), then the Conservatives will have a very difficult time convincing enough Canadians that they deserve to govern.
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