29 Replies to “The Evil Dr. Harper”

  1. I would think that the time is ripe to suggest that if there are political parties that don’t want so-called “two tier” citizenship that they are obligated to campaign on ending the practice of allowing dual citizenship.
    If tgey feel so strongly about the government having the power to take away their Canadian citizenship, and international law dictates that no one can be made stateless, then the obvious solution. …to protect their “rights” ….then lets make it so they can only have one citizenship if they want to live here.

  2. I agree with you Joseph but here’s a dilemma: Do you know how difficult it is to renounce American citizenship? And the cost to do so? It’s currently over $2500 in fees to file the paperwork plus possibly huge $ in capital gains if you’re net worth is over $5 million – which might be easy to reach if you own a business and/or property in Vancouver or Toronto. The US requires you to, on paper, value all your assets and pay tax on any capital gains at the time of renouncing. All this is because the US has a ‘cool feature’ of taxing in perpetuity based on citizenship, not residency. I don’t know the rules in other countries regarding giving up citizenship = but for the large number of American dual citizens living in Canada – it’s a significant burden.

  3. This is the kind of stuff explaining why the Conservatives are climbing in the polls.
    Have you notice the CBC are not showing poll results or trends right now? And there has been steadily less polls shown by them and albeit other MSM ever since the French debate (Niqab) and the Munk debate (Citizenship).
    Why CBC not showing National poll trends? Because the Conservatives are winning!
    I hate the CBC. Defund it.

  4. Welcome the “shrieker’s ball” cause Halloween is coming…
    Gee, this reporter questions whether you should allow the ISIS Frankensteins in, or whether they should retain citizenship.
    Media idiocracy in action.
    PM Harper analytical, reasoned and responsible.
    Cheers
    Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
    1st Saint Nicolaas Army
    Army Group ‘True North’

  5. “Fear is a guiding factor for this leader.”
    Amazing. They cherry pick a few responses from Harper, responses to questions that they specifically asked, and come up with that warped assessment.
    But the jokes on them, for Harper’s comments were reasonable and level headed, and I trust most readers would come away thinking that.

  6. Standing all by itself, completely unsupported by anything else in the interview…the absolutely essential, don’t-publish-without-it, entirely (and tiresomely) predictable: “Fear is a guiding factor for this leader.”

  7. Harper did blow it with one response….“Look, it’s not that elite opinion doesn’t matter, and in all matters expert opinion always counts”
    Elite does NOT equal expert. To put the two in one sentence shows a remarkable sense of entitlement that he does not rate.
    He’s a pandering politician, nothing more.

  8. And let’s not forget the top button on his dress shirt…not buttoned.
    Jeezuz, what a monster!

  9. I had a slightly different take on that one, actually: I thought it was a back-handed slap against elite opinion and elite airs of authority and superiority, to wit:
    – elite opinion only counts some of the time (“doesn’t matter” = counts none of the time; “not that elite opinion doesn’t matter” = tepid recognition, as in more than zero, but less than a lot);
    – expert opinion counts all of the time;
    – ergo, elite opinion is not expert opinion, even though the elites think they’re the experts.
    I found the remark rather cutting and funny.

  10. Metro newspaper wanted the Prime Minister to button up his shirt and put on a tie for a free newspaper?
    Why would anyone do this?

  14. “its liberals vs conservatives.”
    Now this should be the classic “no contest”. On one hand, we have an intelligent, dignified, common sense type of guy who has shown true leadership for the past number of years. The other side has a privileged elitist who has no real life experience and whose campaign has been marked by one gaffe after another that even the media can’t cover up completely.
    By all measures, this thing should be as good as over with another Conservative majority … even larger than the last one. However, this is Canada and we can’t discount the liv effect. You can bet your last dollar that the media will pull out all the stops to discredit the Prime Minister for the next couple of weeks. The Liberals’ best hope is to lock Trudeau up in a secret location bound and gagged.

  15. Even for “accidental” Americans, the cost of renouncing their citizenship can be really pricey. Ask Boris Johnson, Mayor of London. He got landed with a nasty tax bill after he sold his London residence for a nice profit. In Canada and – I think – in England, one can sell one’s principal residence and any gain is tax-free. Not so in the USA as, over a certain value and/or profit, the government wants it’s share. And I know long-term Canadian residents who are going through the “do the US taxes and then renounce” bit; they are some steamed at the US government’s overreach.
    Back in the day, there was Tulsequah Chief mine up BC’s west coast. Only basic medical services were provided at the mine; pregnant women were shipped to Juneau, Alaska. So a lot of Canadian babies ended up with dual citizenship. No one worried until the Viet Nam war, when the boys – by now mostly living in other mining towns near the BC – Washington border – began receiving draft notices. Didn’t go over at all well; I suspect most didn’t realize they actually had dual citizenship but – in any case – were not inclined to join the army of a country with which they had no affinity. Suspect they – and their sisters – feel much the same about filing US taxes.
    It must be noted, though, that the US allows all citizens to vote, not just those who are resident in the USA. Fair’s fair: you pay taxes, you get to vote. Totally disagree with the man running against Mr Harper because – having lived outside Canada for more than five years – he doesn’t get a say in how we run our affairs. Very much no tickee, no laundlee. The last thing we need is for all the non-res citizens-of-convenience to have a say in how we in Canada run our affairs, particularly when they have no intention of paying for same.

  16. This is my favourite part of the interview:
    Metro: “We’ve heard you make many comments that don’t seem positive about elites. What do you think has changed them?”
    Harper: “It’s not that elite opinion doesn’t matter. It all matters. Expert opinion always counts. But you cannot govern well, and you cannot govern properly, unless you understand the values and realities of ordinary Canadians. You have the other parties opposing the fact that we now allow the taking way of citizenship from people convicted of terrorist offences. And I listened to the rationales for their positions. And this is elite political correctness on steroids. We can’t have two classes of citizens. What do you mean? We can’t have a class of people who are war criminals and convicted terrorists, as opposed to everyone else.
    ”Our Canadian citizenship means something, and if someone, as we just had recently, someone is convicted of trying to plan the most horrific terrorist plot in Canada —it’s something that if carried off would have created a 9/11 in downtown Toronto — if we can’t take away the citizenship of that person when we’re perfectly able to do so, why, what is it our country stands for, exactly? This is a case where I think you’ve got elite opinion completely divorced to what ordinary people think and understand.”

  18. Free paper I get out of the box some days when I have fish to clean,…total commie, car hating, SJW faggotry.

  19. “Do you know how difficult it is to renounce American citizenship?”
    That’s because in every country the state – not the individual – sets the terms of citizenship. Some countries will recognize a renunciation; some won’t. Iran (like a number of countries) considers you an Iranian citizen for life if you are born there. That’s why Iranian-Canadians who head back to the old country to see Mum and Dad sometimes get into trouble there. Their Canadian passport counts for nothing.
    Dual citizenship seems to be a major bugbear for many SDA commenters. I’m not sure why. If you’re a dual “Canadian/somewhere else” citizen, the only relevant citizenship in Canada is your Canadian one. Your other citizenship offers absolutely no advantage or protection under Canadian law.
    Get over it.

  20. I think the reason that Mulcair’s dual citizenship with France ‘seems to be a major bugbear’ is the symbolism more than anything.
    That little personal addition to his name broadcasts ‘Nation of Quebec elitist’.

  21. “I think the reason that Mulcair’s dual citizenship with France ‘seems to be a major bugbear’ is the symbolism more than anything.
    That little personal addition to his name broadcasts ‘Nation of Quebec elitist’.”
    That’s simply old-fashioned “anti-French-anything” prejudice.
    And since we are clearly talking prejudice rather than common sense here, Mulcair’s French citizenship doesn’t win him any votes in Québec either; French Canadians are no more in thrall to France than English Canadians are to Britain.
    Get over it, mes chers amis et chères amies!

  22. Maybe those 25 to 34-year olds are making proportionately less because they’re STUPIDER than their equivalents in the 1970s. Because they have no detectable ability, talent or discipline to bring to their employers. Because they’re too busy texting, sketching ideas for their next tattoo, or dreaming about the next party to be of any f*cking use in the workplace.
    Just sayin’.

  23. “But would you want to” …. groping for a gotcha. What tools. Harper is the only one who sounds reasonable and realistic. I truly hope he wins. If not, get ready for a lot of misery.

  24. “Dual citizenship seems to be a major bugbear for many SDA commenters. I’m not sure why.”
    Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just because the average Canadian citizen feels that “true allegiance” includes the reasonable notion of undivided loyalty.

  26. Hey I’m usually a voice here for France.
    If he had won the honour of being a French citizen in a battle or by doing something noble for France I would be all for it. In Mulcair’s case it is merely an affectation to show how worldly and sophisticated he is.

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