A Victory Lap: Canada's First Year Under Tory Majority.

AuthorAbrahamson, James L.

Text:

A Victory Lap: Canada's First Year Under Tory Majority

by David T. Jones

http://www.fpri.org/enotes/2012/201207.jones.canada.html

Reviewed by James L. Abrahamson, contributing editor

David Jones, retired Foreign Service Officer and former U.S. Minister Counselor of Political Affairs in Ottawa, offers readers a broad assessment of Canadian politics during the Conservative (Tory) Party's first year in office upon obtaining a parliamentary majority following five years of minority government and even more years in the political wilderness.

Even though the Canadian west and Quebec have begun to "bubble," Canada avoided the worst of the Great Recession, and the public has come to accept--though not love--Prime Minister Stephen Harper as the country's leader as well as the Tory Party's efforts to reduce spending and downsize government. That said, omnibus bills, the end of the long-gun registry, a tough crime bill, a more restrictive immigration policy, and rough treatment of political opponents have created both support and ill will and given Harper's party a "mean spirited edge." His is not yet a "kinder/gentler" government.

Even so, Harper should remain comfortably in office until the elections due in 2015. His Liberal Party opponents are in "profound disarray." Though the New Democratic Party (NDP), led by the able Thomas Mulcair, has become the "Official Opposition," he personally is regarded as...

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