The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Stphane Dion spoke within a day of each other at the same forum in Toronto: a joint meeting of the Canadian Club and Empire Club. The contrasts in style Ð and substance Ð could not have been more dramatic in this the final, decisive week of an election campaign. On Tuesday, against the backdrop of the most violent economic upheaval in recent memory, Harper offered a stand-pat speech tailored to his blue-chip audience of business executives. The Conservative leader followed up later in a television interview with gratuitous advice for investors, noting with a smile that plunging stock prices are a great buying opportunity. His comments betrayed an absence of empathy and reality. Twenty-four hours later, Dion addressed the same group with a distinctly different tone and a broader target audience. While Harper virtually ignored TorontoÕs needs and OntarioÕs exigencies, Dion spoke directly to all Torontonians and acknowledged the provinceÕs plight. Harper Òis completely out of touch with the impact the current economic turmoil is having on the lives of everyday Canadians,Ó Dion argued. ÒWe worry about our savings, our jobs. For many of us it is more than the worry. It is the hurt, the harm.Ó While Harper cast the Conservatives as prudent stewards of the economy, Dion recalled Finance Minister Jim FlahertyÕs reckless put-down of Ontario as a place to invest: ÒWhat kind of government attacks its own citizens and the economy of its largest province?Ó And while Harper hailed his two-cent cut in the federal excise tax for diesel fuel Ð an eco-hostile $730 million election gimmick Ð Dion restated his 30-day action plan that would summon the countryÕs top economic officials to take stock of the damage. DionÕs plan may appear to be written on the back of an envelope, but it at least signals he is taking the crisis seriously. Energized by his rebound in the polls, Dion reminded Canadians he also has a long-term plan for environmental renewal, the Green Shift. As Dion told the StarÕs editorial board later yesterday, he is the only party leader with a concrete plan to tax pollution and shift the revenues to the fight against poverty. In the election home stretch, Canadians are listening closely to the two major party leaders. Both pleaded their case to Ontarians this week. Based on what they said publicly, only one of them appeared to be listening closely to OntariansÕ concerns.
