It's not exactly fair to compair the spending plans with a 2 year term for a minority government with what.. almost a decade of majorities?
You're not screaming about it simply because you don't have a leg to stand on. The Libs military record, like Chretien's war, is something we really should leave for another day.
.. but please bring Mr. Chretien back.
Interesting as Harper's little trip through BC was, he's been doing a lot of these sorts of visits. For example:
$1:
The Stephen Harper the Media Refuses to Talk About
I got some inside information on the PM’s recent visit to the Thunder Bay Superior North riding a couple of weeks ago. For those of you unaware (which is likely most of you since the national press stayed in Ottawa), he came to the town of Nipigon, to announce the creation of a marine protection area for the north shore of Lake Superior, an important environmental announcement. However, more important is a couple of facts:
1) He was the first sitting Prime Minister ever to visit Nipigon. Nipigon is a small town, its economically depressed right now. Their major employer had a major fire last year which essentially closed the facility (local grocery stores here in Thunder Bay took up donations of food to send to the people of Nipigon at the time), and its been a tough road for them. They could have announced it in Thunder Bay, the major center of the region, or in any of the other small towns, but Nipigon was selected precisely because it was neglected by previous federal governments, and had been going through hard times and could use the pick-me-up. It is also worth noting that the Nipigon area is a lot of union folk, and tends to drift towards the NDP, not Conservative.
2) To get to Nipigon he had to travel by motorcade down one of Canada’s worst highways about 100km, this was done over the objections of his security detail, and his planning people who felt it was a waste of his time.
3) When Harper arrived, the kids from a Nipigon school had come out to welcome him with signs, and he directed his motorcade to stop (over the objections of his security detail again), and he spend at least 10 minutes meeting the school kids and talking to them and their teachers.
4) After the announcement was made, there was to be a photo op downtown by the lake, and while he was there Harper noticed a bunch of seniors from a Nipigon nursing home who were out to enjoy the nice weather, they had been bused down to have a couple of hours of fresh air. He decided to go over and introduce himself, and all the seniors were quite tickled to have met the Prime Minister of Canada. During his drive back to Thunder Bay, he delayed his schedule again to stop at the truck stop in Pass Lake, and met some folk there as well.
5) After a meeting regarding economic development in the north and a demonstration of long distance health care services being provided (which is a very important federal initiative which Northern Ontario is a world leader in), he was supposed to go to Kenora for another roundtable on development. The Superior North MP, Joe Commuzzi (CPC now after having been kicked out of the Liberal party for supporting a budget which included 57 Million for an important molecular research facility in the city), convinced the Prime Minister, again over the objections of his security team to divert his flight to Dryden and visit the town for a few hours and talk to leaders there. After arriving at the airport a couple of native children were waiting along the route with signs to welcome him (there was about 12 hours notice of the change in his plans to divert to Dryden), he had his motorcade stop so he could meet them (again against the objections of the security team). Later, as he was leaving, the local school had hundreds of students come with signs to greet him as he went to the airport, and he again stopped and spent a significant amount of time talking to them. One student told Commuzzi that he was never washing his hand again after having shook Harper’s hand (something his parents will no doubt object to).
All in all, the image of Harper as aloof and distant, a policy wonk who cares about control and getting elected is a distortion. The real Stephen Harper is one who is warm and caring, and who goes out of his way to brighten the days of others, and who is really concerned with getting things done for people, and especially people in Northern Ontario.
Comox, like much of BC may be CPC blue but even northern Ontario may still be Grit Red. These trips have little political gravey attached to them but they have huge grassroots impact. I don't recall having a PM making these sorts of trips and I also am sure that Harper is the only PM in Canada to ever have street hockey games on the road infront of the official residence.
CKA Uber 
![[laughat]](./images/smilies/smilie_auslachen.gif "laughing at")
CKA Uber 
