With drooping poll numbers, Harper focuses on economy

According to recent polls, the Conservative Party's popularity among Canadians has slipped to its lowest point in four years. The slide has been attributed to outrage over the Tories' decision to scrap the mandatory long-form census.

CTV News Channel: L. Ian Macdonald

The editor-in-chief of Policy Options magazine explains why funding an arena in Quebec City could help win the Conservatives more seats in select ridings, while also saying a political risk exists for the Prime Minister if he takes on the plan.

CTV News Channel: Prime Minister Stephen Harper

The PM focused on the recent successes, including the improving economy, G8 Summit and the Queen's visit when he addressed a summer Tory caucus meeting, despite slipping poll numbers.

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper shakes hands with party members as he arrives to take part in the Conservative summer caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday Aug. 5, 2010. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Thu. Aug. 5 2010 8:58 PM ET

Prime Minister Stephen Harper dismissed fall election rumours and trumpeted his government's economic track record during a caucus speech on Thursday.

The meeting marked Harper's first public appearance in nearly a month. It comes as new polls suggest that his Conservative government is slipping in popularity amid a widening controversy over their decision to ditch the mandatory long-form census.

Wearing glasses and an open-collared shirt, Harper also took the opportunity to volley a shot at his Liberal rival Michael Ignatieff, who has spent the summer touring the country on a bus tour.

"We know there are some in the opposition coalition again threatening an election, but colleagues, that is not what Canadians want," he said.

"Canadians want us to continue to focus on governing and especially, colleagues, they want us to focus on the economy."

With strong applause from the assembled MPs and senators, Harper said that the economy remains his main focus, as the economic recovery appears to be in a state of flux.

"Canadian solutions are leading the way globally," said Harper, likely referring to the growing clout of Canadian banks, which have managed to dodge much of the disarray plaguing the financial sector for the past two years.

Some pundits had speculated that Harper, who was enjoying a hefty lead in the polls a few months ago, might coast through the summer and then drop a snap election in the fall in a bid to secure an elusive majority government.

But it appears that Harper's fortunes have dipped recently, given the furor surrounding the government's decision to get rid of the mandatory long-form census.

While Industry Minister Tony Clement has mounted a public relations campaign to defend the census decision, his efforts have been swamped by media attention focusing on the form's importance in gleaning reliable demographic data.

The Conservatives and the Liberals are currently locked in a virtual tie, with both parties floating around the 30 per cent mark, according to a recent Ekos poll.

Though Harper has apparently been away from the public for much of the summer so far, he will launch his own cross-Canada tour later this month. It's expected that Harper will focus on the economy during the tour.

With a report from The Canadian Press

Comments are now closed for this story

Bruce from Alberta
said

Problem with people is they don�t understand the world. The bigger the city and longer they have been there the less they know, other than their little realm. You want a census form asking personal questions about yourself and if you don�t answer them you go to jail? Are you guys serious, you really want the government to know everything about you? Fighter jets, yes they are very useless, it�s not like Canada goes to war or anything well accept of course the Boer War, World War I, World War II, The Korean War and The current War on Terrorism.Anyways go back to your bubble city folk. Hope you vote in a new government that tells you how much carbon you can use, tells you how much sugar and salt you can eat, tells you if you can have kids or not and knows everything about you. And I hope I�m dead by the time it happens.

Steve
said

@ Kevin B My friend you are in dreamland & didn't read the poll, conservatives at 29.7%, There's a good chance Harper won't even get a minority.

Michael Van
said

What a joke. In the same article, the journalist gives cred to voluntary polls and then complains about the cons move to make the long form voluntary. You can't have it both ways. What a load.

Bee
said

I'm with Stacy... let's put the corrupt politicians, lawyers, judges, and cops in jail and restore at least some liberty.

beentheredonethat
said

Keep Dreaming we will end up with the same result. I don't think there is a better person available to run the country right now. Unless you have seen how full the prison are your how do you assume that we don't need more prisons. If you want the number to fall in prison let get some real punishments for violent crimes then. The public has no Idea!

Stacy
said

I know who we can put in the empty prisons, how about the Liberals who stole our tax payer money, then, we can audit every member of parliament both federally and provincially for tax money theft and throw them in jail, then we can start with dirty judges and lawyers.Also, all of you people pushing Liberals and talking about Paul Martin, your right, he was an amazing finance minister, it is too bad your dirty bird Jean put the screws to him and left him the rotting house. Seriously, the first party to state financial reform and start the control of massive corporations that are destroying our world, through the book at criminals is going to get my vote.

SpenBC
said

I love it. Weeks of chatter about the census, and the Liberal waiting with baited breath to see what the PM will say to their "withering" critique of his government and he ignores them completely. Does not give them an ounce of credence! And they squeal in disgust at not being able to bring him to heel. That's why I vote for the man. He will not be cowed by the left or their press. What they consider important he does not. Instead he focuses on what as PM he thinks matters most to Canadians and leaves the press flabbergasted. Love It!

simon
said

""With drooping poll numbers, Harper focuses on economy"" Harper is more concerned, more focused, more driven, more motivated by His Own POLL NUMBERS.This is very very clear, CRYSTAL!!!And he has already shot himself in the foot with the economy. Sure the economy is not as sound as it can be, but recently this government has been spending like a drunken sailor!!!!!

Tom
said

The real headline Harper focuses drooping poll numbers, economy sliding.

Sanjeev
said

What Mr Harper should be focusing on is Job Creation . It would be a joke to have another election at Tax Payers cost.
This country needs to find a suitable alternative to Conservatives or Liberals. About time

Damon
said

Martin was great for Canada. No matter what whining is done, you can't take away being the envy of the world economically, large surpluses and debt reduction, that's how its done. It wasn't done perfectly but we wouldn't be where we are today without the Libs hard work.Not sure if focusing on the economy is a great idea for Steve. All he did was spend all the money and ride the wave. Sure we needed the conservatives to "spend" our way out of the economic issues, 50 Billion deficit is still pretty rough.

Chris
said

Until we rid this country of socialism and its ideals, I will continue to support the conservatives. If the Fiberals had a competent leader and got back to more of a CENTER political party that can get rid of all special interest funding and get rid of useless social programs (except for the basics HEALTHCARE, WELFARE, and CHILD CARE), then I would vote for them. Until then, the BEST party for the job is the CONSERVATIVES.

Unreported Name
said

"We know there are some in the opposition coalition again threatening an election, but colleagues, that is not what Canadians want," Harper said. LOCK THEM UP FOR THIS UNREPORTED CRIME!

Dr. James Bradford
said

Several people I have talked to recently commented on the overwhelming push by the media to try and denounce the Prime Minister and his government on all fronts. Clearly the left media is trying hard to paint the government as incompetent. (Is this the Ekos Research - Frank Graves "Culture Wars" he suggested to the Liberals at work in the media perhaps?) The truth is the Prime Minister has done a commendable job in the face of horrendous global economic headwinds and anyone who thinks hard working Canadians who understand how life really works are going to suddenly endorse a lame duck leaderless Liberal party who lost their compass back in 1998 need their collective heads examined. Canadians would MUCH rather maintain the status quo than turn our finances over to the same gang of Liberal MP's that stole us blind with Adscam and now hope we've forgotten about all their past corruptible ways. Sorry lefties, some of us Canadians have a long memory and we don't trust your wacky Liberals.

Spence in Ontario
said

Wooooo... scary.... the opposition coalition......woooo.... not. Someone needs to give Harper vocabulary lessons if those two words are all he can think up to along with 'no one wants an election' to attack the opposing parties with.

joe
said

I see the census as a non issue with the vast majority of Canadians.
While it may be a great tool, most do not connect the census to anything of value.

That in itself is a sad reality.

Not sure if any election would change anything, perhaps the value of the minority is the middle ground without the extreme....

Winnie
said

Keep up the good work Mr Harper and your MP's are great, working for Canada and Canadians, not themselves as the Liberals do and did. Nice to see all the road work going on, new pavement boy that is great, not potholes etc as in the Chretiet era,tht's how he saved money but boy our we paying for it now.. No election sounds great to me, another one now is a waste of money, but would be good news for the media, something for them to chew on, then they woun't have to make it up.. I thinks they don't care much for Canadians either, like Liberals.You will have my vote for good and the economy looks good etc , I like your style and inteliigence and diplomacy and getting the job done attitude. keep it up, our Country needs you.

Kevin B
said

Maybe dropping Conservative poll numbers and rising Liberal ones will be the trigger needed for the Liberals to pull the plug and have a go. I think the Conservatives would dearly love them to do so.

Next election prediction:

CPC 39.3%
Lib 26.4%
NDP 16.9%
BQ 9.3%
Grn 6.6%
Oth 1.5%

The next election will be a choice between a Conservative government, or a coalition Lib-NDP-BQ government. Conservatives win everytime in that scenario.

Donnie Brasco
said

Bye Bye Harper! Don't let the door smack you on your way out! You've divided this country, put us in the hole and we can't wait to see your party on the other side of the House where you belong.

Chris
said

The long-form census may be a "non-issue" to most Canadians, but it seems that various demographics and Canadians in general have a respect for reliable data that has been consistent for generations. Their concern is more for the ongoing deterioration of the Canada they know.

Chris
said

Funny how the media is always 'biased' when you don't like what they're printing.

SJH
said

The long form census is a non issue to 99.9% of vacationing Canadians. The lieberal media is just spinning things against Harper and the Conservatives and that is unfair. Good luck with jiggy iggy at the helm for that next election.

Tono
said

It isn't as though any of the big parties right now are really listening to Canadians - membership is increasing for smaller and more stimulating parties, like the Christian Heritage Party, the Progressive Canadian Party, and the Canadian Action Party.

archie , regina
said

For those who consider the census data not important.
A group you are concerned about applies for federal funding.
The application is turned down. Reason given: you do not have the statistics necessary to back-up the claim need for funding. Neat way to reduce government spending.

allan
said

We are involved ina war with young Canadians dying, we have a fragile economic situation, we have health care tasks ahead of us, and the bobbly headed liberals and media spend their time talking about a census form! We truly have no opposition parties in Canada worth while voting for.

Adam
said

Keep up the great work Mr. Harper. You have respect on the international level now especially.For the first time in many years I am proud of Canadian leadership.

MARG MM
said

The Liberal "worker bees" all buzzing about Paul Martin once again. Too bad you can't face the truth about his so-called balanced budgets. These same Liberals are not about policy or anything else that is good for Canadians, all they can muster is more PM Harper hating and the "whatever the Conservatives do I'm against it" mentality. You're beginning to sound more like the NDP every day. I love living in Canada things are good, and those of you that "hate" it so much, feel free to leave. Of course you won't, your lives would be nothing unless you are whining and complaining. Give it a rest, enjoy your summer, and when the Liberals get their act together( if ever) and actually have the guts to bring down the Government, then feel free to cast your votes and let the chips fall where they may. It is your precious Liberals that have been proping up the Conservative Government even though they whine and complain about every piece of legislation that they end up supporting. Go figure!!!!!

100% Canadian
said

Hurray for the PC's, the country hasn't been on better track since the Libs were defeated!!!!!

If the election engine starts up again, they will only WIN AGAIN!!!!Read em and weep till the cows come home LIB's hahaha..

Bring it on Mr. Harper.....the right man for the job #1....

A Fox
said

Paul Martin? Great finances? Just took from Peter (EI, transfer payments, etc) to pay Paul. Nifty accounting if you can get away with it. Notice how all other taxes went up (province, municipalities) and services went down (health). Not to mention the things that were ignored altogether (military). In London, he will be looking to see what can be transferred into general revenue (anything that has a surplus!)Another thing, there is a reason we need more prisons. Have you not noticed how many sentences are reduced to time served, or 2 for 1, because of overcrowding? You do the crime, you do the time. I behave, why shouldn't you?

bb
said

This Canadian wants an election.

Gerry
said

What, he thinks we're going to focus on the economy without the census? Why would we ever believe what the Conservatives have to say? What is their basis for anything if they don't value data?

Elizabeth Carroll
said

Let's see. He got rid of Helena G, not that he shouldn't have, but when he did, it was for 'serious accusations', blah, blah, blah. He took the word of some sleeze private investigator. OMG. Nothing has turned up. He owes her an apology on those grounds. Should he have fired her before? Absolutely. He perogued government again!! He not only changed the long form census but made it optional. Let me see if I'm going to fill it out now. Um, no. and that bs about the jail sentence. What a lot of hui!! And furthermore, what about consulting anyone, other than your inner circle. You know, Iggy is looking better all the time. Hope he comes to my town for a bbq! Where have you been all summer?

Cheers Just lost my vote

Mar
said

Stu, the other parties don't have any better percentages so what will an election accomplish? I really cannot understand why the other parties keep plugging the stat that 70% of Canadians (or whatever it is at the time) don't approve of Harper, well, no other SINGLE party has any higher percentage, so what are you trying to get at? Your own party has less, so aren't you saying your own party is even less popular than the existing government, and since you despise Harper, what does that say about your leader? And, many past liberal governments have had that percentage or less and are still the government, so its only ok for the liberals but not the conservatives? When will people in this country demand that ALL of our politicians work together and for us instead of trying to continue to seperate us and promote the bickering. Enough all ready, time for the kids to play along and do what is actually best for Canada, and that means all the kids.

whitewolf
said

If the liberals would get a proper leader they would get elected, they better decide what to do or remain in opposition

Elizabeth
said

Chris is right. Is not about the Census, is about the general unpredictability of Harper's government. Is hard to figure what they will come up with tomorrow.

DLM
said

It doesn't matter what the Liberals have accomplished in the past, they have nothing going for them right now.. They can't even decide on a decent leader, Dion and Ignatieff.. forget about it

whitewolf
said

the last time Harper focused on the economy he decided to put us 80 billion in the hole

he and his incompetent bs ministers are scary dudes and dudesses

Alethia1
said

Oh, and btw with the US defict this year at 1.4 trillion dollars, that would anticipate a left wing government to have a *deficit* of 140 billion on a per capita basis.

What is the deficit this year? I heard it was lower than projected at around 40b.

So when it comes to spending, the Conservative spending is far less than other places around the world: Especially the US.

AC1986
said

Of course Stevie doesn't want an election, he's down in the polls. Two weeks ago it was all they could hope for.If Canadians don't want an election, too bad. IF they want to be juvenile and spite the party that causes one just because they are too lazy togo out and do their democratic duty, then they can suffer the consequences of being childish. Something tells me most Canadians are willing to be responsible about their government.

rhyland
said

how can the cons take credit for this? the previous government is responsible for the strength of our banking institutions. The real reason that we are leading the way is because of people like you and i who worked hard, and didn't let the doom and gloom stories from the experts get us down. How can the cons take credit, they preach fiscal retraint, yet do the opposite, G 20- G 8 , fake lake, and I think people are a little tired of the cons " we'll do whatever we want, doesn't matter what the public wants " attitude. and then we have shorny, helena, ( will we ever know the truth ) census form, mystery crime numbers, billions on planes, prisons, the list keeps getting longer, and I for one and fed up. Time for a change

dusty - ottawa
said

It's amazing, when Harper comes on with an explanation about the Economy, his Party Standing or any other issues, all I see here is the usual bunch of Whiners, that have absolutely nothing else to do but use the opportunity to attack him. You Whiners are all forgetting that without the deficit we are running now, the country would have been in complete disarray. Harper made a drastic decision to inject money into the economy to keep Canada afloat, and we are faring much better than any other country in the WORLD..When all of you whiners and Election inviters, think properly, just remember the cost of an Election at $600 MILLION dollars more added to the current deficit, then see if an election is warranted, only to have him Highly Returned to power, i will be one one first to vote for him. The rest of you people, at Election Time, GET OUT AND VOTE, and stop complaining.

Mark, Vancouver
said

Like everyone commenting here - we all know why the banks and the general economy are in good shape is because of Paul Martin and the Liberals' policies that are making us look good. Perhaps Harper, Stockwell, and the other evangelists will show their real colours before the Reform/Cons call a vote just to show Canadians what we will get if they are elected. It will be most interesting when they speak in tongues during debates in Parliament.

Concerned17
said

I am ready for an election. Let's get rid of the Liberals. They just sour the situation with their empty promises.

Government is about either "Business" or "Politics". Nobody will change the Business part (no matter who gets elected). The Politics part is open to discussion and interpretation for a while. This may change from time to time - however, Business will dominate in any decision!

PV
said

Well, if you start building more jails to house Canadians for non-crimes (or maybe they plan to invent some new ones) that doesn't help much. I voted for Harper twice, but the direction his gov is taking with this so-called "fight against crime" and putting naked body scanners in airports (would you let the police come to your house, strip you down and take naked photos of your family and kids?) has me looking for a better alternative (but definitely not the Liberals, NDP, or Green party who want to tax us for every breath we take based on dishonest scientific data).

hank
said

"It's the economy, stupid!" goes the old saying. But why are we complaining? Harper is spending the money on new jets, (billions) extra forms for a census(millions), jails (millions and millions).Doesn't that count? Not in my book, for sure

Melanie Terrace,BC
said

Good post Northern Princess. I hope you don't get discoraged by those "Liberal" posts. Most of them are by the same people every day, and almost all are extremely bias no matter what the issue,or how good the news is. I suspect most are paid members,or volunteers working to elect another Liberal travesty for Canadians to carry on their already tired shoulders. Oddly,though,while Liberals are busy trying to ipress us with how necessary the census statistics are,every time we seee positive news from Stats Canada,those same people rise up to angrily shout that they don't trust the numbers. I am not a big fan of this government. But since the Liberals offer no policies which I can support, or actually,no policies at all,I hope they don;t get elected before they come uo with some answers. A minority Conservative government is fine for this resident of BC. I wold be happy with a Conservative majority,but onlky if the extra MP's elected to get there were from eastern Canada, and brought a bit more PC attitude to offset the Reformers. Harper himskef suggested that the Conservatives would need to moderate some of their poicies to a more " progressive" nature if they wanted a majority.I hope Ontario and the rest of Canada can elect people who will help him get that done.But please,NO MORE LIBERALS FOR WESTERN CANADA.They sold us out to many times to be trusted again any time soon.

Brad A
said

I miss Canada. Bring back the liberals.

Dan from Nothern Ont
said

Next week Iggy opens his mouth and we're back to square one in the polls.

Jim
said

Promoting Canada globally, while ignoring Canada domestically.

danRVancouver
said

Just remember, knee-jerks:

less Harper doesn't HAVE to mean more Ignatieff.

He and his US State-department closet co-worker Rae are on the same page about Afghanistan: keep a training-presence there. That means Taliban moles walking in for either:

1, free operations lessons they can share with their friends in the mountains and villages, or

2. blow up Canadian training-sessions.

Think.

skhan
said

what's one thing that sells more than sex? Fear.. Harper is going to go on a fear mongering trip. Be very afraid Canandians, keep letting this deceptive guy make decisions on your behalf.

Northern Princess
said

Wow, the Liberals are out in full force here. Well guess what, I was a Liberal for a long time and yes they had a huge profit but have none of you noticed why? Well they cut tax dollars on so many things that many things fell apart. The military was the first one to be hugely cut from equipment but the Liberals still sent our troops to Afghanistan. Try and do your job with old, unmaintained equipment or whatever else they needed. So yes, Mr. Harper has to spend. To get everything up to par again. I'm for basically all that he's done so far. More prisons, yes! Stricter laws on lobbyists, yes! More for the military (even though there are so many so called experts here on this blog that have no idea what they are talking about), yes! Go for it Mr. Harper! Our economy is the best in the world and we're able to stand up with the big boys as a strong Country wirh an extremely great history. You have my vote anytime there will be an election. Hope its soon! And one in Ontario too while there at it. McGuinty will be off my list for sure.As for the Media. Please report stories objectively instead of reporting stories with a twist. If you're reporting news, then do it without showing your leniancy towards the party you may be supporting. Objectivity is supposedly the main oath that reporters have to take when becoming journalists. The people are smart enough to make up their own minds without having stories manipulating them. At least, I am.

Dave
said

""Prime Minister Stephen Harper has told his party's annual summer caucus meeting that Canadian solutions are "leading the way globally" on financial regulation, economic stimulus and deficit reduction." Harper is a hypocrite. He should thank the Liberals for financial regulation - if harper would have had his way, Canada would have followed the U.S. in an economic meltdown. The only economic stimulus Harper is responsible for is using taxpayer dollars to pay for propaganda on behalf of his party. Deficit reduction? The reform/crap/alliance cons have been spending like drunken sailors and are responsible for the largest deficit ever! NO gold star for you Harper. Go sit in the corner with your dunce hat on.

Wendy
said

It's hard to be a proud Canadian when your government is destroying everything that you love about Canada. The UK has asked for Paul Martins guidance with their economy. It's nice to see Martins bank policies recognized around the world. Next Harper will be telling us Canada is doing much better than we think, because of all the unreported income.

Daryn
said

I am ready for an election. Let's get rid of these ideologues.

Bruce
said

What everyone doesn't seem to understand is that Harper's government did nothing for the economy (except behaps to burden it with a huge unecessary debt and deficit through grandstanding political spending which was done mostly in Conservative ridings). Canada came through this becuase our economy is built on a much stronger foundation (i.e. our banking system) than that of our G8 and G20 conterparts. Thank you forefathers for having the wisdom of forethought.

Brian Fr Langley
said

For all you folks itching for an election, it's a virtual certainty we'll get another Conservative minority. Unless of course the Liberals betray Canadians and form a coalition that includes the Bloc. If that happens you can forget about Quebec seperatists, what will happen in the west will make that pale by comparison. Remember you heard it here first

James T
said

Like all Sith, this apprentice is adept at standing in the shadows until its time to strike. Darth Sweater Vest has always had a plan. The apparently gross mistakes over the crime & prision bills, as well as the census, are calculated. Within the next few weeks there will be a cabinet shuffle, and some who could have threaten his position should he lose yet another election, will see their status change. He stayed out of the light while these stupidities were trotted out so that he wouldn't get the smell on his dark robes.

Bob,Calgary,Alberta
said

My goodness, it's summer and the living is easy but still the Liberal gang trot out the old rhetoric about how the Liberals were such good stewards of the economy (they forget to mention the $500MM penalty old Chretien had to fork out for cancelled helicopters, the sponsorship robbery,the Kyoto fiasco etc.) I personally don't see any need for an election to elect another minority Conservative government that will face the same old, same old from the silly Liberals and the horde of social workers, union leaders,university professors,tree huggers that form the NDP caucus. Canada seems to be doing fine, our soldiers are being properly supplied, Quebec is reasonably quiet. our finances are improving. Does anyone really think the Liberals could do any better??

bellainottawa
said

He's certainly has aged since he's been incognito for a month eh?

Mary
said

The rest of the world likes Canada's financial situation & the UK government is consulting Paul Martin? They didn't ask Harper for any advice because they know the facts, our economy is trong because of past liberal governments & the policies they introduced. Harper tried to deregulate our banks like the US. Thank goodness for the liberals.

Red Riding Hood
said

The Harper farewell tour begins!

Gareth Hitchings
said

He made exactly the same comments last year. He asked us to take a look at his record, so lets do that: Biggest deficit in history....Billions for Jets with nothing to shoot at.Billions for Helicopters that don't work. Billions for Prisons with nobody to put in them. Billions for Fake Lake photo ops. Billions for Wars that cannot be won.I don't think Harper ever saw a hole he didn't want to throw some tax-payers money into. He's the most prolific spender in our history and with it, he has squandered our future...

BCDarr
said

It's funny how Harper assures us that 'Canadians' never want an election when the Conservative numbers are down. And suddenly he uses words like 'coalition'. I'm sure he'll haul out 'cost of election' as well. It's all spin with this government. Words not actions. As a Canadian voter I can tell you I most certainly DO want an election. The sooner the better. Preferably before another G20 summit.

Stu
said

Harper needs to focus on stepping down, that's what Canadians want, look at the polls, the cons are polling under 30%. Canada's economy will do better if Harper steps down, past liberal policies have carried us through the financial crisis. Harper continues to destroy Canada with drunken sailor type spending.

steve campbell
said

Harper has got it all wrong AGAIN. canadians are itching for an election.

Harper has to go!
said

Most of his time in office Harper has been quietly biding his time, recently (and whenever he's tried) he's been rolling out an agenda which hasn't been advertised or articulated. And probably for good reason. The actual Conservative agenda is a sour pill for Canadians -- if he'd had a majority we'd all be forced to choke on it.

Steve
said

According to recent announcements Harper is working on dragging our economy down with billions in wasteful government spending. Building prisons for unreported crimes, scrapping the census & replacing it with a census that will cost more & give us inaccurate stats. Harper is spend, spend, spend, he's single handedly created the largest deficit in Canadian history. The opposition parties agreed to 13 billion in stimulus spending, Harper spent 49 billion on top of the 13 billion surplus the liberals had left him. This madness has to stop, we need an election now, this fascist dictator has to go.

Chris
said

The census is a non-issue to 99% of Canadians but the famously biased Canadian media just won't accept that fact, continuing to try and whip up a "storm" on the subject in the hopes that it will negatively impact the Conservative government. Why don't you guys give it a rest? The tactic didn't work with the Afghan "detainee issue" (Canadians could care less), and it isn't going to work here. Short term poll numbers are very unreliable and no one is paying attention to them.

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