Friday, November 21, 2014
Preston Manning - a traitor to his former conservative self
It would be interesting to know what has caused Preston's about face on conservative principles he so clearly championed as Reform leader. Advocating the use of weasel words to dupe the public into accepting a carbon tax does not sound like the Preston Manning I once voted for. Though we have to acknowledge that he has been spouting the sustainability mantra for several years.
Something happened to bring about his apparently new-found enthusiasms for more taxes, bigger government and Orwellian propaganda. It can't be evidence for the threat of man-made global warming - that has become nothing but weaker over the past two decades. Though since it figures in his push for a disguised carbon tax he's using it exactly as eco and far-left radicals do - as a tool to sell the public on an agenda they wouldn't otherwise support.
So what is it that motivates Preston's uncharacteristic, anti-conservative new stance? Why has he turned traitor to his former principles? "Green" seems to figure strongly. Maybe we should follow the money. Where does the Manning Centre get its green? Maybe it's from Big Green - eg. gigabuck foreign foundations like Tides, Rockefeller, Hewlett, etc.
[Update: Ezra notes that Manning is a member of the Pembina Institute Advisory Council. You can't get much more progressive and radically environmental than Pembina which has links to Tides and the Suzuki Foundation. See also.]
Whatever it is, it's sad.
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7 comments:
The same thing happened to Harper. When Harper got to Ottawa with his majority he declared Quebec an nation within a nation and made sure that they get plenty of Alberta oil revenue to support their massive welfare state. Harper starts off every major political event in French. Harper is Pro-choice. Harper opposes the Death penalty. Harper is soft on crime. Harper support open immigration from Muslim country that support terrorism. Heck our bureaucracy under Harper is HUGE! It's as big as ever.
This is just a few things that I've noticed about Harper when he moved out east amongst all the liberal mentality.
remember Harper's Firewall Paper? I remember a Harper at the University of Calgary who was a strong right winged conservative. Not anymore. It happens to the best of them when they move out east and get infected with liberalism.
I hear so many people coming down on Harper for "losing his ideals" since he got into power, and it gets pretty old. Certainly many of us would like to see him push the conservative ideal on lots of issues. However, does no one realize how fragile his poll numbers are, especially with the media bias in this country, and if he were to force any conservative 'agenda', on any issue, it would all be over? Ya gotta tread lightly in this atmosphere, and he knows it.
As for Manning, I'm at a loss. Last thing I would have expected. Sad.
First comment is wrong. Quebec was declared a nation during the minority years. Now separatism is dead. Harper Gets it done!
As for Manning he's not only become a prog he's trying to teach others. I thought something was weird when he said the Reform uprising was a mistake and that WildRose is also a mistake. Have you ever heard him speak ill of the Alberta PCs in fact?
Anyway the defining characteristic of a progressive is using language people don't understand to give them something they really don't want. Preston is a progressive now.
My Theory is the Manning Center. They exist by donation. My guess is that folks like Mulroney and Joe Clarke dangled some hefty donations in front of him and now the Manning center doesn't have to worry about paying its bills.
Conservatives have lost their way. Harper promised to never run a deficit then ran the largest deficits in Canadian history. You guys were against gay marriage and now you use your majority to avoid talking about it. Harper talks a good game about the military and veterans and then screws them. What unites you is that you hate the Ezra Levant version of the Liberal Party. You've been had.
anonymous 8:03
we do not need Ezra to remind us about the decade of darkness for our military
fhl
I disagree. Being for a clean environment is something many conservatives support. A carbon tax is only left wing if you don't cut taxes elsewhere like Dion's plan. If you ensure the tax cuts elsewhere are equal or greater like BC that is in many ways suitable to conservatism since by changing behaviors you can pay less tax.
Also those who are blindly right wing in Canada are a small minority anyways so being a conservative means being conservative on the majority of issues not necessarily every issue just as being a liberal means being liberal on most issues not every single one. Any party who runs on a blindly ideological platform be it right wing or left wing is unlikely to get over 20% so if you are pragmatist and want to succeed its better to generally support certain principles but also realize no ideology is right all the time and as such look for the best ideas forgetting about the left vs. right label
I'd say that not just "many" but almost all conservatives are in favour of a clean environment. I know of none who are not. However, there is no credible evidence that a "carbon" (a euphemism for CO2) tax will avoid any negative impact on the environment, locally or globally. For one thing CO2 is not "unclean" in any way. It is a colorless, odorless trace gas in the atmosphere and is necessary for healthy plant life.
While BC's carbon tax is ostensibly revenue neutral, for now, it has no environmental impact. But it is not without other wide ranging effect across the province. For example, it is being used as method of bribing municipalities (thru kickbacks) into signing a commitment to implement the government's "Climate Action Plan" (see UN Agenda 21 for clues on what this means). Who knows how other governments will behave. Ontario's current government is not one I'd put a lot of faith in avoiding huge waste and further damage to the economy.
Most conservatives are justifiably wary of "carbon" taxes, seeing them as another extraction of cash from their pockets and further expansion of government into their lives.
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