Poor Stephen Harper! During his visit to the Yukon (apparently here largely as the head of the Conservative party) he thought it was important to reiterate that the Conservatives finally had a majority government, to great applause by the assembled party members who paid $25 each for this “news.”
He then, perhaps through force of habit, went into full election-campaign mode, announcing policies and projects already accomplished and some new ones to come, all the while never missing the chance to vilify the opposition. (No need to be picky, but still ... he said little about major projects still on the back shelf such as a Canadian Arctic icebreaker, the latter a vessel that, hopefully, would not need a Russian or Chinese icebreaker to clear its path!)
Harper never saw fit to spend facetime with the general Yukon public. Perhaps that’s because the vast majority did not vote for his party.
Even a few minutes’ interview by a CBC reporter would have been appropriate. (OK! I realize that idea is a stretch!) It’s perhaps fair to ask if the Conservative party purse should pick up the expensive tab for this visit or at least suggest that the approximately $7,500 raised during the Conservative meeting be turned over to a Yukon charity.
Hopefully, and sooner than later, it will occur to Harper that during his travels in Canada his first obligation is to converse with Canadians. Because Harper still appears to be in election mode. Fundraising for his party should be done separately. Perhaps Elections Canada would agree.
Kenneth de la Barre
Whitehorse