Papa Stronach praises Harper
…But to hear Stronach suggest the Harper government is doing well in its early months of federal rule is a surprise.
…“He’s off to a good start,” he allows. “There’s many things, but most of it is on the right track by the government.” Magna’s boss likes the sound of the armed-forces buildup, the tough-love approach to violent crime and the business-friendly tax policy.
…Stronach, you see, is not just another one of the regular business leaders giving the Harper kickoff preliminary high praise.
…Seated in the background whenever the House of Commons cameras zero in on interim Liberal leader Bill Graham can be seen Stronach’s daughter Belinda, the MP for Newmarket and her hometown of Aurora.
…He applies a big caveat to any Conservative seal of approval. Harper should be working on a far-sighted industrial strategy to deal with a future when Canada’s natural resources are exhausted, he says. And Frank Stronach has plenty of ideas on how our tax system should be simplified. “Tell Harper to call me for those,” he says.
…But if Harper can attract even tepid praise from a Stronach after he caused the wealthy family so much friction and political grief, the Harper honeymoon has clearly survived the wedding-night jitters and is moving beyond what was called a same-sects marriage into a lasting relationship.
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Conservative budget and softwood deal get passing grade in Decima poll
…OTTAWA (CP) – A new poll suggests Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government may be winning over Canadians with its budget and its handling of the softwood lumber dispute.
…That offsets negative public views about the government’s policy on Afghanistan casualties and the Conservatives’ relationship with the media.
…The Decima Research survey, said to be accurate within 3.1 percentage points 19 time out of 20, puts Conservative support at 41 per cent nationally, followed by the Liberals at 29 per cent, the NDP at 16 per cent and the Bloc Quebecois at 10.
Tories need to voice bilingualism support: languages commissioner
…OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government needs to start taking the country’s bilingual nature seriously and act to protect it, official languages commissioner Dyane Adam said Tuesday.
…’‘What I want is leadership, and this is a call to action for this government to say publicly where they stand,’’ said Adam on Tuesday, as she released the final annual report of her seven-year stint as commissioner.
…She said the Official Languages Act, adopted nearly 40 years ago, is a central piece of legislation in the country. While she considers it to be a core Canadian value, she noted the concept of bilingualism was nearly invisible in the government’s throne speech and absent from its first budget.
Senate eyes booze tax for funding mental health services
…OTTAWA – The federal government should raise taxes on alcoholic beverages by a ‘‘nickel a drink’’ to finance a 10-year, $500-million national campaign to provide affordable housing, and other services to people suffering from mental illness, a Senate committee recommends in a scathing report entitled Out of the Shadows at Last.
…The report, released Tuesday, is an indictment of what committee chairman Michael Kirby called a confusing, fragmented and under-resourced system that does not reach the two-thirds of Canadians many of whom live on the streets and in prisons who suffer ailments ranging from depression to schizophrenia and who could benefit from professional help.
New UN rights body same as the old
critics: Abusers hold seats…UNITED NATIONS – China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia and Saudi Arabia were elected to the new Human Rights Council at the United Nations yesterday, a development that bore out the misgivings of John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, who warned that the new Human Rights Council may be no more credible than the body it replaces.
…Canada also won a seat on the body Ottawa believes will give the UN a fresh start in human rights monitoring, but the U.S.-based monitoring group Human Rights Watch said the five countries with poor human-rights records should not be sitting in judgment of others.
