Stephen Harper, my first annual report card

As we approach the first anniversary of the 2008 federal election, I decided to give my report card of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's performance over the past 12 months. I gave him a B+. Because his government nearly fell out of the starting gate, I can't give him an A. When I first saw on TV that they intended to pull federal subsidies of the political parties, I laughed out loud. "They aren't going to like this" I said to myself. Then we found out that Layton had already negotiated terms on a power grabbing treaty with Duceppe and all they needed to do was twist Dion's rubber arm.



Pundits such as Chantal Hebert have decried the PM's handling of this issue and point to it as his biggest mistake. I don't think an "At Issue Panel" goes by where Chantal doesn't mention Harper's response to the Coalition crisis, a Coalition that she was very much in favour of. But nearly a year removed from the debacle, I'm starting to see that it may have been a brilliant tactical move. Did the PMO have a reasonable expectation that the above handshake may take place if he pulled the party funding? He might have used Stephan Dion's immense unpopularity as a tool to permanently poison the idea of a left wing coalition government. The Liberals are scared to even mention the word "coalition". When you run the numbers, a coalition between Liberals and the NDP are the only way that the Liberals will attain governing power in the near term. Sometimes they say the best defense is a good offense.

Continuing down the list, because he bought shares of GM with taxpayer money, I can't give him an A. I realize that it was politically necessary, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I was not happy with the size of the stimulus package, but I realize that the figure was reached in order to find compromise with the opposition to which we are beholden.

On the foreign file, where Iggy Pop says he is embarrassing us abroad, I happen to agree with about 95% of Prime Minister Harper's foreign policy positions. I thought it was fantastic that he boycotted Iran at the UN, and the dual press conference that he gave with Obama was phenomenal. Obama "sans teleprompter" was stumbling and mumbling through vague, convoluted answers. The Prime Minister was as sharp as ever, and gave a far better performance than his American counterpart.

The one subject where I will give the Prime Minister an A+ is on our economic recovery. There are still some potential hazards on the horizon, but when you run the numbers, we are coming out of this mess in a safe and responsible manner. I don't think Mike Ignatieff reads the Financial Post before scripting his daily diatribes in the House of Commons. But as he never speaks of anything substantive, resorting to "the sky is falling" hyperbole; people don't buy the rhetoric because it is flatly incorrect.

I understand why you took your step towards the left in the budget Mr Prime Minister, but you have been doing a fantastic job navigating through these troubled waters and for that I thank you. I would prefer if we scrap this HST business, but I will save that rant for another day, but is again another reason that I could not give you an A.