PM preparing for possible election

[Spazito]

OTTAWA (CP) - Liberals will revive the national-unity debate as a campaign theme and paint their opponents as twin partners in the dismantling of Canada.

Top party strategists have indicated in recent days the long-dormant issue will return to the forefront if there's an election this spring. The predictions rang true Wednesday when Prime Minister Paul Martin, his deputy prime minister, his cabinet, his party's MPs, and top strategists all sounded the same alarm bells.

One senior government official warned that a Liberal defeat would help propel Quebec towards independence.

snip

"Well, Canadians care. They are not prepared to see Stephen Harper and Gilles Duceppe become this decade's answer to Brian Mulroney and Lucien Bouchard."

more

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2005/04/13/995074.html


(The Liberals added a new bullet today during Question Period and that is the hot button issue of privatization of health care. It seems Preston Manning and Mike Harris have the same bad timing as Harper. They issued "a joint report calling for the federal government to get out of medicare and let the provinces experiment with private health services."

Here is the article on that little goodie:

Health care bomb lobbed



OTTAWA (CP) - Preston Manning and Mike Harris tossed an electoral hand grenade into the lap of Conservative Leader Stephen Harper on Wednesday, issuing a joint report calling for the federal government to get out of medicare and let the provinces experiment with private health services.

Manning, the Reform party founder, and Harris, the former Ontario Tory premier, insisted their report, commissioned by the right-wing Fraser Institute, was non-partisan. But it quickly became fodder for a potential federal election.

Prime Minister Paul Martin, seeking a respite from his woes over the sponsorship scandal, vowed to fight "tooth and nail" to defend medicare.

The Conservative agenda is no longer hidden, Martin told the Commons.

more

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/04/13/995593-cp.html

Edited to add better links and change the headlines to reflect those of the new links.

[achtung_circus]

1. Oh boy

Mike and Preston, there's a non-partisan pair, and the Fraser Institute, no bias or agenda there.

[Spazito]

2. LOL, too true, the two most connected and powerful

faux Cons showcasing privatization of health care, a prime directive of the Harper agenda yet there is NO connection. That's like saying Rush has no connection with the GOP.