Stephen Harper does not like Canadians: His "Let Them Eat Cake" Moment

Peter Mansbridge of the CBC invited all the federal leaders to participate on his segment "Talk Back" where Canadians sent in questions for the party leadership. All the nationwide opposition leaders, Stephane Dion, Jack Layton and Elizabeth May, accepted the invitation but Stephen Harper refused to do so. Emperor Harper said that he would have a one on one interview with Mansbridge but no questions from the public. What is he afraid off? He simply does not want to deal with the public. There are numerous indications of that.

He called the election when US election was heating up, hoping that Canadians take interest in the US election and thus he gets less attention. He was hoping to just slide by. Then he agreed for an English debate on a day when the widely anticipated US Vice-Presidential candidates' debate was on, again hoping that few people would watch.

He agreed for an interview with Peter Mansbridge when the second US Presidential candidates’ debate was on. His interview did not air until after 1 A.M as CBC chose to broadcast presidential debate first. All this shows that Emperor Harper does not want to deal with the public.

Then there was Harper's "Let them eat cake" moment. As the Toronto Stock Exchange dived and the economic news became more dismal, his recommendation was that there are some good buys on the stock market as the prices were lower – to him it did not matter that you may not have a job any longer, that you may not have the money to pay for rent on your lodging or to make the mortgage payments, that you may not have money to buy food and other necessities of life. All Harper could say is that there is the opportunity to invest in the stock and buy at a low price. That is what Emperor Harper said. Can you believe this? How much more out of touch will this man be before Canadians realize he is not fit to lead the nation.

It is also ironic that Emperor Harper is making a big deal over Dion's interview with CTV Atlantic. This was Dion's second interview with the Halifax anchor, while Harper had given none. We can debate the merits or demerits of that CTV affiliate airing the "botched" interview start (I'm sure this is a topic that will occupy many journalism ethics classes), but it is clear that Harper wanted to turn it into a "gotcha" moment insensitive to Dion's hearing problems and to the fact that English is Dion's second language (another case of Harper being insensitive to francophones and to Quebecers).

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