“[Y]our country, and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world” – Mr. Harper speaking to the American Council for National Policy in 1997
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- The current election, at 78 days, will be the longest and most expensive election in Canadian history. This will allow each party to spend more than $50 million dollars – double the limit for a typical 37-day election period. Half the money spent by the parties will be reimbursed by taxpayers.
[Source, Source] - Like in the United States, the burden of taxation has shifted under Mr. Harper from an equal split between corporate and individual to the individual taxpayer carrying the majority of the burden.
[Source, Source, Source] - Under new election laws, there is no limit on how much money third-party groups can raise and spend before an election is called. These contributions can be made anonymously by individual donors and corporations. Key element: pressure groups can NOW fund like Super PACS
[Source, Source] - Like in American politics, Mr. Harper has run television attack ads, more than a year before the election, against his political opponents’ credibility with unsubstantiated claims. Mr. Harper is the first political leader in Canadian history to do so.
[Source, Source, Source] - Mr. Harper’s government has introduced legislation that restricts the ability of students, low-income Canadians, indigenous Canadians, and Canadians abroad to cast their vote. Similar tactics have been used in the United States to suppress opposing votes.
[Source, Source, Source, Source, Source] - Like pork barrel spending in the United States, The New Building Canada Fund was announced by Mr. Harper in 2013 as a $14-billion 10-year investment in Canadian infrastructure. Since then, 83 percent of the fund’s projects have gone to Conservative ridings.
[Source, Source] - In 2013 Mr. Harper appointed Justice Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court of Canada. Justice Nadon was best known for his stance against the repatriation of Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay. The Supreme Court ruled against his appointment, the first time in Canadian history that it had done so, because he did not possess the necessary requirements. Key element: judicial system should not bow to the will of the sitting government
[Source, Source, Source, Source] - Twenty years ago Canada was ranked number one in troop contributions to UN peacekeeping missions. Mr. Harper’s government has withdrawn Canadian military’s involvement U.N. peacekeeping to support unilateral American military action. Today Canada is ranked 65th with only 34 Canadian military personnel participating in missions.
[Source, Source, Source] - Instead of maintaining its traditional military role of peacekeeping, Canada is now at war with ISIS in Iraq and Syria and has participated in some of the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan.
[Source, Source, Source] - The crime rate has been decreasing over the past two decades. Despite this, Mr. Harper has introduced a number of “tough-on-crime” bills, in a similar manner to the American model of justice, that have expanded the number of crimes punished with mandatory minimums. This increased federal corrections spending by over $1.5 billion dollars since 2002.
[Source, Source, Source, Source] - Despite the decrease in the crime rate Canada’s prison population is higher than it has ever been. In 2013/2014 there were 15,141 inmates in federal custody. This disproportionately affects minorities in Canada. Aboriginal adults represent nearly 25% of all inmates yet make up only 3% of the population.
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