New York Times (October 21)
“The sweeping victory of Justin Trudeau in Canada’s elections on Monday shows how ready Canadians were to emerge from a decade under the Conservative government of the secretive and combative Stephen Harper,” who proved to be “at odds with” Canada’s identity, which features “core values, like a generous safety net, active participation in international organizations like the United Nations, a humanitarian foreign policy and an inclusive concept of nationhood.”
Tags: Canada, Conservatives, Core values, Foreign policy, Harper, Safety net, Secretive, Sweeping victory, Trudeau, UN
Wall Street Journal (May 4)
What accounts for the landslide victory of Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party on Monday? The Journal thinks the success is due to the conservative economic policies that Harper has put in place since 2006. “Canada’s general sales tax fell to 5% from 7%. Mr. Harper has also cut the federal corporate tax rate, which is now 16.5% and is scheduled to fall to 15% in 2012.” To be sure, Canada also benefited from oil and mineral deposits, which helped boost GDP growth beyond that of the U.S. Moreover, Harper has pledged to “balance the budget by fiscal 2014-2015 without raising taxes, which was a clear dividing line in the recent campaign.”