So long Reformers, thanks for the memories

Stephen Harper's Conservative Party has come a long way from that principled party of reformers that split from the Mulroney Progressive Conservatives.
Remember those brash Reformers who flooded into saying Ottawa is broken, and promising to fix it?

“Is this what the Prime Minister meant when he said that all his appointments would be based on merit alone? If so, how is Liberal patronage any different from Tory patronage?”
– Jay Hill as a Reform MP, Hansard, December 12, 1994

“The Chamber of Commerce predicts that the harmonized sales tax will push up new house prices by 5.5 per cent and will force municipalities to raise property taxes. Canadians are hard pressed to pay housing costs. Any increase will be felt by the people who can least afford it: the low income earners and first time home buyers.”
– John Cummins as a Reform MP, Hansard, December 10, 1996

“we have nothing to learn from the Conservatives when it comes to democratic reform. Absolutely nothing.”
– Chuck Strahl as a Reform MP, Hansard, February 27, 1996

The Harper record?

• Appointed dozens of his insider friends to the Senate
• ignored grassroots protests in B.C. and Ontario and rammed through the HST
• admonished by the Speaker for breaking Parliamentary rules
• Conservative party officials are facing charges and potential jail time for breaking election laws.

No wonder so many Canadians are still saying Ottawa seems broken.
And no wonder these old Reformers thought better of trying to defend Stephen Harper’s record.

Abbotsford NDP Candidate David Murray with Ed Broadbent at Halifax convention

email : davidmurrayabbotsfordndp@gmail.com

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