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| Harper targets Martin over decade of scandals - Tuesday, March 16, 2004 at 15:35 |
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PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harper targets Martin over decade of scandals: Conservative front-runner says PM's defence as 'clueless' cheque writer doesn't wash -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EDMONTON - Prime Minister Paul Martin should be turfed from office over his role in a decade of Liberal government scandal, mismanagement and corruption, Conservative party leadership candidate Stephen Harper charged Monday. With polls suggesting he is on his way to a first-ballot victory in Saturday's vote, Harper launched an election-style attack, appealing to about 1,500 enthusiastic supporters at a campaign rally in Edmonton to help send him over the top so he can lead the battle against what he called decades of Liberal scandal and corruption. Speaking to his largest audience yet in the six-week leadership campaign, Harper blasted the Liberals over the sponsorship scandal, scoffing at the prime minister's suggestion that, even though he was a finance minister, he knew nothing about the $100 million given to Quebec ad agencies. "His line is he should be held blameless because he is clueless," Harper said, alternating between humour and indignation. "Behind every example of Liberal scandal, mismanagement and corruption in this past decade, Paul Martin was there signing the cheque. The next election is about getting the cheque book out of his hands once and for all." Harper cautioned supporters against turning the sponsorship scandal into an anti-Quebec issue, saying Quebecers are just as fed up with Liberal patronage as westerners are. He drew a bead on Martin's personal business dealings, portraying the prime minister as a wealthy man who avoided taxes by registering his Canadian Steamship Lines fleet in Bermuda. "Like you, I play by the rules," he said. "I've got something people want in a prime minister -- I've had to pay my taxes in this country." Looking confident and every bit like a man about to become the new Conservative party leader, Harper ignored his two leadership rivals and focused on the Liberals and Martin. "I spent the last two years building a real Opposition, only to find myself outside of the House of Commons," said Harper, who stepped down as leader of the Canadian Alliance party to run for the new merged Conservative party. "I want to get back there. I want to lead this party. I want to lead this country. "I want to take on the prime minister, defeat him and replace him." A COMPAS poll released on the weekend showed Harper with 59-per-cent support among Conservative party members, while Belinda Stronach had 35 per cent and Tony Clement trailed with nine per cent. Though buoyed by the poll results, Harper dismissed suggestions he is far enough ahead that he doesn't need to mention his opponents. "I'm not here to have a Conservative civil war," he told reporters after his address. "We want to work together to take on the Liberals." He said the big test will be for his campaign team to get his supporters out to cast their ballots. "Polls don't matter unless we get people out to vote," he said. "We can't be complacent." Earlier, Harper promised to give cities and towns three to five cents a litre from the federal fuel tax if he is elected prime minister. In releasing his policy for assisting cash-strapped municipalities, Harper said sharing the fuel tax with municipalities would give them an extra $2 billion or $3 billion a year. "This is money the federal government is already collecting," he said. "The federal government is awash in money. That's why it's able to spend so much on the sponsorship scandal and the gun registry. That's why we want to see it shift into more productive areas." Martin has proposed a similar revenue-sharing arrangement. Other promises in Harper's municipal plan include: - Tax policies to help rural communities compete with cities for economic development. - Aggressively defending Canadian interests in Canada-U.S. issues such as the mad cow crisis and softwood lumber duties. - Tackling urban crime by toughening the parole system, instituting a sex offender registry and national initiatives to combat child pornography, organized crime and drug trafficking. - A national initiative to deal with homelessness. |