Conservative candidate calls Harpernomics “horrible”
A renegade Tory candidate? How the heck did that happen?
But uh-oh! Don’t get your hopes up. On closer inspection, it would seem that Gallinger’s sensational headline (in bold above) is highly misleading. In the article it says Labelle feels that Flaherty’s attitude toward Ontario has been “horrible” whereas the author had led us to believe the reference was being made more generally to “Harpernomics” — a term I rather doubt Labelle used. The candidate’s other criticisms such as describing the Conservatives’ environment plan as being “insufficient” are fairly tepid, if not downright sheepish. So maybe he’s not such a rebel after all.
Still, rather curious that he doesn’t have one of the party’s “cookie cutter” websites but seems to have opted for his own solution. For a party with such an obsessive concern about all aspects of message control and lockstep behaviour, even that small difference is a remarkable departure — in form if not perhaps substance.
Red Tory v.3.0.3 
If elected, he will be assimilated.
Think Garth Turner, prior to his ‘escape.’
I suspect he’s just a sacrificial lamb as far as they’re concerned. I wonder if he even has signs. 😉
For a party with such an obsessive concern about all aspects of message control and lockstep behaviour ….
After the last week of total fuck-ups , I have no choice left ……. I blame the media .
For lying about the message control and all that other shit . How much to be a fly on the wall for Harper’s halftime speech ?
“Insufficient” is a far cry from “leading the industrial world”, tepid? Anytime a Con doesn’t read talking points, it’s news RT 😉
Yeah, I know… that was kind of my point.
We’ll see how much of a “maverick” this guy turns out to be.
He’s a “maverick” for agreeing to an interview 🙂 Most of them hide in the can when the media gets within a nautical mile.
I have no choice left ……. I blame the media .
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Geeze, I guess you didn’t see that earlier RT Article.
Some garlic , for you vampires .
how are some jackass’s half-cooked stereotypes illustrative of anything, d. fraud? just as irrelevant as your last stab at plagiarism.
KEvron
Yeah, I’d be the first to admit the title of my original post was a bit over the top. However, I think the body of the entry accurately represents what Mr. Labelle said.
Although the truth of his comments on Flaherty and the environment is pretty clear to us, I know that many partisan Conservatives see what he said as a betrayal. Mark Warner was fired as a candidate for more or less the same thing, so calling Labelle a “renegade” in the Conservative context isn’t too far off the mark.
As an aside, more candidates from all parties should have Labelle’s confidence in his own opinions. Our political process needs more honesty, not less.
Also, one quote from the Radio-Canada interview that I didn’t translate is: “Mr. Harper is a very honest person, and I think he would have a problem with me if I lied.”
It’s interesting that Labelle sees it that way, while folks like us think that Harper gets mad when his candidates tell the truth. We’ll see if Labelle’s charitable assessment of his leader holds up.
Jerad — Quite so. I’ve noticed even amongst Conservative supporters that dissent isn’t always welcome. Maybe it’s a backlash from the years of internecine warfare within the party that’s brought them to the point where they feel the instinctive need to close ranks and always present a united front.
A lot of Libs/Progressives felt deep sympathy for the plight of Mr. Warner especially as his treatment just seemed so egregiously unfair (not to mention counter-productive).
I hope Labelle fares well in the campaign and acquits himself with his independent streak intact.
Anyway, thanks for touching base.
My pleasure. And thanks to you for the insightful analysis (and the link).