THANKS FOR FINALLY CATCHING ON, CANADA

So in today’s GLOBE AND MAIL I read that a new poll reveals Canadians believe Stephen Harper is motivated by political survival and would never have unveiled this week's multibillion-dollar stimulus budget were it not for opposition pressure. The poll also found that, despite moderate support for the budget, most Canadians continue to hold Mr. Harper responsible for the crisis atmosphere that prompted it and believe he hasn't fundamentally changed.

Well, it's nice to finally know that most Canadians are seeing Stephen Harper the same way those Federal Progressive Conservatives who never trusted him have always seen him.

So let's go one further. The entire Reform executive currently running the CONSERVATIVE-IN-NAME-ONLY party are of the same ilk.

I've been saying since 1994 if the Reform Party thought Canadians hated the elderly you'd see their leader cutting his mother loose on an ice flow the next day. These people don't have vision, they cut whatever policy they can from whatever direction the wind is blowing and backtrack whenever they think it’s politically expedient.

That's why they put a law fixing election dates and then broke it by calling an election.

That's why they campaigned on transparency and then started stamping TOP SECRET on everything once they were in.

That's why they campaigned on accountability and then started shouting matches in ethic committees; called elections; and prorogued Parliament EACH TIME THEY WERE IN THE WRONG IN ORDER TO AVOID BEHIND HELD ACCOUNTABLE.

You can always count on a Reformer; they'll say what they think you want to hear and then do whatever it takes to hang onto whatever power they get.

Meanwhile in the south the PROGRESSIVES have risen to the height of power; it'll be nice when some of that vision comes north again.