CALGARY – Stephen Harper estime que le « Canada est plus uni que jamais». «Les libéraux sont éliminés, le Bloc québécois est éliminé, la politique de la division est éliminée», a affirmé le premier ministre conservateur dans le cadre d’une rencontre partisane tenue lors du Stampede de Calgary, samedi soir.
«La longue ère libérale est terminée. Tout comme les boules de disco et les pantalons à pattes d’éléphant, on est passé à autre chose», a dit M. Harper qui estime que les valeurs canadiennes sont celles des conservateurs.
Le premier ministre a mentionné qu’il compte financer davantage les Forces canadiennes avec de nouveaux avions et bateaux, ainsi qu’avec de l’équipement neuf pour l’armée.
«Le Canada peut faire plus qu’appuyer nos alliés ou livrer de l’aide humanitaire», a ajouté le chef conservateur.
La défense de la souveraineté canadienne dans l’arctique et des intérêts du pays sur la scène internationale constitue ses priorités en politique étrangère.
Stephen Harper a précisé que son gouvernement majoritaire allait abolir le registre des armes à feu cet automne. Il n’a aussi pas l’intention d’augmenter les taxes.
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Harper declares 'long Liberal era' over


By Chris Varcoe and Jason Fekete, Postmedia News July 10, 2011
In his first major speech in Calgary since election night, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared Saturday the "long Liberal era" of Canada has faded like disco balls and bell-bottom pants, as the country turns more conservative in its outlook.
Speaking to almost 900 staunch Tory supporters at his annual riding association Stampede barbecue, Harper said the party earned the trust of Canadian voters and was rewarded by capturing 166 seats during the May 2 federal election. The Liberal party's long grip on Canada's political culture has weakened, and voters are more aligned with the values of the Conservative party, he said.
"Under our Conservative government, Canada is more united than it ever has been. My friends, I think something has changed. I believe the long Liberal era is genuinely, truly ending. As with disco balls and bell bottoms, Canadians have moved on," he said to applause and laughter.
"We are moving Canada in a Conservative direction, and Canadians are moving in that direction with us," Harper told an audience that included more than two dozen Tory MPs.
"Conservative values are Canadian values. Canadian values are Conservative values."
The speech comes on the heels of the Calgary Southwest MP winning his first majority government after four attempts as party leader.
In celebrating the election results, Harper noted the party won every seat but one inside southern Ontario's 905 district, has more MPs than the other parties inside "that Conservative fortress of Toronto" and now has seats in every province.
"If we are in, meanwhile, who's out? The Liberals are out, the Bloc Quebecois is out ... The politics of division are out," he said. "Canadians have found through a costly 40-year experiment with liberalism that big government is not an instant answer to everything."
Earlier in the day, Alberta Liberals held their own party at the Calgary Zoo, where provincial Grit leadership candidates and Toronto MP Carolyn Bennett were among 200 people gathered for a Stampede breakfast fundraiser.
Federal Liberal leader Bob Rae will be in Calgary next weekend for the Stampede, part of a cross-country tour to bolster the party's political and financial support.
Bennett said more than 5,000 Canadians have joined the federal Liberals since their stinging third-place finish in the May 2 federal election, where the party won only 34 seats and lost official Opposition status to the NDP.
"The Conservative majority isn't what people hoped for," she said, believing people are stuck with a political hangover they're not enjoying.
Nevertheless, rebuilding the Liberal party will require extensive spadework in each constituency across the country, including Alberta, she said.
"We need to take back this mythology of the Conservatives being good fiscal managers," Bennett said. "We need to explain that tax-and-spend Liberals isn't an accurate moniker."
In the coming months, Harper said the Tories will finally kill the long-run registry, pass its anti-crime bill and put an end to the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on selling grain. The government will continue to acquire equipment for the military and assert northern sovereignty.
Canada will "stand for what is right. No longer does this country just go along with everyone else's agenda. Our aim is no longer to please every dictator with a vote at the United Nations."
The last election also saw the rise of the NDP in Quebec, where it won 59 seats and now has 103 in Parliament.
"Quebec's honeymoon with the NDP will pass. As many provinces know well, no honeymoon passes as quickly and as completely as one with the NDP," the prime minister said.
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Chris Varcoe and Jason Fekete
Calgary Herald