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[fiveeagles]

OTTAWA (CP) - Is Stephen Harper an evil galactic warlord? Is he a Bible-thumping Bush backer? We don't know. He won't say. And by the way, we are definitely making this up.

MARTIN O?HANLON
Not everyone is fuming over a controversial Liberal ad that warns Conservative Leader Stephen Harper would put troops in city streets - a lot of people find it quite amusing.

It has already spawned a series of spoofs by everyone from Internet bloggers to Tory insiders.

Conservative MPs were frothing at the mouth Wednesday when the ad was released, claiming it insults Canada's troops by suggesting they pose a threat to democracy. But behind the scenes, things were decidedly less serious.

Within hours of the release, this mock copy was making the rounds in Tory circles:

"Stephen Harper has a dog. You know who else had a dog? Hitler. Adolf Hitler. That's who. Did Stephen Harper train his dog to attack racial minorities on command? We don't know. He's not saying. Choose your Canada."

The original ad, which Liberals say was pulled before it ever ran on television, opens with the sound of a military drumbeat and Harper's blurred face in the background.

As the face comes slowly into focus, a voice warns ominously:

"Stephen Harper actually announced he wants to increase military presence in our cities. Canadian cities. Soldiers with guns. In our cities. In Canada. We did not make this up. Choose your Canada."

The daily news magazine Dose wasted no time tickling readers' funny bones. It published several takeoffs in Thursday's edition, including this lighthearted gem:

"Stephen Harper likes to wear black. You know who else liked black? Darth Vader? We're not making this up."

It was a veritable comedy field day on the Internet. Check out this offering from the weblog of Maclean's columnist Paul Wells:

"Just now at the Subway on Bank Street, I was buying my lunch and there . . . in line . . . standing in front of me . . . was a soldier. In our cities. In Canada. A soldier. He seemed to be ordering the six-inch ham and turkey. With chipotle sauce. In Canada. We're not making this stuff up."

And here's another laugh-out-loud version being circulated among Conservatives:

"Stephen Harper wears glasses. For reading. You know what he reads? The Bible. You know who else reads the Bible? George Bush. Will Stephen Harper turn Canada into a Christian theocracy? We don't know. He isn't saying. Choose your Canada."

Of course, some people can be forgiven for refusing to acknowledge the humour of the situation - especially Liberal MP Keith Martin.

Martin's riding includes CFB Esquimalt, headquarters of Canada's Pacific naval fleet, and he doesn't want to offend the military - it could cost him his job.

He blamed an "idiot" in the party for allowing the release of the original ad. He called it "appalling" and apologized to members of the military who were offended.

Prime Minister Paul Martin said the ad was not meant to target soldiers.

"I support our military," he said. "I've probably put more money into the military than almost any prime minister . . . (The ads have) nothing to do with soldiers."

[Tiger Beer]

when exactly is that election?

[mithridates]

23rd. This has been the most fun election since 2000.

[Captain Corea]

[igotthisguitar]

[Tiger Beer]

Why is he so popular in Canada anyways?

[SarcasmKills]

A few days back the Globe and Mail had as one of it's cover stories (with pics that took up a third of the page) that Harper and Ricky from Trailer Park Boys are distant cousins.

Now there's an episode in the making!

[On the other hand]

[PEIGUY]

[igotthisguitar]

Canada opposition head tells voters he's not scary
By Randall Palmer
Tue Jan 17, 9:28 PM ET

LEVIS, Quebec (Reuters) - Canada's Conservative leader, Stephen Harper, riding public support almost unimaginable at the start of the country's election campaign, told voters on Tuesday not to be afraid of giving him a majority government.



Polls show Harper is poised to win the January 23 election and end 12 years of Liberal rule. Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin says Harper is a right-wing extremist bent on curbing personal freedoms such as gay marriage and abortion rights.

But Martin's attacks have had little effect. Even in French-speaking Quebec, where the Conservatives did not have any seats in Parliament before the minority Liberal government was toppled in November, Harper now has twice as much popular support as the Liberals.

"I'm not sure there is such a thing as a true Conservative majority in the sense of a Liberal majority," Harper told reporters in the town of Levis in Quebec.

"The reality is that we will have for some time to come a Liberal Senate, a Liberal civil service ... and courts that have been appointed by the Liberals. So these are obviously checks on the power of a Conservative government."

Martin seized on the remarks and accused Harper of planning an assault on personal freedoms.

"Mr Harper is challenging the courts for a reason. He's contemplating something. He wants free rein for some reason," he told reporters in Saskatoon in western Canada.

"He wants to do something very badly and he's afraid the courts are going to stop him," added Martin, who declined to say what he thought Harper was contemplating.

In left-leaning Quebec, which has almost one-quarter of the 308 seats in Parliament, Harper has gone out of his way to soothe concern that his government would be too conservative.

He says he will ask Parliament whether it wants to revoke legislation allowing gay marriage, but says he will not introduce any measures to limit abortion. On Tuesday he went further and said he would use whatever influence he had to keep backbenchers from pushing through legislation on abortion.

In the 2004 election campaign, Harper led Martin briefly in the polls. But Martin ended up with a minority government, partly because voters feared Harper would adopt excessively radical policies if he won a majority.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060118/wl_canada_nm/canada_politics_col

[fiveeagles]

The conservatives are up by 18 percent,

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060117/elxn_poll_060117/20060118?s_name=election2006



Psst...IGTG
This picture was taken when Paul Martin describes the tyranny of Stephen Harper's regime. "Stephen, once got me in the back room of commons and told me he would suck out my heart and sell it to His Third Star Galatica troup if I were to divulge Stephen's alien clandestine plans....True Story"

[Xerxes]

[canuckistan]

If Harper and the Conservatives win, they'll play nice for 1 or 2 years. Then they'll go right into what everyone despises about "Big C" Conservatives.

[mithridates]

[Bulsajo]