“Urban Agenda” the liberal Media's Buzzword for Dogging Harper’s Conservatives

LifeSiteNews.com ^ | 01/26/06 | Hilary White

[Heartofsong83]

“Urban Agenda” the liberal Media's Buzzword for Dogging Harper’s Conservatives

by Hilary White

TORONTO, January 26, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Canada’s hard left-leaning mainstream media is drawing the lines of the political fight that will characterize the next few years with its flagship newspaper, the Toronto Star, leading the pack. The Star’s Royson James said, “It might be clear to party strategists that ignoring the urban agenda, or just paying lip service to it, won't fly in the GTA.”

The phrase, ‘urban agenda’ was quickly coined to imply that Conservative support comes largely from rural areas and that the party must pander to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver’s small-l liberal proclivities on social issues like child care and gun control. The socially liberal attitudes exemplified by the Liberal party towards women, life and family issues, the military and tax relief have their greatest concentration of support in the Big Three urban centres.

Yesterday morning, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty expressed his willingness to work with the Conservatives on the condition that they drop the $1200/per child annual credit payment plan and adopt the Liberal idea of a single, national childcare programme. McGuinty threatened that both the provincial government and the opposition parties were ready to fight the Conservatives’ child tax credit plan, a major plank of their campaign platform.

Monte Solberg, a prominent member of Harper’s cadre of younger MP’s writing from his riding in Medicine Hat said, “Today I heard that our election win was actually a terrible election disaster because we didn't win any seats in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal. How could I have been so blind?”

With heavy irony, Solberg mocks the Big Three arrogance: “Sure it’s nice to win seats in places like Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg or Quebec City. Its even okay I guess to win every seat in Alberta, but if you aren't in TO and Van and Montreal what's the point?”

The Toronto Star, however, has moved away from social issues in its editorials, saying that with no cabinet minister hailing from Toronto, the needs of the Big Three cities with their crumbling infrastructure, massive problems of overpriced housing and transportation, will be ignored.

Solberg, the opposition Finance Critic and a shoo-in for a cabinet post, with heavy irony calls the Star’s bluff saying that it was under the last 12 years of all-Liberal representation that Toronto’s infrastructure was allowed to deteriorate. “There is no new waterfront development even though Toronto has about 50 Liberal MPs per square inch. There is also no new infrastructure. There is no new train. There is no new anything.”

“Apparently however it is a disaster if these big cities don't have government MPs because then they won't get their problems addressed. Oh...right...okay. Gotcha. Now that's a compelling argument.”

The irony seems to be lost on Myer Siemiatycki, an urban politics professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, who told the Vancouver Sun, “The election results really do highlight a disconnect between the Conservative party of Mr. Harper and urban Canadians.”

Allegations of the Toronto-centric viewpoint could be understandable when reading Siemiatycki’s demand that Harper dump his platform and placate the newly identified urban agenda to gain the support of Canada’s majority of urban dwellers.

The Vancouver Sun pointed out, however, that Canada’s three largest cities are not Canada’s only cities. “Harper made gains in some cities winning all of Edmonton and Calgary and taking one seat from the Liberals in Winnipeg.”

Joe Katzman, author of Winds of Change, described as the “granddaddy” of conservative political blogs, said there is a long way to go developing the conservative movement in Canada as has been done in the US. Katzman wrote, “Frankly, Canada's conservative party is a generation away from being a consistently sustainable political force - to become one, they're going to have to develop their base of supportive organizations, talk radio, plugging into the think-tanks, etc.”

Read Monte Solberg’s blog: http://www.montesolberg.com/blog.htm

Read Toronto Star coverage: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thes...

Read analysis from the Vancouver Sun: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=590705...

[Heartofsong83]

It's like, why does Canada have to revolve around those three cities? There is a vast rural areas of farms, forests and lakes, plus there are many other cities that went for the conservative agenda (i.e. Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Quebec City, St. John's) and they are considered irrelevant? Combined, those eight metropolitan areas have over 5 million people and 46 Conservative MP's out of 55 seats.

[Gordongekko909]

The irony seems to be lost on Myer Siemiatycki, an urban politics professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, who told the Vancouver Sun, “The election results really do highlight a disconnect between the Conservative party of Mr. Harper and urban Canadians.”

Mayhap a disconnect between the Liberal party and rural Canadians?

[Heartofsong83]

That's what I think. The Liberals and their allies - who own the media - can't see beyond what is in sight of the CN Tower, Mount Royal or Stanley Park.

[VeniVidiVici]

The Toronto Star, however, has moved away from social issues in its editorials, saying that with no cabinet minister hailing from Toronto, the needs of the Big Three cities with their crumbling infrastructure, massive problems of overpriced housing and transportation, will be ignored.

Gee, the liberals sure are whiners, aren't they?

At least the Star seems to get it. The Liberals seem to think that the Tories need them in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. But with no seats coming from these cities, why? I fail to see why the conservatives just don't tell these cities to kiss-off.

And I like this Solberg guy. We need someone like him down here.

[ozzymandus]

Same reason the US is governed by New York and Los Angeles.

[SES1066]

Down here in the States, there used to be a constant refrain about the "Gender Gap" which reached its peak in the 'Clinton Soccer Moms' voting classification which all of the leading media used to measure every election. What was missing but obvious to ANYONE who had ever even had a passing glance at a statistics book, was that the few points edge to the Dems from the labeled group was more than outdone by the male inclination towards the conservative viewpoints. Only Perot, a pre-talk Radio and pre-Internet Liberal stranglehold on public news perception elected Clinton.

This advice to appeal to the urban voters is like advising GWB on how to persuade Moore, Streisand, Huffington and Clooney to rally behind him. It is the liberal spin, Canadian flavor, for adjusting this election. Amazing how the kindly advice from these unbiased sources just happens to try to persuade the winners to adopt the losers issues. This advice is the apple that the snake-oil salesman is spieling and is just as healthy!

[caveat emptor]

Only Perot, a pre-talk Radio and pre-Internet Liberal stranglehold on public news perception elected Clinton.

Any idea's why Perot would sabotage two successive predential elections? Blackmail? Death threats? Bribery? Personal animosities?

[SES1066]

Truly I have wondered about this many times over the years. My best (very weak) guess is that there must have been personal enmity between Bush the elder and Perot. Both were prominent Texans and there must have been numerous encounters over the years. GHWG was a child of privilege while Perot made his own as a champion salesman and so they may have been oil&vinegar. I still don't see Perot's rationalization for the 1992 run as logical and his 1996 run was even weirder as was he by that time. Maybe there will be a biography that will reveal why in the future. All I know is that I respected Perot greatly prior to 1992. Maybe we should erect a monument to him like the one to an American hero of Saratoga in the American Revolution.

[caveat emptor]

Maybe we should erect a monument to him like the one to an American hero of Saratoga in the American Revolution.

Interesting idea for a monument. And your 62+ gallons is quite a few pints. Do you have a plan, or are you just being generous?

[Jack Black]

What's a Dominion? Do they still have Dominion Day?