Posted on 05/29/2007 4:20:27 AM PDT by Clive
Prime Minister Stephen Harper shone with integrity and quiet conviction when he spoke to 500 patriotic Canadians at the Calgary Military Museums Society banquet this past weekend.
This man grows in stature every day.
Seeing Harper looking so polished and dedicated only emphasized the lack of political principle held by ex-prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, and the mawkishness of current Liberal Leader Stephane Dion.
Generally lauding our men and women in uniform in Afghanistan, the prime minister pointed out this mission is not simply about hardware, but also about restoring recognition and respect to our military.
Paying homage to our Armed Forces is something that made Liberals -- from Pierre Trudeau to Chretien to Martin -- cringe.
This lacklustre trio of non-combatants purposely rusted out our military with Martin himself cutting both defence budget and manpower by fully $25%.
Nothing noble there.
Yet, there was nobility in Harper's words.
He hailed our military contingent in Afghanistan for standing up against "brutally and tyranny" while honouring our soldiers who have lost their lives or limbs on the battlefield.
It was an inspiring speech.
Our prime minister flipped easily and with alacrity from English to French and it's easy to see why in popular appeal he is higher in the opinion polls than Dion.
Harper had flown to Calgary straight from his trip to the front lines in Afghanistan -- his second visit to rally our troops -- and it's hard to imagine the bland Dion making such dangerous forays.
As a friend at my table put it, if offered a chance to visit our battle-scarred troops -- and risk death as Harper did -- Dion would likely mutter something about his allergies!
At the function were Calgary MPs Art Hanger, Jim Prentice and Deepak Obhrai, along with aldermen Andre Chabot and Barry Erskine. U.S. Consul General Tom Huffaker was at the head table and former justice of the Alberta Court of Appeal -- and onetime provincial Progressive Conservative leader Milt Harradence was in attendance.
I didn't see any local Liberal or ND skulking around, trying to ingratiate themselves with our local boy. One guesses even they know hypocrisy has a limit.
Senator-elect Bert Brown and his wife Alice were on hand.
Brown has started a political revolution which will forever take the Senate out of the backrooms of patronage and give it back to Canadians.
After being snubbed by both Chretien and Martin -- despite being the choice of Albertans -- Harper has done the right thing in appointing Brown to the Upper House.
Dion, naturally, did not like that.
The Grit leader perplexingly declared that while Harper may be from Alberta, he had somehow betrayed our province by appointing Brown and that Bert wasn't good enough for the Senate. What audacity.
One guesses Dion would prefer to see more Liberal hacks appointed.
I chatted with Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor -- a former brigadier-general, who obviously knows what he is doing in his portfolio -- and Gordon announced he was giving $5 million to help with the expansion of the museum.
A little different than Martin's defence minister who razed CFB Calgary to the ground.
Friends, our nation is in safe hands with Harper and his team.
For that, they deserve medals, too.
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A new star in the Heavens.
Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
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