By Steve Jalsevac
TORONTO, October 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As Canada’s federal Conservative Party continues its gradual transformation into a more “progressive” party, yet another social conservative MP from the party’s original Reform wing is jumping ship. Calgary North MP Art Hanger announced today that he is retiring from politics. CBC TV’s entertaining weekly commentator, Rick Mercer, although no friend of pro-life, pro-family Canadians, recently made stinging comments about the Harper Conservative’s abandonment of their social conservative base. Some say that abandonment is a big factor causing MPs such as Hanger to leave the party.
In his Oct. 2 Rick’s Rant segment, Mercer said that in the upcoming election, thanks to Stephen Harper and company, “for the first time in a very long time we are going to have an election where the so-cons, those good, God-fearing, very politically active social conservatives, are going to have absolutely no influence or say on the debate or the agenda.” Mercer opines that Harper “has managed to successfully spay and neuter every single one of them” and that “when you talk to Tories…they are laughing their asses off about how much money these people keep sending the party.”
Mercer indicates the so-cons (pro-life and pro-family Conservative Party supporters) have been had. He explains, “Now there is a very clever trick. Imagine convincing thousands of people to send you millions of dollars so you can form a government. Then you form a government and as a reward to those people you tell them to shut up and forget everything they’ve ever stood for and then you give them nothing and then they send you more money in return because they have no where else to go.”
In the end Mercer surmises, “heading into a federal election where Stephen Harper might form a majority, there’s only two explanations; the social conservatives have been sold down a river or they know something we don’t.”
That’s why, explains Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) president Jim Hughes, his organization has always strongly advocated supporting individual candidates of whatever party, based on their history and views on the core life and family issues. “CLC”, he says, strongly encourages its supporters to avoid “inevitably disappointing total commitment to only one party or party leader. No politician or party should ever be allowed to take it for granted that pro-life Canadians will always support them or ignore their transgressions or serious omissions.”
“Human nature”, says Hughes, “is such that every party and politician, social conservative or not, needs to be constantly held accountable”. “It should never be taken for granted by us”, he emphasizes, “that they will automatically do the right thing. That is because they all have a tendency to be drawn away from their principles once in the tempting halls of power. They need trustworthy, principled people to give them regular reality checks. Even the most well intentioned politician can easily drift away from the core principles that got them elected.”
The leader of Canada’s national pro-life organization involved in politics is thankful for the Mercer piece, regardless of the fact that the CBC commentator likely created this rant to crow about his and his CBC friends own success in intimidating Canada’s often not so courageous political social conservatives. “Although Mercer is no friend of the life and family movement”, Hughes says, “he has done a real service in pointing out from his perspective what we are all feeling.”
See the full text of Mercer’s Oct. 2 rant
Plight of the Endangered So-con – Has Harper abandoned the neo-cons?
https://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/10/4
See the video of the rant by first going to https://www.cbc.ca/mercerreport/
Then click on the arrow next to (9 clips) near the top, right of the page and select Oct. 2, 2007.
Then scroll down to “Mercer: Ricks Rank” and click on the image. The segment will then begin to play.