Thursday, November 4, 2010

Why Stephen Harper REALLY Saved Potash

So a big fuss has been made, about Emperor Harper actually preventing a Canadian company from being taken over by foreign corporations (for once). Never mind that we're in a recession, and Harper had previously been letting our companies (and jobs) go like they were candy, apparently the business world and Harper's core supporters are up in arms -- that should show you where their loyalties lie.

But, I'll tell you why Harper really stepped in to save the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (a fertilizer company being eyed by Australia, if you don't know). Simply put, Harper did this for the same reason he caved in to opposition demands to start a (pitiful) stimulus program, and (barely) caved in to demands to hand over Afghan torture documents: to save his own ass.

Stephen Harper only does ANYTHING for one reason: power -- either getting it, or holding on to it. Whether he's willing to admit it or not, he is hanging by a thread, right now -- not only with the country at large, but within his own party. If he'd sat back and let a lot of Saskatchewan workers be laid off by another country, it doesn't take a genius to see that those workers -- and the countless other people whose livelihoods they contribute to -- would be really pissed off at whoever let it happen. When Harper needs all the votes he can get, he really can't afford to lose a lot of them -- especially when the whole province could potentially turn on him, and we're talking about a province that has generally been a Tory stronghold since Confederation. A disaster like that would not only cost Harper his government, but it would probably kill his political career.

I liken it to Hollywood, from what I've seen of it; even if you're the biggest jerk in the world, The Powers That Be will only keep you around if you make money for them. So if your movie flops, you're in trouble. If you single-handedly destroy one of the biggest franchises in town, you're a dead duck.

So Harper really had no choice but to step in and protect Potash -- but don't believe the propaganda for a minute, it was most certainly not to protect the jobs of working Canadians, in an economic downturn.

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