Canada PoliticsPrime Minister Harper slams Liberals, NDP in speech at annual Stampede BBQ
Prime Minister Harper was in fine form, Saturday evening, in front of his 'hometown crowd' at an annual Stampede barbeque in Calgary Southwest.
In front of a crowd which included hundreds of Conservative Party members, Alberta Premier Alison Redford, and fellow Alberta MPs, Harper gave a barn-burner of a speech which lasted just over 25 minutes.
He spent the beginning part of it paying tribute to Albertans for their efforts for flood clean-up and offered his thoughts and prayers to the victims of the tragic train derailment and subsequent fires in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.
[ Related: One person dead, others reported missing after explosions in Quebec ]
He also touted his government's record, specifically on the economy, immigration and public safety.
He seemed to really get excited, however, when he spoke about his colleagues opposite in the House of Commons.
"Unlike the opposition Canadians don't have to choose between a strong economy and a clean environment. We can and we must have both," Harper said.
"On the one hand...you have the Liberals that come out here, they claim to support the oil sands but at the same time they oppose the pipelines that would get the oil to market.
"Then we have the NDP, who actually went to Washington to lobby against the oil sands," he said to chants of 'shame.'
Harper continued his jabs at the other parties. Here are some excerpts:
"The NDP doesn't want to talk about their alternatives because their policies are so far outside the mainstream they don't want people to know about them. In the case of the Liberals, they don't want to talk about their alternatives because they don't have any.
Tax and spend inclinations that are so extreme, if we took any of their suggestions literally we would have a budget that would make the worst European budget look solid in comparison.
[They] always put the concerns and the welfare of the criminal ahead of the interest of the law abiding citizens. They would pursue there so-called soft power approach, the foreign policy that would once again strip down the Canadian military and make Canada's role in the world about nothing more than pleasing foreign governments.
Of course, there's also...their constant need to pit region against region. And again, when they play the game Alberta is always put at the very bottom of their little pecking order."
Harper spent the last two days in Alberta for Stampede related events. On Friday, the prime minister and his wife, however, took time out to go to High River to help with clean-up efforts there.
A Conservative Party source told Yahoo! Canada News, that Harper and his wife worked for "several hours" cleaning out a damaged basement. The source said that Harper didn't want any media at the event.
But they did post a picture on Flickr.
[ Related: Calgary Stampede kicks off with parade highlighting ‘emotional rallying point’ ]
On Sunday, Harper will travel to Lac-Mégantic to "view the damage and meet with officials."
(Photo by Andy Radia)
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