Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="klein" data-source="post: 602583" data-attributes="member: 23950">Mulroney wades where Harper won&#039;t - in support of Obama in U.S. health debate &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Thu Sep 17, 10:29 PM &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;By Tobi Cohen And Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press &nbsp;MONTREAL - A Conservative prime minister has launched a stirring defence of universal health care, and lauded Barack Obama in his bare-knuckle political battle to extend benefits to all Americans. &nbsp;But it&#039;s not the current Conservative prime minister. Brian Mulroney used a speech to 1,500 Conservative supporters to wade where Prime Minister Stephen Harper has steadfastly refused to venture: the bitter U.S. debate over health reform. &nbsp;The former prime minister drew parallels between Obama&#039;s uphill fight to reform health care to his own struggles as prime minister, which may have cost him popularity but benefited the country. &nbsp;&quot;Political capital is acquired to be spent in great causes for one&#039;s nation,&quot; Mulroney said Thursday. &nbsp;&quot;Prime ministers are not chosen to seek popularity.... They are chosen to provide leadership. . . President Obama is fighting for a form of universal health care and is encountering ferocious resistance. &nbsp;&quot;The attacks on President Obama are often bitter and mean-spirited and his approval ratings, his popularity, are sinking like a stone. Still, he fights on. . . &nbsp;&quot;Fifty years from today, Americans will revere the name, &#039;Obama.&#039; Because like his Canadian predecessors, he chose the tough responsibilities of national political leadership over the meaningless nostrums of sterile partisanship that we see too much of in Canada and around the world today.&quot; &nbsp;The vast, crowded hotel ballroom went silent at that part of Mulroney&#039;s speech. One woman was seen snickering. &nbsp;It didn&#039;t take long for tongues to start wagging that Mulroney&#039;s speech - which, in 40 minutes, mentioned old Liberal and NDP opponents but never once uttered the name &#039;Harper&#039; - was a craftily designed swipe at the prime minister. &nbsp;Mulroney&#039;s eagerness to take sides in the U.S. health debate was a stark and obvious contrast from Harper&#039;s reluctance to touch that political powder keg. &nbsp;Half of Harper&#039;s cabinet was there watching the speech, while the prime minister himself was in the U.S. following a meeting with Obama. &nbsp;At the height of the health debate this summer, while American town-hall meetings were occasionally erupting in fisticuffs, Harper and Obama met at a Three Amigos summit in Mexico. &nbsp;During a news conference in front of media from three countries, as he stood next to Obama, Harper was asked about the U.S. battle and whether there was anything worth emulating about Canadian medicare, like its universal coverage. &nbsp;Harper replied that it was a foreign debate and, besides, health care was the provinces&#039; business - not the federal government&#039;s. &nbsp;Harper&#039;s Liberal opponents blasted him for passing up what might have been an opportunity to help a powerful ally.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="klein, post: 602583, member: 23950"] [B]Mulroney wades where Harper won't - in support of Obama in U.S. health debate [/B] Thu Sep 17, 10:29 PM By Tobi Cohen And Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press MONTREAL - A Conservative prime minister has launched a stirring defence of universal health care, and lauded Barack Obama in his bare-knuckle political battle to extend benefits to all Americans. But it's not the current Conservative prime minister. Brian Mulroney used a speech to 1,500 Conservative supporters to wade where Prime Minister Stephen Harper has steadfastly refused to venture: the bitter U.S. debate over health reform. The former prime minister drew parallels between Obama's uphill fight to reform health care to his own struggles as prime minister, which may have cost him popularity but benefited the country. "Political capital is acquired to be spent in great causes for one's nation," Mulroney said Thursday. "Prime ministers are not chosen to seek popularity.... They are chosen to provide leadership. . . President Obama is fighting for a form of universal health care and is encountering ferocious resistance. "The attacks on President Obama are often bitter and mean-spirited and his approval ratings, his popularity, are sinking like a stone. Still, he fights on. . . "Fifty years from today, Americans will revere the name, 'Obama.' Because like his Canadian predecessors, he chose the tough responsibilities of national political leadership over the meaningless nostrums of sterile partisanship that we see too much of in Canada and around the world today." The vast, crowded hotel ballroom went silent at that part of Mulroney's speech. One woman was seen snickering. It didn't take long for tongues to start wagging that Mulroney's speech - which, in 40 minutes, mentioned old Liberal and NDP opponents but never once uttered the name 'Harper' - was a craftily designed swipe at the prime minister. Mulroney's eagerness to take sides in the U.S. health debate was a stark and obvious contrast from Harper's reluctance to touch that political powder keg. Half of Harper's cabinet was there watching the speech, while the prime minister himself was in the U.S. following a meeting with Obama. At the height of the health debate this summer, while American town-hall meetings were occasionally erupting in fisticuffs, Harper and Obama met at a Three Amigos summit in Mexico. During a news conference in front of media from three countries, as he stood next to Obama, Harper was asked about the U.S. battle and whether there was anything worth emulating about Canadian medicare, like its universal coverage. Harper replied that it was a foreign debate and, besides, health care was the provinces' business - not the federal government's. Harper's Liberal opponents blasted him for passing up what might have been an opportunity to help a powerful ally. [/QUOTE]

Verification