Vote for the Quebec separatists to save Canada from the Albertans

That's the gist of Buzz Hargrove's message, and Paul Martin is scambling to control the fallout:

The Liberals are in full damage control this afternoon after a high-profile campaign endorsement by the head of Canada’s largest private-sector labour union turned disastrous.

Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove used a campaign stop in nearby Strathroy to call Conservative Leader Stephen Harper a separatist whose Alberta-born political principles place him outside mainstream Canadian values.

He seemed to agree with questioners that Quebecers vote for the Bloc Quebecois over the Conservatives.

Prime Minister Paul Martin issued a retraction on Hargrove’s behalf as soon as the comments hit the news wires, and was forced to praise Harper’s patriotism in an effort to quell the controversy.

“I have large differences with Stephen Harper but I have never doubted his patriotism,” Martin said at a news conference in London.

Of all the lies Paul Martin has told during this campaign, that one might be the most blatant.

[Hargrove's] comments on Alberta were even more provocative.

“Mr. Harper doesn’t have a sense of Canada and its communities,” the union leader said.

“His sense is about Alberta. The wealth of Alberta everybody recognizes is much greater than it is anywhere in Canada. Those principles that he is brought up with and believes in coming out of there don’t sit well with the rest of Canada.”

Enjoy your pension, Ms. McLellan. What little support the Liberals had in Alberta is gone for another generation.

Posted by damian at January 18, 2006 03:18 PM | TrackBack