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Outside the Tory tent, urinating in

Former Harper speechwriter slams Conservatives for abandoning their principles

Michael Taube left the Toronto Sun in 2006 to put words in the prime minister’s mouth, buoyed by what he thought was the rebirth of Canadian conservatism. Now he’s all but plugging for Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, and says the Tories’ precious base of conservative support is crumbling due to Stephen Harper’s ideological capitulation. Taube is especially vexed by Harper’s recent admission that the Taliban cannot be defeated in Afghanistan. “He brushed aside the memory of the brave 111 Canadian soldiers who died in war-torn Afghanistan fighting for freedom and democracy,” Taube writes in today’s Sun; in describing the PM’s remarks, he applies that “culture of defeat” phrase that got Harper in so much trouble in Atlantic Canada. Ouch. To right the ship, Taube demands that the Conservatives reorient the party around broad-based tax cuts rather than “propping up bloated social programs they previously opposed.”

Toronto Sun

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