Free Republic

<p>Canada's two largest conservative parties have agreed to merge as a way to halt the vote-splitting that has helped deny them power in Ottawa for a decade.</p> <p>Members of the Progressive Conservative Party voted 90 percent in favor of the merger with the larger Canadian Alliance on Saturday, a day after the Alliance backed the move by 96 percent.</p>

Address on Liberal Damage Control Address by Stephen Harper, MP Leader of the Canadian Alliance Leader of the Official Opposition House of Commons Tuesday, April 8, 2003 [In response to the Prime Minister] In his address, the Prime Minister did refer to some events that actually happened. There was great outpouring of support for our American friends after September 11, just as during this conflict there has been a great outpouring of support for our American friends and allies. However, those outpourings did not originate with our government. They originated with the Canadian people. Canadians have demonstrated once again and...

Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper says his concerns about an Ontario teenager detained by the U.S. military in Afghanistan include wider questions about Canadian defence and security issues. The 15-year-old son of Ahmed Said Khadr, a Canadian citizen long suspected of being an al-Qaeda operative, is accused of involvement in a hours-long gunfight which killed a U.S. Special Forces medic last July. "We want to know more about that incident. First of all we want to find out how this happened," Mr. Harper said during the closing press conference of his party's caucus retreat in Barrie, Ont., Friday. For the...

By Canadian Press The Liberals lost strongholds in Newfoundland and Ontario Monday in a string of seven byelections that also saw Canadian Alliance chief Stephen Harper win the seat he needed to become Opposition leader. Harper cruised to an easy win in Calgary Southwest in a race where the Liberals and Tories opted not to run candidates. "You have taken the overwhelming vote that this party got in the last election in this riding and you have taken it higher," Harper told cheering supporters. "Notwithstanding the decayed state of our parliamentary institutions, it is still an honour to represent people...