Free Republic

OTTAWA (CP) - It's a point even Stephen Harper's harshest critics can agree upon as his Conservative government reaches its 100th day in office Tuesday. The man once considered by many pundits and pollsters to be unelectable is firmly in control as Canada's 22nd prime minister. Whether for good or ill is in the eye of the beholder, but polls suggest roughly 40 per cent of voters approve and, in this period of minority instability, that's a unqualified Conservative success story. Harper himself was understated on the eve of this curious anniversary, an arbitrary political measuring post that has tripped...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who electioneered by promising Canadians a more "open" government, took two measures last month aimed at establishing a more "closed" one – closed, that is, to the media. In so doing, he appeared to have declared war on the parliamentary press gallery. First, he decreed that all public communications from his Cabinet ministers – everything from speeches, to press releases, to policy statements, to letters to the editor – must have the prior approval of the Prime Minister's Office. Second, he ruled that the meetings of his Cabinet will no longer be announced in advance, and...