Stephen Harper – just not a team player
Thursday, August 13, 2015 @ 3:45 AM
By Bill Phillips
Whoever dreamed up the Conservative saddling Liberal leader Justin Trudeau with the “he’s just not ready” line will probably win some sort of marketing award next year.
The ad, while negative, is extremely effective. It’s effective because is places a seed of doubt in peoples’ minds … a doubt that, for many, was probably already there.
You’ve undoubtedly seen the ad: A bunch of human resources professionals examining Trudeau’s resume and concluding that “he’s just not ready,” to be prime minister.
The Conservatives have unleashed another ad along the same vein, this one aimed at NDP leader Thomas Mulcair. Same human resources professionals but this time the conclusion is “we just can’t afford him.”
Effective, but it doesn’t ring quite as strongly as the Trudeau ad.
The taglines are so effective though, the NDP has borrowed from the Conservative ads and are now running ads critical of Trudeau with the tagline “Trudeau – not up to the job.”
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as the old saying goes, and after the first leader’s debate, Mulcair has to look over his shoulder at Trudeau.
The ads are so effective, the Liberal and NDP strategist/marketing gurus are likely trying to come up with something to top it.
Here’s the ad I would counter with and it involves our other passion … hockey.
The scene: Canuck president Trevor Linden and a group of vice-presidents sitting around a table, obviously with a tough decision to make.
“So, Stephen Harper wants to renew his contract,” Linden says.
“Well, he has captained the team to three championships,” the vice-president of sucking-up-to-the-boss says.
“Yeah, but he’s been hogging the puck more and more, especially since we agreed to the no-trade clause in 2011,” says the vice-president of double-doubles. “He never let’s the third-stringers play anymore.”
“And, he seems obsessed with the possibility that thugs from the minor leagues will move into the league,” says the vice-president of triplicate forms and fiddly bits of paper (OK, stole that one from Monty Python). “He’s so obsessed with him he wants our offence to focus on them.”
“Plus, he never seems to want to drop the gloves and go toe-to-toe anymore,” says the vice-president of naming vice-presidents. “He prefers using the nasty stick-work in the corner or calling in his buddy Pierre.”
“Yeah, Stephen,” laments Linden as he tosses the contract into the trash, “he’s just not a team player.”
“Nice helmet, though,” adds the vice-president of speaking-firmly-after-the-decision-has-been-made.
There you have it. (Note to the NDP and/or Liberals: The ad is yours for a small fee to be negotiated.)
Bill Phillips is a freelance columnist living in Prince George. He was the winner of the 2009 Best Editorial award at the British Columbia/Yukon Community Newspaper Association’s Ma Murray awards, in 2007 he won the association’s Best Columnist award. In 2004, he placed third in the Canadian Community Newspaper best columnist category and, in 2003, placed second. He can be reached at billphillips1@mac.com
Comments
I don’t know about that. He seems to be a good team captain since he has all these MPs working in unison reading from the same script. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZcpNJxB4Mk
Love it!
ha ha ha, I doubt, Linden will ever be publicly a political.
Trudeau the budget will balance itself, run the economy from the heart. Yep he sure is ready.
Seamutt, how many times since 2008 have the Cons balanced the budget? How much have they added to our debt?
Fate, you remember that little thing called a world wide recession that began in 2008?
Stevie can’t even balance a bicycle . He even looks awkward on a 4wheeler .
All Ataloss can do is balance a ball on his nose and ride a unicycle in a circle. He’s such a clown.
If any of these corny ads, ever sway your vote… it says more about the mindless voter than the ad maker.
Seamutt, you are intentionally omitting the rest of Trudeau’s quote which explained how a budget balance is achieved. Typical Conservative simplistic character assassination! Ten years of slight of hand, proroguing, contempt of parliament and a list of other shenanigans! If you can stomach that good for you! The almost two thirds of Canadians who do not vote for the PC disagree.
Mr. Phillips – your analogy doesn’t work for me. If I had a captain that got me 3 championships – I wouldn’t care how he did it. Last thing I’d do is fire him because I disagree with his methods – that are working – vs my untried methods.
Also, I would like to see you do an article of the very real problem of Mulcair. He owes Quebec his political life and future, and Canadian history is replete with ROC shoveling cash toward Quebec to keep them soothed. How is Mulcair going to manage to rule for all of Canada while owing such a large political debt to Quebec (and Quebec unions), and Quebec never being shy about demanding what they think they are owed. How is a Prime Minister beholden to Quebec going to benefit us resource based economies that feed the cow, and usually just get what comes out of the end.
I hate to say it, but as for Justin – seems to me anyway – “He may not be ready, but at least he doesn’t owe anyone anything.”
ski51, here we go again: “Mulcair” and “Justin”! Why are you – just like Stephen Harper – afraid to pronounce Justin Trudeau’s name? If you are not afraid what is the agenda? And if there is no agenda, why the disrespectful attitude? Cheapness instead of substance?
To bad the Ottawa Senators wasn’t used as the team.. Then he could have mentioned signing high priced swindlers to the senate and how many millions it’s costing the team in court. :)
PrinceGeorge – I was making a play on the Conservative attack ad – not being disrespectful. In fact, I was making the point he’s the only one of the bunch who isn’t in someone else’s pocket. Nice thing about inheriting “Daddy’s” money is it can make you your own man in some ways.
Touchy people today.
Ataloss you off the grid yet?
He’s not a team canada player either . More like team globalization except when it comes to climate change . In that he’s team cnooc.
I remember Justin backtracking over keeping some significant cash while supposedly raising it for charity, a little off you think ?
Btw loreene harper rides a Harley ( two wheeler ) Stevie does not . Why ? He can’t even balance a bicycle . Too awkward.
Ski51, I apologize for lumping you in too much with the strategy of Mr. Stephen Harper! For me it is plain to see that the strategy of calling Mr. Trudeau by his first name only may be a well-calculated effort to diminish Mr. Trudeau’s stature and potential appeal to the voters! Calling him by his first name only persists, inspite of this odd behaviour having been pointed out and questioned on the campaign trail! Mr. Trudeau is a well educated person, a law abiding citizen, a husband and a loving father of three young children! I have a hard time believing that if a person micro-manages everything to the last minute detail (as to the potential benefit of calling an opponent by his first name only as if he was a teenager or a schoolboy) was totally out of the knowledge loop as far as an incentive offered and made to a senator was concerned.
@findme, how many G7 countries are currently in a recession?
As mentioned before, and many of us are in the same boat. We no longer are voting for the right prime minister. We are voting for the party that we feel will do the least harm to our personal living standards.
Trudeau, a chip off the old block, too scary for the west
Muclair, won’t vote NDP, Just don’t want to go that far left.
Harper, Some of his actions are a bit wing nutty.
Ideal situation for me, A Coalition government, NDP and the Liberals will join forces. They will fight and we are back out voting in 2 years, in the meantime, Harper gets tossed and we have a good focused leader from the conservative!!!!
I’m hope that the PCP will run a candidate in Harpervalley this time a round . Sinclair Stevens is hoping to siphon stevie votes . They are mostly targeting Ont . Ridings with weak con support . The long campaign is giving Stevie a tough time already .
Interesting story by Michael Smyth in this mornings Vancouver Province!
Apparently, Thomas Mulcair’s NDP, the party that rails about “equality” and demands a $15.00 per hour minimum wage has been paying $17.00 per hour for their English speaking phone canvassers BUT only $13.00 per hour for their Punjabi speaking phone canvassers!
“But we didn’t know!” was their response as they now cough up the extra $4.00 per hour in back pay, haha!
Who the hell is Stevie?
I’m definitely voting liberal because I like Mr. Trudeau’s hair.
Yup. The television has been on for 10 minutes and I’ve been told he has nice hair twice already.
PrinceGeorge, you cannot be serious, how many times have you used leaders by their first name only? What is with the disrespect you show them? Many on this site use contemptuous names for most leaders, people do not respect anything anymore it is just the nature of the beast.
What? Me vote for Stevie? I can’t do it because I’m just not ready and also we can’t afford him.
I’m not saying no forever, but for now, Stevie doesn’t have a nice enough hairrrr dooooo !
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