.camrclark: Ben Harper scorches Jean Charest, while Pierre Poilievre’s team nurses a grudge /via globeandmail
Stephen Harper hasn’t personally jumped into the Conservative leadership race’s public stage, but there is a Harper who has emerged to pick sides: Ben Harper, son of the former prime minister.
Ben Harper responded to a tweet from Mr. Charest – itself a hard-edged criticism of Mr. Poilievre for supporting the trucker convoy and attacking the integrity of the Bank of Canada – with a dismissive shot of his own. But the retweets from Mr. Poilievre’s team suggest they are happy for Conservatives to hear the pro-Poilievre, anti-Charest views of a Harper family member.
Then Ms. Byrne raised the old complaint: that Mr. Charest had “campaigned” against Mr. Harper’s Conservatives. In 2007, when Mr. Charest was facing a tough re-election fight, Mr. Harper’s government tabled a budget that provided a windfall to provinces, especially Quebec, and declared the fiscal imbalance solved. It was supposed to be Ottawa ceding money for Quebec to use on social spending, but Mr. Charest quickly announced a $700-million tax cut. Mr. Harper felt he’d been played.