The still-scary Mr. Harper

Just as Stephen Harper seems to have eased Canadians' concerns about his dogma driven motives, he goes all spooky again. He talks about a Conservative government's power being balanced by "... courts that have been appointed by the Liberals."

He then refers to the courts as "... checks on the power of a Conservative government." This suggests a number of things. First, he seems to consider the courts partisan political institutions. Quite aside from the gratuitous insult to the judiciary, a potential prime minister who positions the courts as the opposition is not reassuring. Second, does he have something in mind that will be challenged in the courts? One cannot help but wonder what that might be. And what does he have in mind for the future? If the courts are political institutions, does he intend to nominate judges on the basis of their politics? Disturbing questions demanded by a disturbing attitude.

The divisive nature of his thinking is worrisome, all too reminiscent of the Harris Conservatives, to say nothing of the Bush Republicans. We can only hope that power will temper Mr. Harper's paranoia, perhaps even make a bit of a statesman out of him. If not ... well, that's too scary to think about.