Countdown to the New Year: #1 of the Top Ten Conservative Lowlights of 2012

New Democrats led the way in 2012, proposing solutions to today’s challenges and effectively holding Conservatives to account for their mismanagement and ethical scandals.

For Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, 2012 was a banner year for getting it wrong. In order to help the Conservatives with their New Year’s resolutions, let’s countdown the Top Ten list of the worst Conservative lowlights from the past year.

Worst Conservative lowlight of 2012:

State-owned Chinese company takeover of Nexen rubber stamped by Stephen Harper

A key Canadian oil sands company, Nexen, was bought out by Chinese state company CNOOC in a $15 billion deal. In a press conference that reached the highest heights of hypocrisy, Stephen Harper denounced takeovers of our natural resources by state-owned companies while announcing that he was approving exactly that.

To add insult to injury, Conservatives also negotiated in backrooms a new Canada-China FIPA treaty deal with China that gives increased access to our strategic natural resources to companies like the now Chinese state-owned Nexen.

But don’t worry, brave Canadians! Conservatives, always fond of transparency, say that if we want any answers to why they made this poorly-thought decisions, all we need to do is ask the Communist government of China for answers. Maybe they’ll add a seat in Parliament for the Chinese politburo next session?

With 2012 closing, Canadians have reason to wish that Conservatives have learned from their numerous mistakes, dubious ethical decisions and bad choices. May 2013 bring more transparency, better management and better ethics to Ottawa.

Happy New Year!