Reuters does its bit to downplay the Conservatives in Canada

not that i want to hint at an international conspiracy.....is it just me or do reuters, the bbc, the cbc and the ny times all have the same stupid bias?

Canada's Conservatives savor prospects warily
(ed-who's weary? why? what the hell? they are pretty happy right now)
Reuters, 03.22.04, 12:40 PM ET

By Randall Palmer

OTTAWA, March 22 (Reuters) - Canada's freshly united Conservative Party hailed its new leader on Monday as one able to seriously challenge the Liberal government in the next election, but undercurrents of internal tensions remained over issues such as same-sex marriage.

Stephen Harper held up the hands of his two leadership rivals, Belinda Stronach and Tony Clement, in a victory salute that won a standing ovation at a special meeting of the Conservative caucus in Parliament.

"We're here not to fight other Conservatives. We're here to fight Liberals," said Harper, who won the leadership race, as expected, on Saturday.

He reveled in the troubles plaguing the Liberals after a decade in power and after their more bruising leadership battle last year -- which ended with Paul Martin ousting fellow Liberal Jean Chretien as prime minister.

"They have no vision, so instead they've fought. They've fought over power and over control and over status, and they've done nothing for the country," he said. "That's why we're going to replace them in the next federal election."

Conservative after Conservative told reporters that the two disparate elements that formed the new party in December -- the right-wing Canadian Alliance and the more moderate Progressive Conservative Party -- had buried the hatchet.

Nonetheless it was clear Harper would face difficulties keeping the party's two wings happy.

An advocate of allowing gay marriage, Stronach is on the more liberal wing of the party. She declared her support for the more conservative Harper and her pledge to bring all the teams together. But she also said she intended to push to ensure the Conservative Party is "moderate".