If ever the time was ripe to banish the Liberals from power, that time is now. This is not to say that given the makeup of Parliament the government should have fallen during the budget votes. If an election was held today, given the credible allegations of Liberal Party corruption and a government unable to function while it desperately clings to power, the Liberals should be looking to take a drubbing like they did when John Diefenbaker and Brian Mulroney came to power.
Yet the polls indicate that the Liberals and the Conservatives are running neck and neck. Depending upon the day and the poll, one party or the other is always slightly ahead.
Under the most optimistic of circumstances, Stephen Harper has not been able to convince enough Canadians that his Conservative Party of Canada is anything more than a Western-based party. Despite the deep anger in Quebec over the sponsorship scandal, the Conservatives are not poised to win any seats in that province. and since no one will ever believe that a Canada governed by the Conservatives will be as generous with atlantic Canada as the Liberals now are, the Tories would be hard pressed to make significant gains east of Quebec.
as most know, the true battle to form the next election will be decided in Ontario. It is Stephen Harper's inability to affect a breakthrough in this central Canadian province that most illustrates his ineffectiveness as an opposition leader primed to defeat the government. Despite the ongoing revelations of scandal and corruption coming from the Gomery Commission and despite Ontarians' distaste for Paul Martin and his government, the Liberals continue to lead the Conservatives at the polls. It is in Ontario where Stephen Harper's lack of ability to fight the Liberal Party spin that he has a secret agenda and that the Conservatives, not the Liberals are responsible for the rising tide of Quebec separatism, is most pronounced. The Conservatives have been given circumstances in which to come to power, yet Harper cannot win in Ontario and therefore cannot win the country.
The stark reality is that Stephen Harper, although he is an intelligent man, simply lacks the leadership skills necessary to form the next government. His lack of these skills became obvious when the February budget was introduced. When the budget was first tabled, Harper quickly said it was a good "conservative budget" and supported it. He and his Tories then announced that they would vote against the budget and try and bring the Martin government down. a couple of days before the vote, Harper again changed his mind and announced that his party would support it. The reason for his last flip flop was that there was pressure from Newfoundland and hints that his Newfoundland members might cause the non confidence vote to be lost. a person with political smarts would have foreseen this and supported the budget all along. The end result of his wavering was that had the Conservatives initially supported the budget that they ultimately voted for, Paul Martin would have had no reason to make a deal with Jack Layton. Harper, as much as Martin, is responsible for the $4.6 billion dollar "NDP budget" that ultimately passed by one vote.
On the matter of Belinda Stronach, Harper said he had seen her defection coming. It is simply not enough for a leader to see something happening. a true leader has to act. although Harper could not have prevented Stronach from crossing the floor, he could have tried to keep her in line, failing which he, not Tim Murphy and David Peterson, could have determined the timing of her departure from the Tory ranks.
If Canada is ever to have a functioning multi-party democracy, Stephen Harper has to go. He simply lacks the skills necessary to win. and if he won't step aside and truly thinks that he has what it takes to be the prime minister of Canada, perhaps he should try to win over Ontario by leaving his alberta cocoon and running for a seat in that province in the next election. We hear the riding of Newmarket-aurora is available.
How about that Mr. Harper?
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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