a spring election should be called as a result of the constant flow of sleaze that is emerging from the Gomery Commission inquiry on a daily basis. It is almost a moral imperative that Canadians be allowed to decide if they want to keep the most corrupt government in Canadian history in power or banish them, at least for awhile. Loss of power for the Natural Governing Party is likely the only punishment that the architects of adscam will ever receive for the sponsorship scandal.
But this being Canada, ridding the country of a crooked government is not a priority. We all know that healthcare is. It would be hard to get the opposition members out in sufficient numbers to bring down the government on such mundane issues as theft, fraud, money laundering and kickbacks. The opposition is playing politics with adscam just as much as the government is. Principles of honesty and integrity don’t seem to be sufficiently important to bring down the government.
The Conservatives are hesitating. although the Liberals are nosediving in the polls, the Tories don’t seem to be able to properly capitalize on it. Some say that Stephen Harper isn’t ready for an election. Harper wasn’t ready at the beginning of the millennium and it is doubtful he’ll be ready at the beginning of the next one. The Conservatives, as they did during the last election campaign, are playing defense to Paul Martin’s offence. It is almost as if they accept the Liberal argument that siding with the Bloc Quebecois in bringing down the government will lead to a surge in separatism and the possible break up of the country. Of course if the separatism forces gain in strength, it will be because of the effect of the Liberal Party’s shady dealings in Quebec, not because of anything that the Conservatives did.
The NDP are hesitating as well. In some parts of the country such as B.C. and Ontario, the NDP will benefit from voter anger directed at the Liberals. Perhaps they think that they will do better if they wait. Or, they simply don’t have the stomach for an election. any way you look at it, the NDP and the Conservatives seem to look for reasons why not to go to the polls.
The reality is that Paul Martin and the Liberals have lost the moral authority to govern. If they had it, there would have been no need for Martin to say that he has the moral authority to continue. The sponsorship scandal is not the result of a few rogue civil servants or some sort of "parallel Liberal Party" as Paul Martin has proclaimed on different occasions. The graft and corruption had reached the highest levels of the Chrétien-led Liberals and we know enough now to turf the government out on that ground. Canadians are not conducting a judicial inquiry; we don’t have to wait to hear all the evidence before we decide. This is serious. Canada now is not much better than some third world dictatorship where monies that are intended to be used to benefit that country’s citizens is siphoned off to the leader and his cronies. We are well on the way of becoming "Nigeria North".
It is true that polls have been taken that indicate that most Canadians do not want an election at this time. But there are some times, when, as unpalatable is it is, leaders simply have to lead. By propping up the minority Liberals, the three opposition parties are simply becoming enablers of a government that is morally bankrupt. The longer an election is delayed, the more the opposition becomes part of the problem and not the solution.
It’s time to pull the plug.