although we all know that the Liberals are no longer in power, the Natural Government Party is having a difficult time coming to grips with that fact. For those of us who thought that the former government would have a difficult time adjusting to life on the opposition benches, it's nice to know that the party of Wilfrid Laurier, Pierre Trudeau and, unfortunately for them, Paul Martin Jr., isn't disappointing.
Stephen Harper is the Prime Minister of Canada because he fought a good and "focused" campaign. In an era where a government is expected to be all things to all people, the Conservatives concentrated on five major policy areas: accountability, reducing health care wait times, tougher criminal sentences, reduction of the GST and child care. The newly-elected government promised there would be no surprises in the throne speech and surprise, surprise, there were no surprises--a stark contrast from a government that said one thing and then did (or more likely did not do) another. although some other areas were mentioned, the speech from the throne concentrated on the same five Conservative priorities.
The way the current government is operating is in stark contrast to the Martin Liberals. Everything, depending on where he was and who he was speaking to, was a "priority" for the hapless Martin. as set out on the CPC's website prior to the election, Paul Martin had a total of 56 items such as home-care programs, Western alienation, respect for the Canadian passport and aIDS programs for africa that depending upon where he was and who he was speaking to was a "priority" at one time or another. Despite being in opposition, the Liberals still think that the way a government should be run is to promise everything to everybody and if you can't deliver, it really doesn't matter.
First off the mark after the throne speech was one of the two prominent Tory turncoats, Scott Brison. Brison described the speech from the throne as "pretty thin gruel" and criticized the government for not being "ambitious" enough. Perhaps we should pay attention because as anyone who has ever heard Brison speak, the guy knows gruel.
What Brison and the Liberals are really upset about is the fact that the Conservatives are not willing to implement a Liberal agenda. This became really apparent when Bill Graham, interim Liberal leader and Hezbollah apologist, picked the planned reduction in the GST as the subject of his first attack on the new government in the House of Commons. While there is no doubt that Stephen Harper would like to believe that he is now the Prime Minister of Canada because of his brilliant conservative ideology and his magnetic personality we all know, including Harper himself, that his residing on Sussex Drive has more to do with the planned reduction of that much hated tax. Perhaps the Liberals really do think that they can run during the next election by using the slogan "Save the GST — vote Liberal!" If the Liberals could really contemplate that they are no longer the government, they wouldn't be mentioning the GST; all that does is conjure up images of Jean Chrétien's infamous Red Book promise to scrap the tax. Now they can't bear to see it reduced a point or two.
The Liberals should take a few lessons from Paul Martin's former best friend, Jack Layton, and the NDP. Let's face it; the NDippers are professional opposition members. The NDP knew enough not to list every item of federal responsibility that was not mentioned in the throne speech. Instead of trying to talk the Conservatives out of their agenda, Layton is trying to get them to expand it; for example, instead of attacking the $1,200 a year payment for children under 6, Layton is pressing the government to create more daycare spaces. Perhaps Jack thinks that by playing nice, Stephen might let him do a budget, just like Paul did. But the reality is that the NDP and the Bloc realize that the government has its own priorities and some deference has to be paid to it. The Liberals can't get their collective minds around the fact that the Tories have formed the government.
It will be interesting to see if this parliament can last long enough for the Liberals to realize that they are no longer in power. It's somewhat doubtful; we'll just have to watch.
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