by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
October 19, 2004
Carolyn Parrish is at it again. No, the Liberal Party's designated america-basher has not come out with another tirade of childish anti-american name-calling. This time the parriah has turned her sights on someone closer to home--her leader, Prime Minister Paul Martin.
The Mississauga Ontario MP doesn't want to see the House of Commons vote on the issue of whether or not Canada should join the United States in their missile defence system. according to Parrish, Paul Martin has "rigged" the vote in the Commons by forcing "brown-nosing" Liberal MPs to vote in favour of joining the United States in its defence program.
Our little girl is growing up. It's nice to finally see that after all these years, Carolyn Parrish has finally figured out the way Ottawa and the Liberal Party works. It seems she never paid attention to the autocratic way in which former PM Jean Chrtien controlled his caucus. With Chrtien supporting her anti-americanism in the background, she can be forgiven for not being critical of Da Boss over his control of the party's backbenchers that Trudeau correctly described as "nobodies". But now that Flat Paul is at the helm, she makes accusations of "vote rigging" against Martin for doing what comes naturally to party leaders.
In this minority government, the vote, if one is in fact held, will be close. The Conservatives, although they are not especially good at making their positions clear, are generally thought to be in favour of cooperating with the U.S. on the issue of missile defence. The Bloc and the NDP, who find all things military extremely distasteful, are opposed. There are members of the Liberal Party on both sides of the issue and how their vote breaks down will determine the outcome.
Parrish's accusations against the Prime Minister say more about Paul Martin than they do about Parrish. Parrish says things much in the same way a child entering those terrible twos does; because she knows she can get away with it. Her first burst upon the international scene occurred shortly before the war against Iraq when a boom microphone overheard her saying, "Damn americans – I hate those bastards". Chrtien, who was not above a little Bush-bashing himself, remained silent. after Paul Martin assumed office with his promise that was formalized in the Throne Speech, to improve Canada/U.S. relations, Parrish referred to the United States as "the coalition of idiots". at first, Martin excused her by saying that the debate on missile defense was very emotional. The PM then asked that Parrish apologize; an apology that never came and that by now, even Martin has probably figured out will never come.
Parrish's refusal to apologize for her remarks shows that in the Liberal Party family, she wears the pants. Part of the reason that she is free to disobey or otherwise make derogatory comments about her leader is that Martin is too afraid of losing his minority government. It would be a tad disheartening, not to mention career-ending, if the government was defeated by one vote in some future confidence motion and Parrish voted against the government. and the way the present Parliament is made up, a one vote margin is a real possibility.
But there is another reason why Parrish will end up besting the PM. Paul Martin simply lacks what it takes to be a real leader. He appears to be sincere in his desire to end the type of comments that emanate from the left wing members of his party who cannot feel good about themselves or their country unless they are trashing the United States. But he lacks the intestinal fortitude to control mavericks in his caucus like Carolyn Parrish. and now, being emboldened for never having to say she's sorry, Parrish is free to criticize Martin, even to the extent of accusing him of rigging Parliamentary votes. It's getting more and more difficult to determine who the leader is and who the backbencher is.
Paul Martin is also too timid to risk upsetting the large numbers of ethnic voters in Mississauga-Erindale, who love Parrish for her anti-americanism. In contrast, Jean Chrtien would have shown Parrish who da boss was. If she had defied and made accusations against Chrtien like she has against Martin, he would have booted her from the Liberal Party. He would have let her constituents get angry. Then right before the next election, the only time that matters, he would have dumped millions of bucks into the riding and bought them all back. Unfortunately, Martin lacks the guts and the political skills to keep Parrish in her place.
The Liberals should just make Carolyn Parrish the prime minister. She will then be able to formally call the shots.