By Arthur Weinreb
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The Conservatives are supposed to be the party of family values. You know all those social conservatives in the party; the ones who want to build concentration camps to put gays and lesbians in and the ones who want to make seeking an abortion punishable by death.
But these days it is more and more difficult to tell Liberals and Conservatives apart. While Prime Minister Stephen Harper is taking advantage of the two-week Parliamentary March break by traveling from sea to sea to sea, handing out money like a drunken sailor or a sober Liberal for various causes not the least of which is saving the planet from environmental destruction, Steffi is hard at work promoting family values.
Dion may not talk the talk; if he is talking the talk, he must be doing it in English and none of us Anglophones understand a word that he says. But he's certainly walking the walk.
Since Stphane Dion won the Liberal leadership a scant three months ago, the following Liberal MPs have either quit or announced that they will not seek re-election in the next election that all parties claim they don't want--at least not yet.
None of these MPs are declining to run because they see no future in government under the leadership of Stphane Dion. No, most are using the old standby--they want to spend more time with their families than they are able to do in their hectic lives in Ottawa. It seems none of these decisions hinged on the fact that Steffi is tanking in the polls. Yeah, right.
Let's take MP Jim Peterson as an example. He's 65 years old and was first elected in 1980. He lost his seat in the first Mulroney sweep, but has been sitting as an MP continuously since 1988. Many might think that his age might have something to do with the decision. Ask yourself this--is 65 really that much older than the 63 or 64 that Peterson would have been when he proudly ran for re-election under the leadership of Paul Martin Jr.? And he can't be leaving just to collect his pension; the age at which MPs are entitled to a pension from the taxpayers is much closer to puberty than it is to 65.
No doubt that when the anticipated date of the next election draws closer, more Liberal MPs will discover their families and life after politics. The reality is that no self respecting Liberal wants to sit in opposition and as time goes by the chances that the Liberals will return to their natural place in the Universe under a majority government led by Prime Minister Stphane Dion appear to be more and more remote. Even the dithering Paul Martin was able to keep the troops pacified if not happy as he gradually went down to defeat at the hands of Scary Stephen. No doubt if the Liberals fail to win a majority in the next election, Steffi will also rediscover his family and decide to leave the political scene. The reality is that the Libs have not had a good leadership convention since Jean Chrtien won the brass ring in 1990.
Of course not all former Liberal MPs will spend all their time with their families. No doubt some will hit the lecture circuit--speaking to groups of rats about the most environmentally-friendly way to desert a sinking ship.
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2024 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2024 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement