By Arthur Weinreb
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Polls have consistently shown that if another federal election was called, we would end up with another Conservative minority which explains why despite all of the huffing and puffing, the Harper government hasn't come close to falling. As the notion that Canada would be unrecognizable with Scary Stephen at the helm fades with every passing day, the Tories should be poised to win a majority. The party has been blessed with the election of Stphane Dion as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada; a man who simply has not resonated with Canadians and probably never will. He came in as a one-trick pony and now everyone else is jumping on the environmental bandwagon. As important an issue as the environment and global warming (or as it is referred to during the winter, climate change) might be when Canadians next go to the polls, it's not likely to be "the" issue that determines which party forms the government.
Stephen Harper was never the most popular politician in Atlantic Canada but now it seems that he couldn't care less about the Maritimes. After being accused of breaking promises and agreements regarding equalization payments, Harper's reaction to the disgruntled provinces was to say "sue me". Any hopes that the Conservative Party of Canada stands for smaller government and fiscal prudence seems remote with Harper adopting a Conrad Black like zeal for a lawsuit. At least Conrad used his own money on lawsuits. Okay, so he probably used Hollinger's money but the point is he didn't require ordinary citizens to fork over their hard earned money to finance litigation. The only certainty in any proposed court actions is that the taxpayers will pick up the tab. And the taxpayers living in the have provinces will have the pleasure of not only paying the costs of the federal government but of having their transfer payments used to fund the have not provinces that take up the prime minister's offer. Taxpayers sue thyself!
The sad part about the whole budget, equalization payment, resource thing is that the Conservatives are probably taking the correct course of action. But the government's complete inability to explain the complex situation is giving the disgruntled provinces the upper hand. Harper's threat to bring on a lawsuit or encourage the provinces to do so is a strange way for the Right Honourable Prime Minister to act.
Harper's encouragement of a lawsuit to cover his inability to properly explain his party's position is not the first strange statement that Stephen Harper has made lately. A couple of weeks ago, Stphane Dion was questioning the government about Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor misleading the House – again. As opposition members are wont to do, the Liberal leader demanded O'Connor's resignation. Harper replied that the Minister of National Defence spent 32 years in Canada's Armed Forces and "When the Leader of the Opposition is able to stand in uniform and serve his country, then I will care about his opinion of the performance of the Minister of National Defence". This led to Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff making the comment that he couldn't quite recall the prime minister's service record.
Harper's apparent willingness to write off some of the have-not provinces as well as his statement that opinions on defence matters don't matter when they come from someone who has not served in the military are bizarre to say the least. It appears that he's simply losing it. And it's hard to believe that Harper's conduct is conducive to attracting the swing voters that are necessary if he and the Tories ever hope to gain a majority.
The reality is that it seems extremely unlikely that any party will be able to form a majority government unless a leadership convention or two are held.
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