Stepping Into the Unknown
In a conversation with Dr. E the other day, I found myself defending Stephen Harper. Yes, you read that correctly, and no, I wasn't delusional: I was actually defending the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and almost certainly our next Prime Minister.
Granted, this was before he came out with his allegations of a civil service, Senate and judiciary stacked with Liberal appointees that will apparently act as a check on his government. However, aside from this disconcerting gaff - one that ignores the fact that the Senate is only rubber stamp for bills passed in the House, that he will have the authority to replace those 'Liberal' senior public servants (there to create and implement government-sanctioned policy rather than fight against it) as soon as he comes to power and that Canada's Supreme Court is the antithesis of its American counterpart - Harper now understands that he not only had to move to the centre to compete against the Liberals, but that he's going to have to stay there if he wants to stay in power for a respectable amount of time as well.
Having said that, I still think he's being rather duplicitous with regards to his proposed GST cuts targeting the poor, because when it comes down to it, the poorest sectors of society won't really gain much from it: the less you spend, the less you save. I think that his limited travel experience outside of North America will be a liability in terms of the scope for innovation in Canadian foreign policy. I think that his mandatory minimum sentences idea is over the top and fails to address the reasons behind gun violence, and that his 'Accountability Act' proposal will only add more red tape to an already overloaded bureaucracy.
Moreover, I think that his childcare policy fails to address the problem of an apparent critical shortfall in daycare spaces, and that his insistence upon revisiting the gay marriage question is both backwards and unconstitutional. Speaking of which, so would any attempt to try and restrict abortion. I fear that Aboriginals in this country will be in the same place, if not in worse shape, at the end of his term than they are now, and that Canadian immigration policy may take a few step backwards if the former Alliance ideologues in the CPC - hidden from view this campaign - find their way into Cabinet.
In the end, I suppose I wasn't really defending Harper at all, but instead expressing my frustration that Paul Martin has failed to demonstrate why he should govern this country for another term. In fact, the only thing he's really shown us is that it's time for a change of leadership in the party itself. In hindsight, it comes as no surprise that a Prime Minister with so many priorities but so few ideas couldn't lead his party out of the hole it fell into upon assuming power, but it's still pretty disappointing.
It's clear that the Liberal Party is need of some serious reforms of its own, and I look forward to seeing how that turns out. But in the meantime, I figure it's no longer the worst idea in the world to give the far-more-progressive-looking Conservatives a chance to fix things up in Ottawa and across the country. The worst thing that can happen is that we go through this whole process again two or three years from now in order to boot them back into opposition. If we wake up to a minority Conservative government on Tuesday morning, that chance will come even sooner.
On a completely unrelated note, I recommend tuning in to the Rick Mercer Report on Tuesday night at 8pm on CBC. You might just see someone you recognize...
Granted, this was before he came out with his allegations of a civil service, Senate and judiciary stacked with Liberal appointees that will apparently act as a check on his government. However, aside from this disconcerting gaff - one that ignores the fact that the Senate is only rubber stamp for bills passed in the House, that he will have the authority to replace those 'Liberal' senior public servants (there to create and implement government-sanctioned policy rather than fight against it) as soon as he comes to power and that Canada's Supreme Court is the antithesis of its American counterpart - Harper now understands that he not only had to move to the centre to compete against the Liberals, but that he's going to have to stay there if he wants to stay in power for a respectable amount of time as well.
Having said that, I still think he's being rather duplicitous with regards to his proposed GST cuts targeting the poor, because when it comes down to it, the poorest sectors of society won't really gain much from it: the less you spend, the less you save. I think that his limited travel experience outside of North America will be a liability in terms of the scope for innovation in Canadian foreign policy. I think that his mandatory minimum sentences idea is over the top and fails to address the reasons behind gun violence, and that his 'Accountability Act' proposal will only add more red tape to an already overloaded bureaucracy.
Moreover, I think that his childcare policy fails to address the problem of an apparent critical shortfall in daycare spaces, and that his insistence upon revisiting the gay marriage question is both backwards and unconstitutional. Speaking of which, so would any attempt to try and restrict abortion. I fear that Aboriginals in this country will be in the same place, if not in worse shape, at the end of his term than they are now, and that Canadian immigration policy may take a few step backwards if the former Alliance ideologues in the CPC - hidden from view this campaign - find their way into Cabinet.
In the end, I suppose I wasn't really defending Harper at all, but instead expressing my frustration that Paul Martin has failed to demonstrate why he should govern this country for another term. In fact, the only thing he's really shown us is that it's time for a change of leadership in the party itself. In hindsight, it comes as no surprise that a Prime Minister with so many priorities but so few ideas couldn't lead his party out of the hole it fell into upon assuming power, but it's still pretty disappointing.
It's clear that the Liberal Party is need of some serious reforms of its own, and I look forward to seeing how that turns out. But in the meantime, I figure it's no longer the worst idea in the world to give the far-more-progressive-looking Conservatives a chance to fix things up in Ottawa and across the country. The worst thing that can happen is that we go through this whole process again two or three years from now in order to boot them back into opposition. If we wake up to a minority Conservative government on Tuesday morning, that chance will come even sooner.
On a completely unrelated note, I recommend tuning in to the Rick Mercer Report on Tuesday night at 8pm on CBC. You might just see someone you recognize...
posted by Per at 7:13 p.m.
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