As a Canadian, I have taken a somewhat perverse pleasure in making fun of Americans for having to decide between McCain and Obama in the 2008 Presidential election. I am on the view that either way America will see higher government spending and more government influence in 2009. President Obama will give the U.S. a psychological boost, and I honestly hope that his ascension to the throne will begin to heal the racial divide that exists in America. Unfortunately, economically, I don’t see how he can save the U.S. from the almost certain depression that will hit in 2009.
Unfortunately, as a Canadian, my commentaries on such topics as Why This is a Sad Day for America have now come back to bite me. We Canadian certainly look like fools this week.
The Harper Conservative government won an increased number of seats in our federal election in October, but they are 12 seats short of a Parliamentary majority. Mr. Harper, stupidly, decided he would govern as though he has a majority, and so with no warning to anyone he proposed cutting funding for all federal political parties. (Under the current Canadian system each political party receives funding based on the number of votes they received in the last election). The Conservatives have Obama-like skill in fundraising, so they don’t need the federal money. The opposition parties are not as good at fundraising, so losing the federal money really hurts them.
I support reducing government spending, and I support not giving my tax dollars to fund political parties. However, Mr. Harper should have had the guts to make his case before the Canadian public during the election campaign. If he had, than no-one could criticize him for implementing the change now. Unfortunately for him, he said nothing about it during the campaign, and now appears to be nothing more than a common thug, kicking his opponents while they are down.
The three opposition parties (one of which is the Quebec separtist party, whose main objective is to separate from Canada), have banded together and formed a coalition. They hope to defeat the government, and install Stephane Dion as Prime Minister, even though Mr. Dion got beaten so badly in the election that he announced he will resign as leader of the party in May, when a leadership convention will be held.
Mr. Harper convinced the Governor General to prorogue Parliament, meaning the vote to defeat the government won’t happen until after January 26 when Parliament resumes sitting. This will give Mr. Harper time to make his case to the Canadian public, and, he hopes, give time for the coalition to collapse.
Yes, we Canadians look like a bunch of fools, as we wait for Mr. Dion, a disgraced, retiring leader, to become Prime Minister, supported by the separatists.
Wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of looking out for themselves, the politicians actually acted in the best interests of the people?
After the election Mr. Harper should have convened a meeting of all opposition parties and said something like this:
Ladies and gentlemen, none of us achieved a majority. The world wide economy is in a mess. We need a plan to save the country, and so us fighting amongst ourselves won’t do it. Here’s what I want to do: I want to spend on infrastructure, lower taxes, or whatever. I realize that as opposition parties you will have somewhat different priorities. Tell me one or two things you want to accomplish for the good of the country, and we will agree on a common set of priorities for the next year. At the end of the year, we will see where we are at, and if we haven’t accomplished anything, we can go back to the electorate. What do you say? Are you with me?
Instead, he took the low road:
Ha ha, I won and you didn’t. Now I’m going to cut your funding so I can crush you in the next election! Ha ha!
Very Primeministerial, Mr. Harper. You have made all Canadians proud. The unemployment rate is rising. Our automotive industry is collapsing. Our resource base is collapsing. Personal bankruptcies are rising. And your solution is to shut down Parliament for almost two months.
Great. We are all very proud.