Celebrate Diversity On June 28th

June 2 2004
Counterbias.com
Cory M. Marshall
F O C U S   O N   C A N A D A

            All this talk about minority government in Canada is encouraging for, at least, it signifies that neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives will be able to run amok in our parliament or our treasury.  Should Mr. Martin find his way back into power, there would likely be a need for some kind of coalition building with him turning to either Mr. Layton or M. Duceppe to shore up government.  It has been mentioned that Mr. Harper has his sights on a minority government as well.  In this event, one has to wonder if the country would be thrown immediately into another federal election after the first vote on legislation.  

            I think that on some level we Canadians go into the polling station hoping for a new Trudeau only to find that we end up with another Mulroney.  This seems to have happened in Ontario with the other side of Mr. McGuinty's mouth, the one he managed to stifle in the run up to his emerging as Ontario's latest disappointing premier.  This feature of the McGuinty government has put Mr. Martin in a curious position. He has had to point to the failure of Mr. McGuinty to keep his promises as an exemplar of what should not be done.  Here, we seem to have the Liberals eating their own, and Mr. Martin has actually had to commit to keeping three of his promises (money for health, money for cities and balancing the budget) or else he pledges to resign.  This might not be so dramatic or magnanimous given the speculation that there will be a minority government.  Resignation in such an instance would mean a legislative defeat that would force this noble gesture of accountability.

            For his part, Mr. Harper has turned to Mr. Mulroney for consultation and that should speak volumes.  The Devil-We-Don't-Know has turned to the most hated Canadian Prime Minister of recent memory for advice about forming a government.  It would seem more appropriate for Mr. Harper to seek counsel south of the border, as he seems bent on turning Canada into a pale shadow of our southern neighbour. His last parliamentary gesture was to table a bill to make Canadian elections revolve around a four year cycle just like another North American democracy of which he has historically been so enamoured, enamoured enough to shed Canadian blood and dignity.

            Mr. Harper made a speech today where he promised that he would increase funding to our military, to buy tanks and helicopters, and even to boost the rolls from their current 60,000 by another 13,000.  The way militaries are being used these days, it doesn't seem reasonable that this could be done without some means of conscription or coercion, like economic depression.  He has even mentioned acquiring aircraft carriers for these new helicopters.  In sum, Mr. Harper seems to be appealing to the right wing hawks in our country, but one should note that these things are not bought to sit around looking all technologically perfect.

            For his part, Mr. Martin wants us to choose his infusion of cash into Canada's provincial health systems which ultimately would have served him better had he gone ahead and done it before Mr. McGuinty's budget devastated Mr. Martin's political base in Ontario.  Now, Mr. Martin and Mr. Harper are neck and neck in Ontario, with Mr. Martin appealing to sick people, or those who think they might be, by assuring that waiting times will be reduced.

            Warfare and sickness.  Surely we can do better than that.  It would be intriguing to see how Mr. Layton would serve as Prime Minister given his progressive nature, and his affinity for alternate energy.  It would be interesting to see how Canada would look powered by something other than fossil fuels.  Perhaps, in the event of a minority government, Mr. Layton might have the hammer to realize our recovery from our addiction to, or dependency on, hydrocarbons.  

            Should a minority government arise, one thing is clear above all else.  We have been inundated with politicians thus far, and the perilous lack of a clear mandate ought really to shake the statesmen loose from the pack, and permit the peoples' affairs to be managed with diligence.  That would be something to celebrate.