If you happen to live in the Sussex Drive area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and hear the sound of ravens cackling during the day as they come home to roost, don't be alarmed. They're not coming for you, but rather settling in at 24 Sussex Drive, official residence of the Canadian Prime Minister.
Some nasty stuff is beginning to swirl around the Conservative Party of Canada just now and you can bet that the Liberal party is going to be there, attempting to inflict as much damage as possible. The cracks in the veneer have been starting to show for a while and now the breath of scandal is in the air. There's nothing that a party as corrupt and venal as the Liberals like more than being able to assume the air of violated virgins.
The Conservative Party should have known better and not even offered the Liberals the teeniest straw from which to start building bricks to toss at them. Having spent the past three or so years on the defensive because of the Sponsorship scandal, the Liberals are desperate to go on the offensive. Nothing makes a political party feel better than to be able to scrape off some of the excrement smeared on their faces and throw it right back at their former accusers.
The Conservative Party of Canada eked out a minority government in the past election by promising a change from the corruption and ineptitude of the previous administration. Good, clean, open, and accountable government was what they promised Canadians. The Conservatives would be different, claiming the Liberals had become arrogant and out of touch with the needs of real Canadians.
They just never said in which direction the differences would lie. Every one assumed they meant they'd be less arrogant, more open, and less devious. But the Steven Harper-led Conservatives have proven that you don't have to have been in power for any length of time, or even have a majority government, to scale the heights of arrogant disregard for public opinion.
Garnering less than 40% of the popular vote in an election and less than half the seats in parliament means, in most people's minds, that there will be some hesitations about your policies. You would think a government in that situation might temper its approach and seek out conciliatory means of implementing policies, perhaps listening to what the people of Canada want instead of simply imposing policy.
While the majority of Canadians support same-sex marriage, softening of marijuana laws, agreed with the former Liberal government's day care proposal, and the Kelowna accord signed with all the provinces and the Assembly of First Nations last November, the Conservatives decided they knew better. They decided their day care plan was superior to the one the Liberals had worked out with the provinces. Even though it would do nothing to create more desperately needed spaces or help those who needed it most, single parents, they made the unilateral decision that it would be better. No need to consult with the provinces at all. Just because they happen to have jurisdiction over day care doesn't mean they should have any input on policy.
Article comments
1 - rob
Harper being so damned controlling of his MPs and suspicious of the media isn't going to endear him to the majority of Canadian voters, if anything, it will backfire. It smells of arrogance and deceit. To gain the public's trust, you have to open up to them. I'm surprised he hasn't figured that out yet.
2 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Richard,
Very interesting and informative. However a prime minister operates, he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. For example, had Harper been open with the press and tempering of his decisions, the press would have been all over him for indecision. I'm not defending the man, mind you, merely pointing out that when dealing with the press, it is always a Hobson's choice.
3 - Deano
"There's nothing that a party as corrupt and venal as the Liberals like more than being able to assume the air of violated virgins"
Nice turn of the phrase! Bravo!
4 - RealityBites
I am by no means a defender of Harper or the Conservatives, but in fact Harper has decisively ruled out the use of the notwithstanding clause - in effect admitting the entire exercize is a complete sham, a sop towards the ultra-lunatic fringe of his lunatic party - a group of people whose hatred of minorities is exceeded only by their gullibility.
Also, provinces haven't been quietly passing resolutions allowing equal marriage. There is no need for them to do so, as the definition of marriage is federal. All but two provinces allowed it before the passage of the federal law, as the result of court cases. Bill C38 forced the two remaining provinces (PEI and Alberta, where no court cases had been filed) to comply as well.
5 - Steve
I agree, Ruvy, no government can do anything right when partisans are the ones doing the criticising. Unfortunately, I have heard that some in the media have been proclaiming themselves part of the 'unofficial' opposition to the govt.
Which, of course, is way beyond what the role of the media is supposed to be (i.e. reporting the news). Alas, this idea spouted by some in the Ottawa press gallery has not appeared to receive much debate. Too bad.
After all, the more a govt. is criticised (fairly or unfairly), the more cynical the voting public will become. And the more secretive and untrusting a govt. will be with the media. It's a shame that some in the media fail to realise they are part of the problem.