Phendrana Drifts

I have a lot of thoughts. My brain, normally much more laid-back, is a-buzz. The Canadian government is facing imminent collapse and rather than facing the electorate, it seems likely another government will take the reins in the form of Dr. Dion and 24 cabinet ministers, six of which will come from the NDP. Now, given how the last five days have unfolded I don't think anyone can say what will happen in the next six.

My first thought, and the overwhelming one, is disappointment. There is enough blame to go around to all participants and the participants as a whole.

My second thought is directed towards the (current) opposition. Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay said yesterday that even if the Conservatives put forward an stimulus package now, it would have no credibility and the opposition would reject it - a statement that leads me to believe the Liberal and NDP caucuses spent more time talking about how to gain power than deal with the economy. I believe that the Collapse of Global Capitalism is merely an excuse for the actions of the opposition, and I have been searching for a mere hint that I am wrong. So if it is just an excuse, why now? And again, adding to my cynicsm, I think the reason is because if the opposition had done this last spring it would have triggered an election rather than a coalition government. Indeed, I think it is being done now because the window of credibly going to the Governor General to deny a dissolution of parliament and choose a coalition government is only a few weeks, and that is coming to a close. I believe this is a naked power grab and the economic crisis is just window dressing. If it weren't, I believe compromise is possible.

My third thought speaks to why compromise isn't possible. When it comes to crass and cynical political moves, Mr. Harper is pretty good at pointing them out because he has been the author of some pretty good ones. Killing public funding for parties under the guise of economic measures is only the last in a long line of partisan political moves done by the Prime Minister. You reap what you sow, and while I am surprised at how well the opposition have maneuvered in the last six days I am not surprised that they took the first (and really any) opportunity to stick it to the Prime Minister.

My final thought for this post is how far off the actions of all the political parties is from what they promised and what Canadians expected in the last election. A coalition government was not only not pitched to Canadians, it was explicitly rejected by the Liberals. I believe that had Dr. Dion suggested a Liberal/NDP government that would rely heavily on the Bloc for any and all confidence matters then Canadians would have punished him severely and awarded Mr. Harper with a majority. I certainly do not disagree that what the opposition is doing is legal - not only is it legal but I believe that if we are in that nascent environment when a minority parliament is sorting out who is Prime Minister and who is not, then this is legitimate. I do worry that we have passed that time (I would have thought the Throne Speech was the moment to pull that pin) but I shall allow the Governor General - and her suddenly busy team of lawyers and advisors - to make that call.

If the Collapse of Global Capitalism is a immenent and mortal threat to the Canadian economy then I do think a coalition government is not just an acceptable option for the 40th Canadian Parliament, but maybe the right one. However, the one that I think would make more sense would have been a Conservative-Liberal coalition, but I think I recognize that such a suggestion is made impossible by the partisan politics that I worry is killing our democracy.

Labels: federal politics

4 Comments:

At 11:55 AM, Toby said…

Duncan, I think the root of all of this seems to be that it took over two years for everyone - government and opposition included - to remember how minority governments and parliamentary democracy work. What is happening right now does not surprise me as much as the fact that we have been living in some sort of pretend-land since the 2006 election. Harper pretended he had a majority and the opposition pretended there was nothing they could do about it. I'm not sure what the short-term implications of this 'crisis' will be, but I believe this is in the long term interests of Canadian democracy.
At 12:16 PM, Troy Wason said…

Duncan, I think you have expressed the sentiment of the many who are trying to make sense of this fiasco. There is no pretending to take the higher moral ground on this crisis. All parties have been infected by the malaise and, perhaps, as Toby said before me, there may be a silver lining to these historic events.

The time now is for reason, not hyperbole and rhetoric.
At 12:54 PM, daveberta said…

"There is no pretending to take the higher moral ground on this crisis. All parties have been infected by the malaise and, perhaps, as Toby said before me, there may be a silver lining to these historic events."

Bingo, Troy.
At 11:17 PM, SD said…

Well put, Duncan.

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