The New Conservative Mantra

A day has gone by since Canada was shocked by Stephen Harper's utter abandonment of principle in the naming of his Cabinet. The funny thing is, things haven't gotten better; they've actually gotten worse.

To begin with, we heard more about the David Emerson file. It turns out that none other than John Reynolds was dispatched by Mr. Harper to kickstart the negotiations. That's right, John Reynolds, the paragon of Tory virtue. If my sarcasm isn't carrying through the text, go have a look at his expense account to see just how much the man respects taxpayers. So now, we know that for two weeks, Mr. Emerson sat on this information. He made his decision without talking to his riding association. He made it without talking to the electorate. He made it without talking to anyone in his Party. Apparently Mr. Emerson has failed to grasp a fundamental concept of public life, so I have a message for him. "Mr. Emerson, you are not in the private sector anymore. YOUR DECISIONS ARE NOT ABOUT YOU." In failing to talk to anyone aside from those who promised to enrich him, Mr. Emerson contributed to what's wrong with democracy. Democracy isn't about telling the electorate what's best for them. It's about respecting the will of those who vote for you. Mr. Emerson has forgotten that, and I, as someone who believed in Mr. Emerson, feel betrayed. Judging by the media commentary I've seen yesterday and today, I'm not alone.

Continuing in the hypocrisy that seems to abound now that the Tories are in power, we heard today from John Cummins, who welcomed Mr. Emerson to the Conservative Party, and to Cabinet. Now, I can understand that not all Conservatives support by-elections for defectors, and to be honest, in most cirumstances, I don't either. But Mr. Cummins does. Or at least, he did. When Belinda Stronach defected, Mr. Cummins was one of the strongest supporters of legislation that would require defectors to resign their seats and stand in a by-election. Apparently this "principled" stand was anything but.

We also heard from the unelected Minister that Stephen Harper promised never to name, who will take a Senate seat that was supposed to be elected. He was asked why he didn't run in the election. His response? "I didn't run in the election because I didn't want to run in the election." Well, isn't that nice? I didn't run in the election either. Can I get a Cabinet post and a Senate seat too? This is worse than Amateur Night.

In any case, the topic of this column is The New Conservative Mantra. Well, I've finally figured it out. "Politics before principles." Stephen Harper was right: he is changing Ottawa. Too bad he didn't tell us just how before Election Day.

A Stench is Rising

Today's column was meant to be a look at expectations for Stephen Harper and his new Cabinet. It was meant to talk a bit about the traditions, and the pomp that surround the swearing in of a new Government. Indeed, a change of Government is always a momentous occasion in Canadian politics. Sadly, the Cabinet that was revealed to Canadians today was nothing short of a disaster. It's difficult to decide where to begin, so I'll just pick at random, and try to follow a logical path as I wade through this mire.

So, we begin in the middle. Ontario elected a large crop of Tory MP's. Stephen Harper decided that the best way to represent Ontarians at the Cabinet table was to pick a crop of losers and hated politicians. We have Jim Flaherty, probably one of the most hated men in Ontario, a man whose slash-and-burn fiscal policy earned him universal disdain throughout much of the country. He now becomes Canada's new Minister of Finance. Tony Clement, the former Ontario Minister of Health, under whom healthcare wait times ballooned in Ontario, now becomes the Minister charged with reducing said wait times. Nevermind that his mismanagement also created a mess in Ontario during the infamous SARS oubreak in 2003. The man is a nice guy, but a perennial loser. The man is unable to run even a rudimentary political operation. His electoral success has always relied on the coattails of others; his leadership campaign demonstrated so clearly what happens to him when there are no coattails to ride. Indeed, to my knowledge, his riding was the only one in the country that was so close that it went to an automatic recount. Rounding out the Ontario bunch is John Baird, who as a Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament hurled insults at a woman who was protesting at the Assembly to draw attention to the plight of her disabled child. He oversaw reckless changes to Ontario's welfare programs that led to countless welfare recipients being cut from the rolls, without any sort of job training whatsoever. His tendency to sign wasteful contracts was criticized repeatedly by Ontario's Auditor-General. He paid Accenture Consulting an average of over $200 per hour to do work that his Ministry had been doing for $51 per hour. He spent $55 million dollars to find a way to save $66 million. And this man, who wasted money in such a cavalier manner, was rewarded for his fiscal prudence by Stephen Harper, who named him President of the Treasury Board. Waste and mismanagement indeed.

Moving on from Ontario, to neighbouring Manitoba, we find Vic Toews, who becomes Canada's new Minister of Justice and Attorney-General. The man whose job it is to uphold the Constitution, and to defend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, has a shameful record of opposing minority rights across the board. He has worked with extremist right-wing groups like Focus on the Family, criticized what he calls "the secular press", voted against bill C-250, which would have included sexual orientation in hate crimes legislation, and opposes abortion. He has also advocated for rather liberal (small-l) use of the notwithstanding clause, to impose his own narrow world view down the throats of all Canadians.

Peter MacKay, a man I can only refer to as a sleaze, a liar (remember PC Leadership?), and a wuss (Belinda Stronach), is now Canada's pointman on the world stage. A Minister of Foreign Affairs is someone who ought to command respect, a statesmanlike figure. Stephen Harper has insulted Canadians by sending a poodle off to the world stage to speak for us. It is simply not in Canada's best interests to be represented by a spineless wimp. As a respected Middle Power, Canada needs a Foreign Minister who can be trusted. Instead, we've gotten a man best known for his massive lies.

Stockwell Day becomes the new Minister of Public Safety. The man who arrived to his first Press Conference clad in a wetsuit and riding a jet-ski is the man whose job it will be to ensure the security of all Canadians. That's right, the man who couldn't hold his own caucus together is now expected to do much more than that for this country. Never mind the fact that this guy thinks that the world is about 6,000 years old and that humans and dinosaurs walked the earth together. This man is probably the least efficient person in the entire Tory caucus, and is the most out of touch with the realities of the world we live in, but he's now the guy who needs to prepare us for emergencies, and respond to them when they happen. Suddenly, I don't feel so safe anymore.

Now, many will remember that Stephen Harper pledged to change things in Ottawa. He made two commitments that he broke in one fell swoop this morning. Mr. Harper swore up and down that he would never appoint an unelected individual to Cabinet, and he promised not to appoint Senators for political purposes. Apparently, Canadians didn't read the fine print, which said that this offer could be changed or thrown out without notice. Michael Fortier was named Minister of Public Works. His job basically entails overseeing all Government spending. Buildings, staff, day-to-day operations. A massive Ministry, prone to scandal, with a huge budget. In Question Period, questions to the Minister of Public Works tend to be quite colourful. Well, so much for accountability. Mr. Fortier is not an MP. Mr. Harper plans on appointing him to the Senate. So much for an election. So much for integrity. Since Senators aren't even allowed to set foot in the Commons, Mr. Fortier won't have to face Question Period, or worry about accountability. What a great tone for the new Government. Here's another Harper quote: "Promise made, promise broken."

Our new Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and incoming President of the Privy Council is a man named Michael Chong. "Michael who," you ask? My thoughts exactly. The man in charge of the Privy Council has no legal expertise, nor any real Government experience at all. The man whose job it is to be the link between the Government of Canada and the provinces has had an undistinguished career that has all but been restricted to Ontario. Then again, he was the NHLPA's information officer. That has to count for something, I'm just not sure what.

Now, there's one name that I haven't mentioned, and that's mostly because I had to consume half a bottle of Gravol to overcome the nausea that this particular person's name brings. But first, here's some more quotes from Mr. Harper and his friends, in reference to defectors. "We don't go out of our way to romance MPs to get them to cross the floor. We are trying to create a principled party..., and obviously we're fairly cautious about encouraging party jumping, because that's the kind of thing that generates cynicism. And frankly, when someone jumps once, you're not sure you can trust them the next time, so I would always handle that with an extraordinary degree of caution." One can only recall that when Belinda Stronach crossed the floor, in principled opposition to Stephen Harper's policies, she was accused of political prostitution, among other things. Countless Tories called for her to resign and stand in a by-election. Apparently those standards only apply to those who leave the Tories, and not those who join. Today, Canadians were shocked to see that a man who just two weeks ago was elected as a Liberal, left his Party, before Parliament had even been convened, before the Government had even been sworn in, to become a Conservative Minister. This is a man who, on election night, sang the praises of Paul Martin, a man who his new boss has described as tired and corrupt. Apparently Mr. Emerson is the only person here who fits that description. The man who spent a campaign demonizing Stephen Harper looked much more fondly upon him when there was a patronage plum to be had. He didn't even have the honour and dignity to inform Mr. Martin, or interim Liberal Leader Bill Graham. Well, at the risk of my own future, let me say this: David Emerson is an asshole. He represents the worst filth in politics, and he is a threat to the very fibre of democracy. If he has an ounce of decency in him, he'll resign his seat immediately, and stand in a by-election. No doubt the voters of Vancouver-Kingsway, who thought they were electing a Liberal, feel angry and betrayed.

This Cabinet represents the worst of the Conservative Party. The few voices of integrity and moderation were given roles that can be considered marginal at best. Turncoats, extremists, and liars now hold the most powerful positions in Canada's halls of power. Canadians from coast to coast will watch the news tonight, and feel sick to their stomachs when they realize precisely what kind of monster they have elected. Here's the most ironic twist of them all: Robert Nicholson was named Minister of Democratic Reform. He was sworn in immediately before Mr. Emerson. Well, there's his first project. In the meantime, there will be a particularly heavy stench hanging over Ottawa, as this sham of a Government takes power.

Election Night in Canada

Well, the tallies are in, and the dust is beginning to settle. Many of those politically involved have not slept in a few days. Indeed, the dying days of a campaign are filled with stress, no matter what the polls say.

What Canadians said tonight, however, marks one of the most confusing outcomes I've ever seen. They elected a Harper minority; that much we can all agree on. They also elected a massive Liberal Opposition, not to mention a sizeable Bloc contingent and an enlarged NDP caucus. What it means though, is that Canadians made Stephen Harper Prime Minister, and then put in place an opposition that will likely prevent him from delivering on almost all of his promises. It certainly creates an interesting situation for him.

For Liberals, tonight was bittersweet. A campaign that had some people forecasting the Liberals being reduced to 60 seats didn't turn out all that badly. However, the Grits have to admit that the past few years were not kind to Canada's natural governing party. They went from a healthy majority to a minority, and now into Opposition. Paul Martin announced his retirement from politics, and will likely be remembered in only a slightly more favourable light than John Turner. Indeed, Martin had so much going for him. He was Canada's greatest Minister of Finance. His battle against the deficit is his greatest legacy to Canadians, who have the privilege of being part of a country with a vibrant culture, a strong social safety net, and being in the only country in the G8 with a solid record of budget surpluses.

Mr. Martin, however, decided to follow his principles. Some would say that sacrifice is a lonely path, and Paul Martin did sacrifice himself, to an extent. He fought long and hard to clear the name of the Liberal Party, which was dogged by scandals, and new ones, engineered though they were, popped up at inopportune times during the election campaign. Blow after blow landed on Mr. Martin, and in the end, it was impossible to defend against them all. So, Mr. Martin will walk off into the sunset of Canadian political history. If the right people write the books, Mr. Martin will be remembered as the man who made Canada the prosperous country that it is, as the man who fought to restore honesty and integrity to government in Canada, as the man who stood on principle for equal rights for all Canadians, regardless of his own personal convictions. His time in office might not have been long, and he failed to win a majority, but years from now, Mr. Martin's impact will still be felt by Canadians. Kim Campbell got it right when she said that Mr. Martin retired from politics with dignity and grace.

Mr. Harper has done better than he expected in Quebec, but aside from that, his campaign still failed to produce the results he had expected. Indeed, with his showing in Quebec, if the rest of his campaign had managed to produce, he would have won a majority. He did not. He will be faced by a Paliament that is incredibly hostile. His saving grace is that Canadians are election weary, and his opponents, just like him, are completely broke. Mr. Harper will be unable to implement his more controversial social and economic changes, and we will have to see how he manages it. The NDP will make things even more painful for him than they did for the Liberals. The Bloc is ideologically further left than the NDP, and let's face it, the Liberals aren't so fond of Mr. Harper either. If I were Stephen Harper, I wouldn't wish this mess on my worst enemy, and when the euphoria settles, and the new keys to 24 Sussex stop looking so shiny and pretty, Stephen Harper will still be stuck with a mess on his hands. I don't envy him one bit.