The first six articles on the front page of the Financial Times this afternoon read as follows:
- "Record contraction in US services sector: Private sector sheds most jobs in six years"
- "Record number of companies at risk of default"
- "More grim data pushes Wall Street lower: job cuts worse than expected"
- "Markets braced for big rate cut: Bad economic data continue to flow from leading economies"
- "Blackberry maker warns on slower growth"
- "Commodities prices at six-year lows"
Not exactly cheerful news. And yet it is in precisely these grim economic times that the politicians of one of the best-performing rich countries have decided to instigate a political crisis. All by themselves. Non-residents will be forgiven for not having heard about Canada's most recent political circus - you will also be forgiven for continuing in that blissful ignorance.
As I alluded to, Canada's economy has so far held up extremely well compared to the rest of the G7. However, the knock-on effect of recessions in the economies of Canada's biggest trading partners is likely only to be delayed and dulled, not avoided. Given that, Prime Minister Harper's decision last Thursday to use his "economic update" in parliament as an excuse to kneecap both opposition parties and public servants was pretty shameful. See Paul Wells for more on that score.Equally shameful was the response of the various parties that make up the parliamentary opposition. Within weeks of decisively losing a federal election, the three opposition parties have decided, in their collective wisdom, that rather than blocking the PM's maneuver with their combined majority or even (horrors!) suggesting a viable policy alternative, they will form a coalition and take over the government.
The battle lines have been drawn and both sides are working ferociously to brand the other as unpatriotic, irresponsible, power-hungry nutters. Both sides are winning; meanwhile, Canadians everywhere are the losers.
Let me quickly address some of the main issues. First of all, there is nothing in principle wrong with the idea of a separatist party engaging in a government coalition. Moreover, since both sides have relied on said "separatist" party to support their agenda, there is equal parts hypocrisy on all sides. As far as the complaint by the opposition that the economic update did not include appropriate measures for fiscal stimulus... I got yer fiscal stimulus: right here!
I will finish with an open letter to Canada's legislators:
Dear Conservative, Liberal, New Democratic and Bloc Parties,
Grow up.
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2 comments:
UNBELIEVABLE!
I followed the events of yesterday's meeting between Harper and Michaëlle Jean on CBC yesterday. Her decision was a hard one to swallow. Perhaps Canadians have gloried the Prime Minister's position in Canada and equated it with that of the President in the United States. That simply isn't the case in Canada. We DO NOT choose our Prime Minister and the governor general IS NOT subordinate to the Prime Minister
The CBC aired audio clips of Wilfred Laurier students debating exactly this. One student held firmly that if the governor general didn't do what Harper told her to do, that she would be insubordinate. Unbelievable!
What's the point of her position? Why is she even there? She does have a job. She may have forgotten what that was yesterday, but she does have responsibilities and that it not to just sign everything the Prime Minister passes under her nose.
The Queen of England is Canada's sovereign. Canada is a constitutional monarchy and so her sovereignty and powers are limited by our constitution. The Queen could meddle in Canadian Politics but the Supreme Court of Canada has recently made it very clear that they would not accept such an intervention by the Queen. So the queen couldn't do anything yesterday.
Next one down on the totem pole is the Canadian Governor General. She's the representative of the Queen in Canada. She signs the laws and does all the other fancy ceremonial stuff that we've been doing since the beginning. It all passes through her and it is a constitutional convention that she signs what's under her nose because the House of Commons and the Senate have reached an agreement on it so there never is a reason for her to oppose it.
She is a vital part of the checks and balances of our government. She has the power to say no and this role and power is her very raison d'etre.
Following an election, she choose the Prime Minister that will command the confidence of the House of Commons and lead the government. THAT'S HER JOB! This is what she had to consider yesterday.
Harper does not command the confidence of parliament. He has made no efforts to get the parties to work together but has instead taken a my way or the highway approach since "he has the most seats". That's not a majority. If 38% of Canadian want to turn right for one reason and 62% of Canadians want to turn left (albeit for 3 different reason) then having Canada turn right is NOT democracy. Harper telling 62% of Canadian to $#@$ off because he's the biggest of the 4 quarrellings kids is NOT democracy.
That's when the Governor General steps in as the lunchtime recess monitor, breaks up the fight and concludes that Harper is no longer leading parliament because he no longer has the confidence of the rest of the group. Then she looks at the alternative leader and realizes how much she hates her job.
Now we're screwed. We'll be in exactly the same position in January. the other 3 kids are going to hate Harper just as much as before, if not more. They will fight together with the 62% of their weight against Harper's motions and nothing, I repeat, NOTHING will get done. That's cool because another election or Marshall Law is always an option at that point.
All four of these kids need to go into mediation.
In other news, the Canadian constitution is amended to replace the governor general with an automated signing wicket.
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