The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Forgive the Liberals for not quite believing what is happening. After 13 years of governing by opinion polls, they have been forced to put up with a government that stands on principle. How is it, they must wonder, that Canadians would not only elect someone like Stephen Harper, but continue to support him? That question packs a particularly strong punch now that Harper has announced a parliamentary vote on extending CanadaÕs combat mission in Afghanistan. After all, polls have shown most Canadians Ð as many as two-thirds of them Ð want to end combat operations. So do Stephane Dion and many Liberals. TheyÕre oblivious to the dangers this puts on soldiers, Canadian and otherwise, but thatÕs how they feel. According to their own logic, the Grits should be as giddy as school girls. They simply stick to their guns (no joke intended), vote down the Harper government and head into an election with the war issue on their side. They could return to power and bring Canada back to its Liberal glory. Right? Maybe not. Harper has made no secret that he supports the combat mission. Have his poll numbers plummeted? Not really. The polls continue to bounce up and down, but they almost always show the Tories with a six- or seven-point lead over the Natural Governing Party. The Liberals made the mistake of assuming Canadians would flock away from Harper because most appear to disapprove of the combat role. But how often are elections decided on a single issue? A war opponent is not necessarily a Harper opponent. In fact HarperÕs position has garnered him a lot of respect Ð some of it begrudging, but respect nevertheless. Canadians are more thirsty than Liberals thought for a leader who rebukes the windsailing antics of the Chretien-Martin era. Besides, if polls on specific issues were the end-all, be-all, the Liberals would be wise to change some of their Òmiddle groundÓ positions. Polls show 70 per cent of Canadians want restrictions on abortion instead of the current up-until-birth system. Abortion is as contentious an issue as Afghanistan, but the Liberals never once tried to score the political points that restrictions would bring. Harper steers clear of the abortion issue, too, but unlike the Liberals, he doesnÕt paint pro-life people as unwelcome parasites in a progressive nation. HeÕs at least willing to accept that not every Canadian is on-board with Òabortion without boundaries.Ó ItÕs time for the Liberals to grow a backbone. This isnÕt the Chretien-Martin era. Canadians want leadership.
