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.
Our nationÕs capital is in the midst of a political crisis when it should be addressing an economic crisis. But whose fault is that? Prime Minister Stephen Harper is blaming the opposition parties. He has accused them of cooking up Òa backroom deal to overturn the results of the last election.Ó But it was the government, not the opposition, that introduced an economic statement last Thursday that contained no significant new measures for dealing with the slumping economy. The statement was, however, loaded with political hot buttons Ð notably the elimination of public financing of election campaigns, an attempt to tilt the playing field toward the Conservatives. We were told to wait for the budget Ð now set for Jan. 27 Ð for measures to stimulate the economy. It was the sort of statement a right-wing government would produce if it had a majority. But Canadians, in their wisdom, elected a minority government, on Oct. 14. Given that, it behooves the Conservatives to compromise with the opposition parties on a package that could win support in Parliament. Over the weekend, the government began compromising by dropping the campaign financing measure as well as a proposal to suspend the right-to-strike for federal public sector workers. But the opposition parties remained adamant that the government must do more to stimulate the economy. And on this point, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty showed no give in various media appearances Sunday. He stuck to his line that the government had already supplied the stimulus in a mini-budget in the fall of 2007. For the opposition, that is not good enough. Unless the government budges, they plan to defeat it in a vote on Dec. 8. Ordinarily, that would plunge Canada into another election. But the opposition parties are planning an alternative: replacing the Conservatives with a coalition made up of Liberals and New Democrats, supported by the Bloc Quebecois. Harper, forgetting the fact that he called for something similar when he was in opposition just four years ago, has suggested this move is undemocratic. Noting that the Liberals lost the election on Oct. 14, he declared that Liberal Leader ÒStphane Dion does not have the right to take power without an election.Ó In fact, what is being proposed is perfectly in keeping with our parliamentary system. But since Harper is counting votes, it is worth pointing out that more people cast ballots for the Liberals and NDP combined than for the Conservatives. Harper could yet try to head off the coalition with a genuine attempt at compromise. But if he charges ahead, it is he, not the opposition leaders, who should shoulder the blame for the political uncertainty that will follow.
