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.
Leadership with a purpose Every political and business leader would like the public to think they are leading with a vision, or purpose, or plan, for the betterment of the country, province, city or corporation. Yet, in many cases it is difficult to see or even understand the vision. In the case of Jean Chretien what possible vision did he articulate except wanting to get elected? Present PM Paul Martin's obvious purpose is to promise a better and more honest government than the one he was finance minister in; re-elect me and I'll be good! The best leadership vision in modern times was that expressed by John Diefenbaker with his "Roads to resources" plan for expanding the West and North, which for the most part was successfully accomplished by his and succeeding governments. John also had a vision of "One Canada" opposite to the "deux nations" beliefs of his Quebec Conservatives and the Liberal party. The latter is the policy in place today with costly and largely unsuccessful bilingualism policies for the country, and the recent sponsorship programs designed to promote Canada in Quebec, but instead lately exposed as an enormous scandal. Brian Mulroney did express a vision for unifying the country with the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, both of which cost millions, ballooned the debt, and were rejected by Canadians. Actions on his visions, plus the hated GST caused him great unpopularity and doomed the federal PC Party. New Conservative leader Stephen Harper laid out briefly his vision and purpose in a Monday letter to party members following his Saturday election as leader. Harper expresses a vision of change from Paul Martin's scandalous regime to one that will reform the tax system, build a strong economy, and improve relations with the United States. He also declared the need for a justice system that protects citizens, not criminals, and real political reform with responsible government. Harper is hoping his vision will catch fire with the Canadian public the way Dief' did back in 1957. Provincial PC leader, Stuart Murray, in a mid-March speech to 600 party faithful, showed his determination to lead the party to government. His address entitled "Leading with a Purpose" gave the outline of his vision for Manitoba and Manitobans. Murray's thesis is that leadership in all fields of endeavor must have a purpose. Murray promises fiscal responsibility with purpose, spending responsibly, and making government more accountable. He promises to provide tax relief to stimulate the economy and again proposes to take education taxes off homes and farms. Murray pledges to eliminate the NDP's anti-business legislation and "create a competitive business environment that allows Manitoba to become the small business capital of Canada". Health care with purpose is also emphasized as Murray visualizes a health care system which includes public and private facilities, with the individual's costs paid by Manitoba Health. The leader's vision for education is a strong educational system with province-wide testing to ensure high standards in the schools. Noting that Winnipeg is called the murder capital of Canada, the PC leader promises to get tough on criminals and drive the Hell's Angels out of Manitoba. He calls it "law and order with purpose." By the way, Stuart Murray is being applauded by some of his former journalistic critics for his leadership in opposing the Winnipeg floodway labor agreement. Minister in charge, Steve Ashton, spoke of only allowing unionized workers to work on the five year $700 million project. The trouble is the construction industry is 95 per cent non-unionized and objects to having the government forcing them to unionize. The industry released a poll showing 80 per cent of the public opposed, and even 65 per cent of union members not in favor. The Tory leader insists the Doer government has it backwards as unionization is supposed to come from the workers not the government. He has been busy, meeting with the industry, organizing a petition and fax campaign, and writing letters to Paul Martin and even Jack Layton asking for their assistance in opposition. (The federal government is paying 60 per cent of the costs). It is leadership with a purpose. How about an American example? New California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (written about before in this column) has certainly taken a leadership role in the U.S.'s most populous state. Elected by a million votes in this state with a huge debt and a troubled economy, Aaaahnold has taken serious steps to solve the problems after only six months as governor. A moderate Republican, the Terminator has allied himself with his Democratic critics (the Democrats control the legislature) and has taken his "California Recovery Plan" directly to the voters. His plan to issue $15 billion in state bonds and prevent deficit borrowing in the future, passed easily. He also acted quickly to repeal the much hated vehicle tax and eliminated driver's licences for illegal immigrants. His main critics are his former conservative allies, and the goodwill may not last, but with a 60 per cent approval rating the action hero is pressing on now turning to the worker's compensation problem, often blamed for the exodus of business to other states. He shows no hesitation in taking issues directly to the people and since January has raised over $8 million for conducting the direct votes, a feature of many U.S. state's laws. By any measure Governor Schwarzenegger is showing "leadership with a purpose".
