Who Is Paul Martin?

This is the man who claims a deep affinity with his father, Paul Martin Sr., Liberal member for Windsor for many years, a small-town lawyer, then politician and left-leaning Cabinet member. But Paul Jr. spent 30 year as a Chief Executive Officer for two companies, Power Corporation and Canada Steamship Lines (CSL).

Company officers universally have a goal, clearly stated in Mark Achbar¹s new film The Corporation; (see review p.18): maximize profits and cut away losing holdings. But public office calls for a crucial understanding of and commitment to the public interest, not to the bottom line.

Does Mr Martin own up to the fact that Canada is now in 8th place in the annual United Nations Human Development Index? Does he recognize that social inequality grew in Canada during his term as Finance Minister, when he was consumed by deficit cutting? Does he stay awake nights thinking about child poverty, and how it has increased, despite all pledges to the contrary? Is he pleased by a higher number of low-paying jobs? Does he hear Canadians declare they do not want our foreign policy made in Washington and are utterly opposed to Star Wars II? How much did he know about the sponsorship scandal, and when?

In 2000, Martin sat on a five-year, $193 billion surplus but, transfixed by deficit hysteria, refused to mend the safety net which he had virtually destroyed. The Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Manitoba justice coalition Choices showed that the deficit targets could be met without a single spending cut. His insensitive choices, always accompanied by grandiloquent language, show him as a man out-of-step with Canadian values. Martin seems to have repudiated the Liberal "Red Book" of 1993, and moved instead to embrace the "Washington Consensus", a program marked by privatization, deregulation, smaller government and unfettered free trade.

Is this gentleman (regarded by many as charming, intellectually curious and decent) trustworthy? Or is he in the lap of the Business Council on National Issues (now called the Canadian Council of Chief Executives)? We cannot avoid asking, does CSL continue to ply international waters with its 16 ships registered under "flags of convenience" (i.e. Bahamas), thus escaping Canadian tax and labour law? Lastly, does he really believe that ongoing approval from the generally-disregarded federal Ethics Counsellor constitutes any kind of a moral guide to be followed?

Progressive Canadians, seeking a just society and a independent place for Canada in the world, must catch and keep Paul Martin's ear. As veteran writer Douglas Fisher said of the throne speech, "Such a profusion of intentions but a minimum of specifics." We need to persistently stay in the vision of the Liberal government. As John Mitchell, Richard Nixon's attorney general said in the 1970s: "Watch what we do, not what we say."

Canadians wanting an activist government which favours the common good must pay attention to our prime minister's deeds, rather than his language.

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Reprinted with permission.

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