The recent resignation of Maxime Bernier is just one more example of Prime Minister Harper’s endless problem of finding qualified cabinet appointees and the problem is in large part of his own making.
When the Alliance, formerly the Reform, took over the Progressive Conservative Party it was made perfectly clear that moderate conservatives, who, in the Canadian conservative tradition are termed Red Tories, were not welcome. The shunning of the likes of David Orchard was a conspicuous example. Mr. Orchard has considerable political talent and integrity and could have made a valuable contribution to this new party; instead he was driven to the Liberals.
In no way was this a coalition of two parties. It was indeed a take over with the Alliance clearly dominant. In other terms it could be seen as the death of a distinctly Canadian strain of conservatism supplanted by Harper and his wannabe Republicans.
As leader of the defunct PCP the incorrigible Peter MacKay could have been instrumental in ensuring that former members of his party were a key component in this new party- in other words- a big tent party where all those calling themselves conservatives could be at home. To this day MacKay is no doubt oblivious to his obligations in this regard. He has simply become another lackluster cabinet minister in a talent starved government.
One reason governments become talent starved is that they are narrowly ideological (as with the Harper government), another is that party caucuses are talent pools from which cabinet material is drawn. When this new party shunned its Red Tory component it also scared off much needed political talent.
Going back to the time of the Trudeau and Mulroney governments both could claim cabinet ministers of distinction in large part because both leaders had large caucuses from which to draw talented ministers, and indeed politics was a more reputable trade then that could attract quality candidates.
When Brian Mulroney destroyed the PC Party turning it into a political rump, as well as splintering it into the BQ, and Reform Party he destroyed his grand coalition. He also destroyed a continuity that left talented candidates hesitant to enter the political fray. To this day this break in continuity haunts the conservative movement and laid the ground work for Harper’s maladroit narrowly ideological conservatives to govern at great expense to the fabric of the nation.
Harper’s cabinet woes point to a much larger and odious problem. Both Canada and the US are emerging as oligarchic plutocracies, where power is vested within a small compliant political elite that takes its cues from corporate interests, where the party system is moribund, where legislative bodies become irrelevant, there is a retreat from real governance, democratic values slide into decay, the disparity between rich and poor becomes grotesque and the really pertinent issues that beg to be addressed are endlessly deferred.
As these governments persist in becoming irrelevant and betray the societies they govern they will only attract toadies and mediocrities. The only remaining questions being: When, if and in what way will reform come?
Robert Billyard 2008 ©
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