Harper’S Last Gasp

One of the reasons I have been a harsh critic of Stephen Harper is that I have always felt he has poor political judgment. But never did I think he would stoop so low as to use a time of crisis for partisan gain. To deliberately taunt the opposition parties by threatening to rescind subsidies that undermine their very existence and enforce some semblance of democratic representation is both insolent and contemptible. 

 In the last election Harper told Canadians he was willing to water his water wine if given a majority. For Harper there is no water, no wine, just a prescription for a purgative to cleanse his rotten misanthropic soul. He is so determined to establish his conservative dynasty he is willing to sacrifice the country and anything resembling political stability for his partisan ambitions.

Given the present dynamics of federal politics both of the last two elections have been stunning repudiations of the Harper conservatives yet he clings to power. With the fortunes of the Liberal Party at an all time low the CPC should have cruised to easy victories. Canadians clearly have serious reservations about this new party and understandably so. Now we are given a very brazen example of why these reservations are justified and we can be ever so thankful he did not gain a majority.

If I was of a more paranoid nature I might speculate that Harper deliberately provoked the opposition parties to bring down his government down leaving him to sit in opposition, hoping the coalition would make such a mess of it that he could rebound and claim a majority on their carcasses. This though, is such a simpleminded ruse Canadians would not fall for it. At the same time, should his government fall it will be incumbent on the coalition to show a political intelligence, nimbleness and wisdom absent from Canadian politics for some time.

As I have said here previously our political elites had better get used to working in minority/coalition situations as Canadians are skeptical toward awarding any party, especially a conservative party, an outright majority. Many countries are governed in this manner and it is timely our politicos upgrade their skills in collegial consensus building and measuring their policy positions against the national interest. This is especially so for the Bloc Quebecois. Quebec has been well served by Confederation and believe it or not it is in its own interest to set aside its parochial dispositions and participate in an essential Canadian nationalism.

This financial crisis is going to take years to play out and how it does depends in very large part on what changes the Americans are going to make. Canada cannot be in a position where it complacently sits back and hopes the US cleans its financial house in the appropriate manner.  There is going to be huge resistance to change in the US and Canada is going to have to be very nimble to ensure our own survival.

 Crisis takes the measure of men and leaders. Harper is not an adaptive creature but a partisan dinosaur taking his last gasp in the sludge of his ruinous ideology- an ideology of laissez-faire economics rooted in the US that has caused global chaos.

Harper’s government should be relegated to the dungeons of failed sedition and hopefully a bold and inspired coalition government Canadians can be proud of will take its place.