MAY THIS season of peace and goodwill work its magic on Ottawa politicians who in recent weeks brought this country to the edge of a political and national unity crisis that true statesmen would have avoided.
Canadians are appalled by the antics of politicians of all stripes who have put partisanship and gamesmanship ahead of the national interest.
With the world economy spiraling downward and layoffs mounting, Canadians want a steady hand on the wheel to chart a course back to prosperity.
What they got was a vindictive ploy by the governing Conservatives and a brazen power grab from the opposition.
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After increasing his party’s seat count in the Oct. 14 election, but still without a majority, prime minister Stephen Harper initially made conciliatory statements, but his first real act of the new Parliament was to poke the opposition in the eye with a sharp stick.
The Nov. 28 fiscal update moved to end public subsidies to political parties and suspend the right to strike by public sector employees. It introduced no measures to stimulate the economy.
The savings from axing the subsidy would be paltry in the budgetary context, but it would likely bankrupt the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois. Harper appeared content not to simply beat his opponents, but to emasculate them.
This was the last straw for the opposition, which began to organize a coalition in preparation for defeating the government in a confidence vote.
This rare show of opposition unity shook the government. It backed down and promised to include economic stimulus in an early budget.
Most would be satisfied if it ended there, but the coalition of the Liberals, New Democrats and BQ could not control their lust for power and that is where they overreached themselves.
A coalition led by Liberal leader Stéphane Dion did not sit well with most citizens. The Liberals were trounced in the election, falling to 77 seats from 95, due in large part to Dion’s weak campaign performance. Liberals are scrambling to replace him.
Most westerners are unsettled by the coalition’s poverty of representation west of the Ontario-Manitoba border. Also troubling is its reliance on the support of the Bloc, a party whose goal is to take Quebec out of Canada.
Harper’s response to the challenge was to inflame an already overwrought situation by attacking the Bloc and, by implication, the Quebecers who voted for the party.
Most were relieved when Governor General Michaelle Jean granted Harper’s request for Parliament to be put on hiatus until January.
Canadians must use the time to decide if they want an unwieldy coalition lacking national representation and that is at present without a strong leader to guide the country though dangerous economic waters.
The better course is to respect the results of the recent election that gave the Conservatives the dominant place in Parliament, but to emphasize to the prime minister that the economy, not petty partisanship, must be the focus.
Bruce Dyck, Terry Fries, Barb Glen, D’Arce McMillan and Ken Zacharias collaborate in the writing of Western Producer editorials.
