Canadians await Harper’s measured plan

‘ ‘ ‘ Say what you will about the drawbacks of a two-party system, at least it breeds… ‘ ‘ ‘ Say what you will about the drawbacks of a two-party system, at least it breeds stability. ‘ ‘ ‘ Over the weekend, Canadian Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper deferred a Parliamentary no-confidence vote until Monday, Dec. 8, which could set the stage for a new coalition government or a fourth election in as many years. ‘ ‘ ‘ This comes in light of Harper’s controversial elimination of taxpayer-based campaign financing, which hurts opposition parties more than the Conservative Party, as well as his administration’s yet-to-be-delivered economic stimulus package ‘mdash; a response that Liberals and the New Democrats Party have demanded since the global financial mess unfolded in October. ‘ ‘ ‘ Their objection against Harper has been joined by the Bloc Quebecois Party, all of which accuse Harper of neglecting the current crisis, allowing Canada’s economic growth to slip even further behind other developed nations. Unless Harper acts to provide an immediate stimulus package ‘mdash; which he refuses to do ‘mdash; he faces imminent removal at the hands of the opposition. ‘ ‘ ‘ Harper keeps insisting that his stimulus plan will come in early 2009 and no earlier. So far, he has not backed down. And why should he? In Harper’s own words, Canadians ‘don’t panic’ in the face of trouble. While the opposition is claiming negligence on Harper’s part, he has stated all along that he wants to take measured steps in dealing with the problem. ‘ ‘ ‘ The U.S. response to the financial crisis was sold as a necessary action, pushed through the halls of Congress too fast for anyone to read the damn thing, and built upon absurd amounts of taxpayer money directed at private firms. ‘ ‘ ‘ The result: Those financial firms applied the most minimum stopgap measures to save their own hides, turned around and sent their executives to luxury spas and haven’t yet figured out how they’re going to get loans and capital flowing again. ‘ ‘ ‘ Harper’s plan, which is set to be unveiled in the next budget, might be just as bad. It might even be worse ‘mdash; no one knows, but regardless of the actual incentives on it, it will come as a deliberate response to Canada’s own economic issues. And now he’s being thrown under the bus for avoiding the same mistakes that left the United States in a heap of public debt with no results in sight. ‘ ‘ ‘ As unfair as the situation might seem on the surface, Harper has to be smacking himself in the head for letting things get to this point. Relations have been growing increasingly nasty between the prime minister and opposition leaders, and his successful request for early elections this fall won him little favor. ‘ ‘ ‘ He started riling up opposition in August when he blamed Stephane Dion and his Liberal Party for making Parliament ‘dysfunctional.’ He used this accusation as leverage to seek a Conservative legislative majority and call elections a year early while his party was polling extremely well. ‘ ‘ ‘ After the ballots were counted in mid-October, it seemed the incumbent prime minister had pulled off a brilliant, if somewhat underhanded political move. Harper was overwhelmingly re-elected and the Conservative Party gained 19 seats since the last election, but still ended up with only 46.4 percent of Parliament’s seats ‘mdash; just shy of the majority they sought. ‘ ‘ ‘ Now, it is that slim majority of non-Conservatives ‘mdash; split between the Liberals, Bloc Quebecois and New Democrats ‘mdash; who are banding together with the threat of forming a new coalition government if a scheduled no-confidence vote goes through as planned on Dec. 8. ‘ ‘ ‘ Under the tentative plan, Liberal leader Dion ‘mdash; who came in second in October’s election, 11 points behind Harper ‘mdash; would likely be head of the new government until an elected replacement is chosen. ‘ ‘ ‘ Dion, whose campaign suffered from an unpopular environmental tax plan and his hard-to-understand English, would become the head of the Canadian government just weeks after its citizens overwhelmingly voted to keep Harper in office. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Conservatives are just as guilty as anyone in trying to consolidate power in recent months, but for the defeated opposition parties to respond this way would be direct slap in the face to Canadian voters, whose democratic decision might be erased by backroom deals in Parliament. This is looking like Al Gore times 10 and will come with a hefty cost for Canada’s increasingly shaky system. ‘ ‘ ‘ Reach Brandon at bkp3@pitt.edu