Dominic Leblanc for Liberal Leader?

This will be a short post, as many personal things have kept me away from the BlogWorld for a few days now.

First of all, I want to say that one of the things that drives me nuts is when I get the feeling the a journalist is legitimizing his or her personal opinion in an article by stating that "others are saying..." Case in point: When Andy Savoie lost in the most recent federal election, one reporter noted the next day, "Some are already talking about Andy as a potential provincial Liberal leader." He'd hardly even had a chance to clean up his office and 'people' are already talking about his future? Hardly 8 hours had passed! Give me a break!

I thought this was the case again when I read an article which suggested that Dominic Leblanc might be considering a run for the Liberal leadership. Turns out though that his name is being mentioned by a few, although he's far from front-runner status. Indeed, on the outside Dominic Leblanc looks like a great potential leader. He's young, bilingual, not from Quebec, has experience in Ottawa and has important contacts inside the Liberal party. However, the Harvard-trained Lawyer has yet to hold a cabinet post, and we don't really know if he has the managerial and leadership skills to lead a party.

I, for one, am not willing to count him out at this point. He's a guy that was popular both with Chretien and with Martin, and so he wont revive those old tensions if he wins. We have to remember that this is the first time probably since 1968 that the Liberal Party has had a REAL leadership race without the result being pre-determined months in advance. The guy who won it that time was a little-known academic from Montreal called Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who had only served a short stint as justice minister. Could Leblanc be the next Trudeau? It is hard to say, but joining the Liberal leadership race might not be a bad career move, even if he is a long shot. If he does better than expected he'll be a sure pick for cabinet next time the Liberals take power. He'll also gain a national profile, and the next time a leadership race comes up, he'll be amongst the first MPs journalists and politicians turn to as an immediate front runner.

Dominic Leblanc does have a young family, and this could hold him back. Either way, at only 38 years young, the fact that he's even mentioned now means that he could have strong potential in the future.

Who drove the tank into the legislature?

I wonder if there is an official term to describe the scenario when someone who is unauthorized jumps into a tank and drives it over cars, playgrounds, and the like, because that is exactly what happened in New Brunswick over the weekend. The tank in question is registered to the Miramichi, and it goes by the name if Michael "Tanker" Malley.

See, when Bernard Lord first came to power, Tanker was elected to represent Miramichi-Bay du Vin. At first, Tanker was more of a novelty to the Lord crew than a serious MLA with leadership potential. Tanker added a home-town face to their campaign and made them look like a party of the people, but no one seriously considered the former bus driver to be cabinet material. Tanker was re-elected when Lord won his most recent scarce majority, and it wasn't long before rumours started spreading of his possible defection. The Lord's workers didn't make it any easier for him. Miramichi was one of a number of communities that saw vital health services cut by the Lord government, a move that was obviously extremely unpopular in those areas. This put Tanker in a difficult situation. Should he continue to support the government, or should he side with his community? Before giving him the chance to decide, Lord made the smart move of making Tanker chief whip, which meant that, instead of spending time considering his own defection, he'd have to concentrate on making sure everyone in the party was around for the crucial votes.

Since Tanker’s defection, two narratives have sprung up out of the blue, and it's hard to say which has a monopoly on the truth. Bernard Lord claims that Malley, upset at having been left out of cabinet, presented him with a list of five demands in order for him to stay on board. According to Lord, one of these demands was that Malley's friend and former Conservative leadership contender, Cleveland Allaby, be made a judge. Lord says he told Malley he wouldn't be blackmailed by anyone, even if it came at the expense of his slim majority.

Malley and Allaby both fervently deny any plot to have Allaby made a judge. They admit to discussing politics together, but Allaby claims Malley acted on his own. The thing that complicates this all is that Allaby happens to be the cousin of a well-known Liberal organizer, Larry Jewett, who has been accused of trying to persuade two different Conservative backbenchers to cross the floor or sit as independents. The Lord government would like us to believe that Jewett was working in cahoots with Allaby to bring down the government.

Right now, I'm not sure who to believe. The Premier could have decided to make up these allegations in order to publicly slander and humiliate both Malley and Allaby, given that the connection between Jewett and Allaby was made before hand. The Premier, instead of looking like a man unsympathetic to the constituents of Miramichi, appears to be man of principle, whereas Allaby and Malley are made to look shady, opportunistic, and self-serving. Politics is a dirty game, and I would be surprised in the Conservatives, including Lord, would stoup to this level.

On the other hand, it is possible that Malley took his absence from cabinet as a personal insult and decided to go down with a fight. If he did, however, he seems to have been unprepared for the fallout, and maybe he incorrectly assumed that the Premier would keep his mouth shut about the demands. Either way, Tanker Malley doesn't look too good right now in the eyes of New Brunswickers. Indeed, if he does chose to bring down the government, chances are he'll be ending his own political career as well.

Some Conservatives, such as Brenda Fowlie, are trying to pin this on the Liberals, but so far they've managed to stay out of the mess. The only connection to the Liberal party is through Larry Jewett, who does not function in any way as a spokesperson or representative of the Liberal party.

Besides, it'd be hard for the Conservatives to make the Liberals look sleazy without reminding us all of the Pot's dilemma vis-à-vis the kettle. The Conservatives have tried everything imaginable to get their enemies out of the legislature, including appointing two to government jobs (Richard, Weir), and tempting a third (T.J. Burke), who was then, rumour has it, offered to succeed Bernard Lord as party leader if he crossed the floor.

The Liberals have been waiting patiently for Graham's numbers to rise in the polls, and it appears that, were an election held today, they'd probably win. At the same time, few have strong confidence in Graham's leadership, and may not want to rush into an election for fear that Bernard Lord's machine could kick into high gear and surprise everyone with a third majority. This might not be far from the wishes of many liberals, as that would give them an opportunity to call for their leader's head, and allow someone else to take over and fight against an embattled and soon to be finished Premier.

Whoever said small town politics is boring has never spent time in New Brunswick, that's for sure.

Liberal Leadership: Where is Glen Murray?

Probably the smartest move Paul Martin made in his political career was to resign the night he lost the election. I don't say this out of spite, but because the speculation about the next liberal leader has garnered as much attention as the Conservatives' transition from opposition to government. So who are the players and what are there chances?

After McKenna, Manley, and Tobin bowed out of the race, who the next Liberal leader is anyone's guess. Considering that out of those actively organizing for the race, two are former conservatives, one a former NDP, and one who doesn't have a history in any party, you'd be correct to wonder if there are any Liberals out there who actually want the job!

There are some candidates who are already actively organizing. These are the Also rans:

Belinda Stronarch and Scott Brison are seeking support, but neither speaks French well enough to debate in that language. (Harper, incidentally, improved his French rather quickly and now does alright. It just goes to show what can happen with dedication). As well, being former conservatives wouldn’t help them any. Brison did well in his position as Minister of Public Works, whereas Belinda has never appeared to have the political instincts necessary to take on such an important job as leader of the Liberal party.

Ken Dyrden is rumoured to be contemplating a run, but his French is poor as well. The advantage of having Dryden as leader is that name recognition goes a long way, and he might be the only unilingual anglophone in Canada who could convince Quebecers to vote Liberal in a few years time. The problem is that Ken Dryden is a respected public figure who enjoys a certain degree of moral authority; even Conservatives were cautious not to attack him too much as Canadians hold their former star goaltender close to their hearts. If he were to become leader of the Liberal party, he would become fair game, and any corruption scandal even remotely linked to a Dryden administration would have an irreversible effect on his public image. Ken would have to ask whether or not this would be worth it.

Carolyn Bennett, a Toronto MP, may try to throw her name in the hat, as will Maurizio Bevilacqua, a Martin backer from the beginning who was betrayed when the man left him out of cabinet.

The Contenders

Former cabinet minister Joe Volpe is said to be wanting to take a stab, and his French is quite good. He doesn't have a very high profile right now, having served in two ministries during Martin's brief tenure, but that could change in the course of a leadership race. Volpe is a guy who will probably appeal to a lot of 'new' Canadians, and I suspect he'll at least be considered.

Michael Ignatieff - Although he looked like a long shot a few months ago when rumours started spreading of his return to Canada, Ignatieff is now looking like more and more like a potential leadership contender. Although well-known to political science students and enthusiasts, his name wont ring a bell with the average Canadian. His stance on the Iraq war will be unpopular with Liberals, as will the fact that he spent the better part of the last 30 years living in the U.K. and the U.S.A. I don't think that living abroad should be an impediment for anyone entering public office. However, a 27 year absence only ended in order to run for office raises a few suspicions about the man's commitment to Canada. His thoughts on foreign policy are well known, yet where he stands on domestic issues is cloudy. Whether or not he could survive a leadership race could determine whether or not enough withstand a Conservative offensive which I imagine would consist of more or less the same material. One way or another, electing M. Ignatieff as Liberal leader would be a big risk, as no-one knows how he would be received by the Canadian electorate.

Another big risk is Bob Rae, former NDP premier of Ontario. It's hard to say whether or not Ontario has forgiven him for his lacklustre 4 years at the helm of Canada's most populated province. Either way, he'd have a relatively clean slate with the rest of Canada, which doesn't really remember Bob Rae or what he did/did not do whilst in power in Ontario. I have a feeling that Mr. Rae wouldn't do as bad as some think in Ontario, considering Tony Clement and Jim Flaherty were recently elected in that province, and the Mike Harris years are far more fresh in people's memories than the Rae years.
Bob Rae also has the added advantage of having more political experience than anyone else considering a run, and he also knows federal and provincial governments inside and out. He's also rumoured to be an Ignatieff fan, so I imagine that if he doesn't finding himself running against the former Harvard academic, he may be backing his buddy. Either way, I think it is safe to say that Bob Rae is on the verge of making a political comeback, and will be one of the new faces that will help re-design the Liberal party of Canada.

Lastly, the guy who I think probably should throw his name in the hat is former Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray. Born and raised in Montreal, Murray served as mayor of Winnipeg from 1998-2004, when he resigned to run for Paul Martin's Liberals. Murray lost that race for a number of reasons, probably the biggest being that he assumed he could easily win, and the voters would not allow themselves to be taken for granted. Besides that, Murray ran in a suburban seat, even though his popularity was strongest amongst the urban core. Nevertheless, his tenure in Winnipeg continues to be regarded as a success by most people. At a time when Canadian cities are under increasing pressure to provide essential services without many options for raising revenues, a new deal is needed, and Glen Murray could be the person to deliver. Of course, a new deal was part of Paul Martin's vision as well, but his vision was so broad and encompassing that people could not identify the man with the cause.

Fluently bilingual and with one foot in Quebec and one in the West, Glen Murray could be the leader the Liberal's need to stop the Conservative's from breaking into their traditional strongholds, whilst making new ground west of Ontario. One could question whether or not being openly gay would decrease his chances of bringing home a Liberal majority, but my feeling is that anyone who wouldn't vote for a candidate because he was gay probably stopped voting Liberal a long time ago. In other words, it's a demographic they wouldn't reach anyways. Others might be enticed by the idea of electing a gay Prime Minister, as it would send a message to the world about Canada's progressive nature. At the same time, however we'd have to recognize before bragging that we still haven't managed to elect a female Prime Minister, and so countries such as Liberia and Chile appear to be a bit ahead of us in that department.

I've tried to find Glen Murray's email address to inquire as to whether or not he's considering a run, but so far have been unsuccessful. If anyone has more luck than me, please do send it along.

Take care,

MCA

The Ballad (Battle?) of Bernie and Shawn

The Ballad (Battle?) of Bernie and Shawn

Sometimes I imagine that New Brunswick politics are like a cartoon episode I must have seen a million times before. Imagine Bernard Lord (Bernie, for our purposes) is the premier. When he came to power, people generally liked him because he was seen as a man who kept his promises. He had 20 issues to resolve in 100 days, and he more or less made it. After those 100 days though, things haven’t been going so well for him.

Now, imagine the premier has a bratty little brother named Shawn. At first, Shawn doesn’t figure much into Bernie’s life, but then when Shawn sees how much attention Bernie gets as Premier, Shawn decides to become the leader of his own political party. Bernie initially dismisses Shawn as too much of a lightweight to do well in HIS political arena, but then Shawn surprised everyone by coming closer than anyone expected and almost winning an election against Bernie. Now, when Shawn speaks, people tend to take him serious, and when he does you can almost see Bernie’s face getting redder and steam coming out of his ears. You know on the inside Bernie wants to yell, “HE STILL WETS THE BED FOR CRIPES SAKE! HE CAN’T BE PREMIER!,” yet his pleas continually fall on deaf ears. Unfortunately, we all know how this is going to end. One of these days Bernie is going to be so down and out by Shawn’s ascension that he’s going to have a few drinks, jump in his car, and drive his party straight into an election. We can only hope that someone is around to pick up the pieces.

This, in a nutshell, is New Brunswick politics. During the last election, despite not overwhelming the province with his keen political skills, Shawn Graham managed to start pulling on the right threat of public opinion, and before you knew what happened Bernard Lord’s sweater of a majority was reduced to a skin-tight T-shirt. Lord had obvious reasons to be upset; he clearly had more experience and a more articulate vision for the future, how could voters turn there back on him over such a silly issue as car insurance? Well, it helps to remember that Bernard Lord owed his initial majority to the public’s discontent over the idea of a toll highway, a plan Bernie ending up scrapping in the end at the expense of the New Brunswick taxpayer.

Bernard Lord’s problem, as I see it now, is that he is the one-man show of the Conservative party, and the problem with being a one-man show is that, once people get tired of you, there is no-one who can divert attention and allow you to sit out a few rounds. Lord has few strong people behind him, and if they are in fact there, he’s not trusting enough to give them responsibilities and let them stand in the limelight. The guy who did his dirty work, Elvy Robichaud, has said ‘Enough Already!’ and thrown in he towel. This leaves the premier without, amongst other things, an obvious successor, which he will no doubt need after the 2007 election, unless of course someone gives him 40 acres so he can turn that rig around, as the song says.

Shawn Graham does not have this problem. His is another problem: you’d be hard to find a person in the province who really feels inspired by Shawn Graham’s leadership. In fact, if you look closely you’ll notice that many Liberal MLAs have teeth marks in their hands from all the times they have to bite their fists whenever they catch themselves saying “the next Premier of New Brunswick, Shawn Graham.” In what I think is an intentional move, Shawn Graham delegates a lot and so, rather than seeing his face on the front page every night, New Brunswickers see an assortment of potential leaders, including T.J. Burke, Mike Murphy, and Kelly Lamrock. Once he gets to office, he also has the benefit of having a few experienced cabinet ministers like my MLA Stu Jameson and fellow Saint-Johner Roly McIntyre. It is hard to say whether or not this strategy, which appears to work well on the opposition bench, can be successfully applied to the government’s benches.

Shawn Graham is not without other faults. When he was elected Liberal leader, I was willing to overlook his regular speaking gaffs and screechy voice because I was hopeful that, as a young leader from a new generation, he might be able to fundamentally change the Liberal party. Maybe he’d make the environment an actual priority rather than a necessary speaking point, like the great-great-aunt twice removed Liberals always feel the need to send a Christmas card to every year, but they never get around to actually visiting.

It didn’t take long to feel disappointed. Shawn’s solution to our energy shortage was to build a NEW Nuclear reactor (because the one we have has worked so well, insert sarcasm), and as it happens, he knows a guy who can hook us up, former NB Liberal Leader Ray Frenette, who just happens to be in the business of selling Nuclear reactors! How lucky are we?!? I Spanish I would say, ‘Qué cosa más Liberal!,” which roughly translates as “what an authentically Liberal thing to do!,” only it doesn’t have the same ring in English.

I guess this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, considering Shawn owes his current job to his Liberal connections, and without a Senate to appointment people to, Shawn has to find other creative ways to pay back favours. You see, the reason Shawn is the current Premier in waiting is because his father, a long time Liberal MP, had enough connections to seal up support for his boy when the job became open. Not only that, most Liberals over-estimated Bernard Lord’s strength and figured that they’d let Shawn be the guy to loose the next two elections, and then a real leader would step up when the party was on the verge of power. Bernard Richard, the intern leader, did an excellent job taking Lord to task, and had he stayed on as Liberal leader for the next election, Bernard Lord would have been the first Premier in a long time not to win a second term. Richard new this and so, when he was offered the high-paying job of Ombudsman, he took the chance to put his ‘what ifs’ to rest.

And so this is the situation we in N.B. find ourselves in today. The upcoming election is Bernard Lord’s to loose and Shawn Graham’s to win by default. Whether or not Graham has a successful term or terms as Premier depends solely on how quickly it takes the Conservatives to rebuild themselves and expose Graham’s weakness. When he arrives at the Premier’s chair, he’ll have to be sure to keep one eye constantly looking over his shoulder, as those guys he depends on to help lead the team, well, let’s just say, they’re all licking their slips at the smell of blood, and if the time is right it wont matter to them if it’s Bernie’s blood or Shawn’s.

Hasta Soon everybody,

MCA

The Harper Government - Sink or Swim?

Well, the Harper government, or the Harpies, as I like to call them, have assembled the ship and left headed towards the vast and open sea, and now the question is whether they will sink or swim. It is probably pointless to make predictions at such an early stage, as literally anything could happen. Yet it is fun, so here I’m going to give it a go.

Throughout the campaign, all of the pundits who jumped on the conservative ship (everyone who owns a boat knows it’s a good idea to name your ship after a woman. The conservatives choose to name theirs after their Grandmother, which is why it’s called “The Preston”) talked endlessly about how cautious Steven Harper was. Indeed, the election was his to loose, and so he and his candidates had to take extra care to make sure they didn't say or do anything that would prove true the Liberal's scary add tactics. Nevertheless, on his first day of work Harper took some big calculated risks, and it is still too early to tell if they'll have a lasting impact. The Emerson appointment, along with destroying the man's integrity, definitely shook the conservative base, and from this point forward they'll be weary of anything that makes them look like hypocrites. But, like I said, these things could blow over.

For their part the Liberals are going to be out in the woods for a long time, so it'll probably be to their advantage to allow this minority parliament to run for two or three years. A lot depends on who takes over as leader. If someone from the current caucus takes over, has legs, and can build up some momentum, they may risk voting against the government if they feel they can pull off a minority/majority. However, if the new leader is someone from outside, especially someone without much parliamentary experience, we may see this parliament last longer than any other in our country’s history. The new leader would not only have to introduce him/herself to the public, but also possibly run in a bi-election in order to get into the house. Regardless of either of these two outcomes, the Liberals will more than likely want to have a policy convention and maybe go on one of those makeover shows. Although health care and child care will definitely be their bread and butter issues, they wont want to look like Chrétien/Martin re-runs.

So where does one place his bet? My money is on the idea that once the Conservatives feel they have potential for a majority, they'll pull the plug on themselves. They may even try to take advantage of the Liberal's momentary headless state, or go at them when they have a new and untested leader. I imagine that, rather than attempt this over a contentious issue, it'll probably be a battle over a tax cut, which would make the Conservatives look like a party sympathetic to taxpayers and make the Liberals look like money hungry bloodsuckers eager to setup another registry programme to siphon off billions of dollars (who knows, maybe a blender registry? If a blender fell into the wrong hands, who knows what could happen). The Conservatives may or may not succeed in pulling off a majority. The biggest risk would be that the nameless Liberal leader performs better than expected, a la Carol James in British Columbia, and the Liberals tighten the Conservative's already skin-tight acid washed minority.

Who knows, there is a lot that can happen, and the conservatives have a party full of people just dying to say something stupid. Who will be the first? I hear Vegas has their money on Stockwell Day, who is always a safe bet. At the same time, though, the Conservatives have a lot of cabinet ministers with zero experience in government at the federal level. Any one of them could be a ticking time bomb. Let us not forget the religious conservative backbenchers, closest reformers, and of course, Myron Thompson.

Finally, someone asked me why I refer to Tony Clement as Fishface, and I think that deserves an explanation. Tony Clement raises my blood pressure every time I see him because of something he said the day he announced his intention to run for the leadership of the new conservative party. He said that, as an immigrant himself, he knew the challenges faced by new Canadians. HIS PARENTS CAME FROM ENGLAND! What, did his parents have difficult finding work because of their superior command of the English language? Was his father consistently mistaken for someone's butler? Does his really have the cajones to say on national TV that as the son of English migrants he has experienced the same challenges as an uneducated Sudanese refugee? Give me a break! The only time I've ever shaken my first harder at the T.V. was when Belinda Stronach said, with a straight face, that she faced challenges as a single mother. What challenge does a millionaire single mother face when you have a football team hired to take care of your children? Choosing whether to send them to school in the Hummer or the Corvette is not a REAL challenge!

That’s it for today folks. I shall soon post on the Ballad of Bernie and Shawn, and I’m working on a longer piece about bilingualism in New Brunswick. Hasta Soon everyone.

MCA

Recall David Emerson/Cabinet update

Hi Everyone,

There has been a petition started online to recall David Emerson, the Vancouver-Kingsway MP who was elected as a Liberal and then switched to the Conservatives in order to take up a cabinet position. Check it out:

http://www.petitiononline.com/RDE/

Don't be hestitant to send his constituency office a note as well:

emersd@parl.gc.ca

Thanks to those who pointed out the oversights in my article about the new Harper cabinet. Vic Toews, the new justice minister, is a convicted criminal! Gordon O'Connor, the new defense minister, once lobbied for Airbus, meaning that, under Stephen Harper's new Accountability act, O'Connor's appointment would be technically illegal. Meanwhile, the Fortier appointment seems to have more legs in the English media than it does in the French press, as Quebecers seems to be generally happy with the appointment.

Senate reform

Senate Reform – The Nunavut example

Before I begin I want to say a big thank you to Canada's foremost political scientist Donald Savoie, who was kind enough to invite me to Dinner at All Souls College here in Oxford last evening for some good food and great conversation about both national and provincial politics. For those of you not in Oxford, All Souls is sort of the Vahalla for academics. The college doesn't accept students and the fellows, who are admitted on the understanding that they are at the top of their field, are given free range to spend all of their time researching. Most students don't get the chance to explore the insides of this mysterious place, and so it was a great honour to be Doctor Savoie's guest. When he was a student here at Oxford, Dr. Savoie received a similiar invitation by a fellow named Charles Taylor, and so he felt a duty to reciprocate that kindness. Now it would be wrong to reveal the details of our discussion, but I will hint that I may or may not have received my first high-profile backing in my bid to become premier of New Brunswick. We'll see how that works out.

One of the things I’m hoping Stephen Harper will move forward on during his mandate is the reformation of the Senate. Harper has talked about Senate reform in the past, and it is often cited as one of the causes of Western alienation. Like Mulroney before him, Harper correctly points to the many Liberal patronage appointments to the Senate as one of the causes for Canadians’ decreasing respect for public institutions. And like Mulroney before him, Harper wasted know time in using the senate for his own political purposes by appointing Michel Fortier in order to allow him to sit in cabinet.

If it doesn’t do too much damage, Harper’s choice may have been a smart one. Fortier probably stood no chance of winning a seat in Montreal before the election. As a high-profile and visible cabinet minister, he could win a seat next time around, which might end the Liberal’s stronghold on the island. All of this remains to be seen.

What I want to talk about today is a proposal to reform the Senate. First of all, let me say that, as much as Canadians probably want to see an elected senate, I’m not sure they want a dysfunctional bicameral government, with one level constantly interfering and watering down with the other’s legislation. It seems to me that Canadians like to elect a government with a clear mandate and expect that mandate to be implemented. So the question now becomes, how do we reform the Senate without ending up in that scenario?

For an answer, I think we should look to Nunavut. The structure of the provincial government in Nunavut is a hybrid system based on Indigenous and non-indigenous practices. Members of the legislative assembly are elected as independents; no-one runs under a party banner. Once elected, the members vote in secret for a cabinet. The individual with the most votes becomes the premier (this part of the system is currently being debated. Many people in Nunavut would like to have more control over deciding who becomes premier). Those with the most votes form the cabinet and the governing party. Those with the fewest are the opposition. Rather than sitting across from each other, the government and opposition sit in a circle, which is supposed to represent the consensus-based style of government of the Indigenous people, rather than the confrontational approach of the Westminster parliamentary system. Because the candidates do not know whether or not they will form part of the government or the opposition, they are forced to work together in order to address Nunavut’s great social problems in a non-partisan fashion.

This system, however, is not without its problems and detractors. For starters, voters do not give any government an ideological mandate, and it’s very often difficult to know how one’s vote is going to change the direction of the government. I suppose that the system could be manipulated by well-organized backroom alliances where promises are made in order to ensure consistent voting patterns amongst certain members. I am sure that many of you out there can think of different ways in which this system could be abused. We should also remember that the Nunavut government’s brilliant democratic design wont on its own solve that province’s deep and complicated social ills.

Nevertheless, Canadians need to invent governing institutions which reflect our history and our diversity. We are no longer a British colony, and we need to develop a stronger sense of collective identity based first and foremost on recognition and respect for the cultures of our first nation’s peoples. Canada has much work to do in terms of cultural reconciliation, and unfortunately it seems to be moving quite slowly. Having institutions which remind us of our unique makeup is one step in the right direction.

Senators, elected at the same time as parliament, could vote amongst themselves for a government and an opposition. Basically, the Senate would continue to function as it does now, only without Senators sitting in on caucus meetings, unless of course a Senator was occupying a position in cabinet. The senate seats could be distributed more evenly in order to better provide regional representation, which is one of the major complaints against the current system.

If Canadians aren’t convinced by this idea, than maybe we should look for methods that would involve people in the political process who wouldn’t normally want to step into the circus of electoral politics. Let’s face it: if we switched to an elected senate today, the majority of people who would allow their names to stand would be former provincial and federal politicians hoping for an additional pension beyond the age of 75. One way we could go about this would be to adopt a system similar to what the Campbell government used in B.C. in order to draw a committee to look at electoral reform. Citizens would put forward their name to the government and a committee would be drawn randomly through a lottery. Those people would then draw up a list of outstanding citizens from civil society, academia, the volunteer sector, business, etc, who would then be put forward to the electorate as candidates.

With senate reform we have a wonderful opportunity to add democratic credibility to our government and introduce to the world a unique governing system which reflects our particular cultural values. Let’s not be satisfied with simply throwing another layer of partisanship on top of a system that is already in desperate need of serious democratic reform.

The New Conservative Cabinet

Today Stephen Harper announced his cabinet, and he seems to have decided to play it safe. Before I enter into my critique, allow me to place these comments within a context.

First of all, let me say I welcome the new minority government. Like many Atlantic Canadians, I was/am suspicious of Stephen Harper. Part of it comes from my bias against conservative economists, who tend to see the world through a one dimensional and limited perspective. Also, I'm not totally convinced that Stephen Harper has changed his ways, from being a radical conservative who once promoted putting a "firewall" around Alberta, so long as people like Tom Flanagan continue to act as his principal advisors. Tom Flanagan is a U.S. born political scientist based in Alberta who would like to re-start the Colonial mission of complete assimilation/integration of our first nation's peoples.

Nevertheless, with only a minority government Harper will have an easier time passing legislation that is progressive and a harder time dismantling the country, as many of us fear he would really like to do. The Liberals are old, tired, and in desperate need of some new leadership and new ideas. I'll comment later about the Liberal leadership.

In his choice of cabinet ministers, Harper has chosen a number of people who have experience at the provincial level. I found it funny that he chose Tony Clement (who I shall from here on in refer to as Fishface) for the important position of Health Minister, when Harper himself reminded Fishface in the leadership race that "federal politics is a different ballgame." Fishface's partner from the Mike Harris government in Ontario, Jim Flaherty, was one of the principal architects of that province's social demise. Again, here is to hoping that a good progressive opposition keeps his budgets in the mainstreams. Jim Prentice was a good choice for native affairs; with him in charge of that portfolio, indigenous peoples can rest assured that Harper wont unleash the Flanagan, and instead, a progressive conservative with a deep knowledge of indigenous affairs will be taking over from where Andy Scott left off.

I was a little disappointed that Peter McKay was chosen from Foreign Affairs. This is a post where one likes to see someone who has published on issues related to foreign affairs and has at least some sort of speciality in the area. Canada almost lived up to its name as an effective middle-power when Lloyd Axeworthy ran the show. Unfortunately, since then the position has been held by some less than imaginative people (with the exception of B. Graham, who was at least competent). I'm afraid that with McKay in charge Canada will continue to be a country that talks a lot and accomplishes little on the international scene.

Moving on, as much as I like Loyola Hearn, I'm not sure it was wise to place him in Fisheries and Oceans. Jeffery Simpson of the Globe and Mail once pointed out that ministries should not be given to ministers who have a strong local attachment to the issue. For example, a minister of Fisheries and Oceans from Newfoundland will inevitably have local pressures to lean one way or another on an issue in order to get re-elected. Although he may have a very in-depth and personal knowledge of the portfolio, I fear he wont be able to make the tough decisions when push comes to shove (Then again, we all remember when John Crosby had to make the tough announcement that fishing in Newfoundland was all but over).

To be honest, I wasn't surprised that D. Emerson crossed the floor. It was always remarked that he was never much of a partisan, yet one would have thought that, only a few weeks after being elected as a Liberal, he might give it a little while before turning his back on his constituents. J. Layton has proposed that floor crossers be forced to face a bi-election in their ridings. I don't think this is a bad idea at all, and it only pales in comparison to what some democracies require of Floor crossers (For example, in South Africa, one has to cross the floor with a percentage of your party. Not an easy thing to do).

The appointment of Michael Fortier was a bit of a surprise, in that it demonstrated how quickly Harper could make himself look like a back-peddling Liberal, trying to explain why he made an appointment to the Senate for political purposes.

Finally, the last question we have to ask ourselves is, if Stockwell Day is the minister for Public Safety, who will keep the public safe from Stockwell Day? I understand that for reasons relating to the internal politics of the Conservative Party, Harper had to give Stockwell SOMETHING. But could it have been at least Veterans' Affairs, or Agriculture, some position out of the way so that Canada can forget about that side of the conservative party? I guess it could have been worse!

Since all of these ministers, with the exception of Emerson, have yet to prove themselves in government at the federal level, it remains to be seen how each performs. For one thing, it will definitely throw a twist into the future leadership of the Conservative Party, should Harper falter and the need to find a new leader surface. If guys like Prentice and McKay fair poorly, they'll be a lot less likely to take over when Harper finishes.

The last thing I want to say is to point out the hypocrisy of saying that this new cabinet is "smaller, and more focused," as Harper likes to repeat. It is impossible for a cabinet to be both smaller and more focused. By being smaller, ministers are responsible for more than one portfolio, which means they have to make themselves experts in more than more thing. If anything, this will mean for a very unfocused cabinet. Conservative governments often try to chop themselves down in size to represent their fiscal responsibility, yet it could end up backfiring if it means having unprepared and uninformed ministers having too much on their plate and not enough appetite.

For my first post, this seems like enough. Hope someone out their in cyberland finds something here of interest. I'm always interested in hearing from people of all political stripes, so do not hesitate to write.

Hasta Soon everybody,

MCA