That's excellent news. Editorial in today's National Post.
Vote for Parliament
National Post
It is clear that Canada will today elect a Liberal government, either a majority or a minority. There are many good reasons to deny the Chrétien Liberals a third majority, but here are the three that matter most.
1) Nothing is more sacred to the Canadian nation than Parliament, where the concerns and aspirations of citizens find expression, are sharpened by debate, and transformed into the laws by which we govern ourselves. The Liberals under Jean Chrétien have treated Parliament with casual, habitual contempt. Mr. Chrétien's disdain is manifest in the short time the House sits each year, and in question period, once a venue in which the principle of ministerial accountability is tested, now a cheap-shot gallery in which honest opposition queries are met with evasions, taunts, and abuse.
In the week before this election was called, Canada's Information Commissioner, who is charged with maintaining government transparency, reported that Liberal officials were threatening the careers of civil servants who tried to do their duty and make documents public under the Access to Information Act. Mr. Chrétien dismissed the charge, saying insouciantly that MPs "do not want everyone seeing what goes on within their offices." A couple of days later, the Auditor-General reported on the government's widespread misuse of HRDC programs, and Liberals in the House stonewalled. To deflect criticism and avoid accountability on these files, the Prime Minister tried to discredit both of the well-respected public servants who delivered the reports, then rushed into Parliament with his mini-budget, and immediately closed down the House with an early election call.
We don't expect a steady diet of sweetness and light in the Commons, and question period has always included juvenile exchanges, but the Liberals have brought us to a new low.
2) For two years, the National Post has published stories about business and government transactions in the Prime Minister's riding. Here's a summary: A nearly bankrupt hotel once partly owned by Mr. Chrétien, and subsequently owned by a friend and business associate, received a large loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada, despite falling well short of the eligibility rules. The loans were approved after Mr. Chrétien personally intervened, pressuring the BDC president. Mr. Chrétien and his staff insisted for a year that the BDC was independent, but when we presented evidence of his interference two weeks ago, he shrugged and said he was just doing his job.
This and many other incidents show that the Liberal government plays fast and loose with public money. There are five RCMP investigations ongoing into grants and loans in the PM's riding. The Auditor-General found $1-billion unaccounted for in what has become known as the HRDC boondoggle. A parallel system of government was discovered by which Liberal hacks oversaw the disbursement of public funds to ensure partisan compatibility. But still, the Prime Minister has refused to admit any wrongdoing, or to hold anyone accountable. Canadians deserve better. They deserve honest and competent management of their money and their government.
3) Jean Chrétien declared in September, 1998, that enhancement of the country's economic productivity would be the "overriding objective" for the remainder of his mandate. It was a welcome initiative, especially considering that his industry minister, John Manley, a few months later released a report demonstrating that Canada had the lowest rate of productivity growth among the world's seven big free-market economies, and that the productivity of Canada's most competitive province, Ontario, was in danger of trailing the most backward American state, Mississippi. Mr. Manley noted that our shortfall in productivity, due primarily to high taxes, resulted in a $7,000 per capita shortfall in income. But while Mr. Chrétien's new priority was timely, he failed to follow through. Subsequent budgets have offered little tax relief for individuals, investors, or industry. His recent mini-budget contained bold promises but Mr. Chrétien did not pass the measures into law before dissolving the House, leaving himself room to renege. His commitments to use much of the surplus for debt reduction and tax relief were watered down early in the campaign. Party officials admit their proposed tax cuts and spending promises would, if acted on, drive Canada back into deficit. There is no reason for confidence the PM will do what it takes to enhance Canada's productivity and protect our prosperity in a third majority.
We find it difficult to understand why voters would support the Grits today, unless they are certain the party will soon have a new leader. But if that is the case, why not hurry the process along? Strong support for the Canadian Alliance today will produce a minority government and effectively end Mr. Chrétien's leadership. It will also ensure that we have, for the first time since 1993, a strong opposition, capable of applying great pressure to the Grits to clean up their act, reform Parliament, and chart a more aggressive course for the Canadian economy.
This is not an unequivocal endorsement of the Canadian Alliance under Stockwell Day. His party has not proven itself ready for government. Mr. Day seems to have tried to slide by on charm and telegenics. His campaign lacked focus and discipline, for which he is responsible. He failed to bring his leadership rivals, Preston Manning and Tom Long, and all their attendant talent, into his campaign, which hurt the Alliance, especially in Ontario. But the Alliance under Mr. Day remains much the next best hope for Canada. The party deserves more credit than the government for the current enthusiasm for tax cuts in Ottawa. The Alliance represents the many millions of Canadians who do not share the Liberals' passion for ill-considered and unrestricted social spending. Despite their muddled approach to the health care debate in this campaign, the Alliance will almost certainly be a strong voice for health care reform in coming years. The party is also beginning to articulate a long overdue alternative to the Liberal foreign policy agenda, which has been to make us a nuisance to the Americans and champion every feel-good initiative dreamed up at the United Nations. Mr. Day himself, though bruised by this campaign, should grow into his job, and it must be said he has come through the campaign with his personal integrity intact. The worst that can be said about him, if you follow the Liberal spin, is that he believes in the Bible, and shame on the Liberals for making faith a wedge issue. In sum, there is much promise in this party.
The same cannot be said for the opposition alternatives. Joe Clark has run a decent campaign, but the Tories will remain an insignificant presence in Parliament. They have no sense of purpose, no fresh ideas -- they would do Canada a favour by getting out of the way. The NDP should lose their official party status tonight, and one hopes their will to survive might go with it. They have contributed nothing to the last Parliament or to this campaign. The Bloc Québécois under Gilles Duceppe has run a strong campaign, holding the Liberals accountable and making a reasonable case for increased respect of provincial rights, and it is our fervent hope that this performance will carry into the coming Parliament before either the CA or the Liberals under new leadership can bury the separatists for good in the next federal election.
A Liberal minority with a strong Alliance party as the official opposition, and the decks cleared of the NDP and Tory nuisances, would be the best possible outcome tonight. Parliament would be enlivened by a minority. The Liberals' arrogance would be tempered, our government would be far more accountable, and everyone would gain from that. |
