Posted on 04/04/2006 3:38:34 AM PDT by Clive
Parliament reconvened yesterday after four months of doing nothing since the election campaign and subsequent Tory minority win.
To most of us, that seems a long holiday.
There are few things predictable about this 39th Parliament (and first Conservative government since Kim Campbell), but one certainty is that it will not soon be defeated by a vote of confidence.
This is not because 81% of Canadians in an Ipsos-Reid poll feel the government of Stephen Harper deserve at least a year to prove its worth.
It's because the rival parties are all strapped for cash, and the Liberals have no leader.
There may be some who'd argue that the Liberals haven't had a leader since Jean Chretien was persuaded to retire, even though they had a vacillating prime minister in Paul Martin.
Even before yesterday's session, NDP Leader Jack Layton was making a bit of an ass of himself by declaring several issues were non-negotiable -- like health care, child care and equality issues.
In other words, with 29 seats (which was lower than expected in the January election) Layton seems to think he can set the government's agenda.
The $1,200 Harper wants to give parents instead of the Liberal daycare program may or may not be popular. But it was one of the issues the Tories won the election on, so it ill-behooves Layton to insist it must be dismantled.
As NDP leader, Layton doesn't seem to understand what the socialist icon Tommy Douglas understood so well -- that the party's role in Canada was not to win federal elections, but to raise social issues that governing parties could adopt.
That's how we got our health-care program. Now Harper has made one of his priorities to reduce the waiting time for operations and such.
Of the remaining priorities -- reducing the GST, enhancing law and order, and promoting accountability in government -- the last item is probably the most significant for the public.
Accountability has been missing in recent years, and has earned politicians the lowest trust rating of all measured occupations.
Individual politicians may be trusted by constituents, but as a group politicians are trusted less than used car salesmen or even journalists (who rate pretty low).
In the interim between the January election and today, Harper's greatest triumph was his voyage of discovery to Afghanistan to visit our troops.
Part of that success was bringing reporters with him who don't ordinarily visit soldiers, even though they write about them.
The publicity was a boon to Harper, who was suitably deferential and modest.
He mixed with the guys and gals in uniform and gave the impression that they were high on his agenda to support.
The Canadian people liked what they saw, and Harper's approval rating rose accordingly. Also his visits with President George Bush and Mexico's Vicente Fox gained him marks -- despite (or because of) the disparaging assessments of fashion writers about his attire, designed to disguise his growing tummy.
Harper doesn't have to do anything to improve relations with the U.S.
Simply by being our PM has boosted relations with the White House, even though Stephen seems a bit of a klutz when it comes to the cowboy stuff that Bush enjoys.
The biggest surprise is that Quebec seems to like Harper, which may be his secret weapon to delay a vote of confidence.
It's about time we had a PM who wasn't from Quebec, and whom Quebeckers don't mistrust.
As for Senate reform, that's important for Canadian unity, and worth a separate column -- along with reducing the capital gains tax which would help average Canadians more than cutting the GST.
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Mrmmm...politicians...less trusted than both journalists AND used car salesmen.
That's one vote of confidence.
Nice site.
When did they put that up?
Ping for CanadianAlly.com
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