For Paul.
CathiefromCanada once again directs me to something I really needed to read. This time, it's Politics Canada endorsing the Liberals. They do it right too; pointing out two obvious points that tend to get washed under the bridge by the cynics at the Globe and Mail:
1) Liberals have accumulated scores of scandals, it seems the party had a chronic disposition for misspending and administrative misadventures, however, all of these fell under the leadership of Jean Chrétien.
Not to be solipsistic, but I never much cared for Jean Chrétien. I became a flaming, dues-paying Liberal because of the happy occurence of a party leader (Martin) whom I admire taking over the leadership, combined with moving into the riding of a first-rate Liberal MP, Stephen Owen. So it's unfortunate and sloppy that Martin and Chretien always get lumped together in these discussions. Martin, as feeble as he might sound insisting on it, really did stop, open, and clean up the Sponsorship mess. The little dribs and drabs of corruption that still emerge are troubling and certainly maddening, but many -- like the budget leak -- appear to mainly the product of idiot Liberal political strategists, not the cabinet members themselves. Others, like the Tony Valeri real-estate-deal story, wouldn't even stick if it weren't for the "culture of corruption" tale the other parties have managed so well to spin. It's tempting, but wrong-headed, to elect or unelect parties based mainly on the quality of their campaigns rather than their records. Journalists and newsmakers, who are relative experts, ought to fight against this tendency. Instead, in this election, they've done nothing but reinforce it.
2) [Martin]...in a minority setting pass[ed] more legislation than any other Prime Minister in a minority.
Yes. YES. In the G&M endorsement of the Tories, there's a passing reference to gridlock being partly the result of a "mean-spirited minority Parliament." But all the gridlock was a product of the "mean-spirited minority Parliament". That's what happens when you have a center-left neoliberal party, a center-to-hard right party (depending on the week), a social-democratic party and a party that only cares about the interests of a single province trying to make policy together in a minority setting. Despite that, and despite the bobbing and weaving required to form and hold coalitions together that so many pundits seemed to find unseemly, the Liberals passed a major budget that is progressive (well, except maybe for the decision to raise the RRSP contribution limit, a needless and ineffective sop to the rich), is both business- and defence-friendly, and that still addresses many important social problems and shores up long-standing Canadian programs and institutions that had taken hits during the belt-tightening of the 90s. The Liberals signed day care deals with the provinces (which the Tories will gut). They addressed the Residential Schools reparations issue and other Native anti-poverty and education funding issues (on which the Tories are fuzzy). They established the provincial health accords which at least maintain the formal notion of federal control over how the provinces do health while addressing wait times. They put gay marriage on the books with grace, respect for all concerns (including conservative religious concerns), and a minimum of durm und strang. They've lived within a recent Liberal-passed campaign finance law that has, judging from my experiences at fundraising discussions, hardly propitious for the governing party. And more. And that's just since Martin has been in the leadership. That is Martin's leadership.
Compare that to what's happened in the States over the past six years: a bunch of regressive tax cuts; a couple ill-fated wars only one of them necessary; a "prescription drug benefit" that makes a mockery of the concept of legislation. And not much else. And that's essentially under one-party rule. Sure, Canadian politics has been turbulent over the past 20 months, but it hasn't been "gridlocked", not in a relative or absolute sense.
Fuck it: vote Liberal.
1) Liberals have accumulated scores of scandals, it seems the party had a chronic disposition for misspending and administrative misadventures, however, all of these fell under the leadership of Jean Chrétien.
Not to be solipsistic, but I never much cared for Jean Chrétien. I became a flaming, dues-paying Liberal because of the happy occurence of a party leader (Martin) whom I admire taking over the leadership, combined with moving into the riding of a first-rate Liberal MP, Stephen Owen. So it's unfortunate and sloppy that Martin and Chretien always get lumped together in these discussions. Martin, as feeble as he might sound insisting on it, really did stop, open, and clean up the Sponsorship mess. The little dribs and drabs of corruption that still emerge are troubling and certainly maddening, but many -- like the budget leak -- appear to mainly the product of idiot Liberal political strategists, not the cabinet members themselves. Others, like the Tony Valeri real-estate-deal story, wouldn't even stick if it weren't for the "culture of corruption" tale the other parties have managed so well to spin. It's tempting, but wrong-headed, to elect or unelect parties based mainly on the quality of their campaigns rather than their records. Journalists and newsmakers, who are relative experts, ought to fight against this tendency. Instead, in this election, they've done nothing but reinforce it.
2) [Martin]...in a minority setting pass[ed] more legislation than any other Prime Minister in a minority.
Yes. YES. In the G&M endorsement of the Tories, there's a passing reference to gridlock being partly the result of a "mean-spirited minority Parliament." But all the gridlock was a product of the "mean-spirited minority Parliament". That's what happens when you have a center-left neoliberal party, a center-to-hard right party (depending on the week), a social-democratic party and a party that only cares about the interests of a single province trying to make policy together in a minority setting. Despite that, and despite the bobbing and weaving required to form and hold coalitions together that so many pundits seemed to find unseemly, the Liberals passed a major budget that is progressive (well, except maybe for the decision to raise the RRSP contribution limit, a needless and ineffective sop to the rich), is both business- and defence-friendly, and that still addresses many important social problems and shores up long-standing Canadian programs and institutions that had taken hits during the belt-tightening of the 90s. The Liberals signed day care deals with the provinces (which the Tories will gut). They addressed the Residential Schools reparations issue and other Native anti-poverty and education funding issues (on which the Tories are fuzzy). They established the provincial health accords which at least maintain the formal notion of federal control over how the provinces do health while addressing wait times. They put gay marriage on the books with grace, respect for all concerns (including conservative religious concerns), and a minimum of durm und strang. They've lived within a recent Liberal-passed campaign finance law that has, judging from my experiences at fundraising discussions, hardly propitious for the governing party. And more. And that's just since Martin has been in the leadership. That is Martin's leadership.
Compare that to what's happened in the States over the past six years: a bunch of regressive tax cuts; a couple ill-fated wars only one of them necessary; a "prescription drug benefit" that makes a mockery of the concept of legislation. And not much else. And that's essentially under one-party rule. Sure, Canadian politics has been turbulent over the past 20 months, but it hasn't been "gridlocked", not in a relative or absolute sense.
Fuck it: vote Liberal.
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