Canada's Future

You may or may not have noticed that a large portion of the criticism on this blog is directed at the Liberal Party of Canada. You might be wondering why I am so hard on them. Though I have raised a litany of complaints, I can summarize my position as follows; I believe that the future of Canada as a united and fully democratic country depends on an immediate change of government.

Canadian Democracy
The fundamental purpose of the democratic process is to hold politicians accountable. In both the French and English debates, the federal party leaders were asked whether they would enact legislation that would force politicians by law to keep their promises. This is not what is needed. What ought to keep politicians to their word is the knowledge that if they betray, they will be voted out of office. Meanwhile, it has become increasingly clear after all of the incidents of scandal and mismanagement that the Liberals have failed to uphold the third tenet of the constitution which requires "Peace, Order, and Good Government." Most notably, John Gomery's report has censured the Liberal government for its "culture of entitlement." If they are re-elected despite their misbehaviour, it sets a terrible precedent. Liberal politicians will understand that the public is willing to tolerate corruption. They will understand that the government can rule with impunity.

The Liberal Party has been in power for 12 years now. The question that Canadians should ask themselves is whether or not they want Canada to become a one-party state.

Canadian Unity
There is no denying that the sponsorship scandal has done a great deal of damage to federalism in Québec. A poll by Léger Marketing in May 2005 found that support for Québec separatism hit 54%, up from 40% in 2003 (See Graph). In the 2004 election, the separatist Bloc Québecois won 54 out of Québec's 75 seats. They did this even before anyone had heard any of the testimony from the Gomery Inquiry. Now that Justice Gomery has confirmed everyone's worst suspicions, the Bloc are sure to win even more seats this time around. In spite of this, Paul Martin has declared to Québeckers that they should consider this election as a referendum. It is a foolish and dangerous remark for him to make since he is sure to lose. Paul Martin offers Québeckers nothing more than a choice between corruption and separation, to the detriment of Canadian federalism.

Entrusting the Fire Extinguisher to the Pyromaniac
The Liberals claim to be the only one who can keep Canada united. It is an absurd proposition considering the fact that they are the root cause of the current resurgence in separatist support. They also claim that they will clean up politics and restore accountability. Their record on this is dismal. This last session of parliament saw the democratic deficit widen as opposition days were cancelled and rescheduled at the government's whim and as political cronies were appointed to the senate. The Liberals could not even get through the last week of their tenure without scandal; the RCMP is now investigating the possibility of illegal insider trading after a flurry of trade activity occured hours before the finance minister made a surprise announcement on income trusts, causing a spike in the market the next day. Clearly, the Liberals are not able to reform themselves, nor can they be trusted to do so.

My conclusions
So who will I be voting for? Certainly not the Liberals. Not this time. My opinion of the Liberal party was cemented last spring after witnessing their crass behaviour during a crisis of confidence (I repeatedly refer readers back to my article, I Hope You Were Paying Attention). The Liberals need to take a break from governing so that they can get their act together. The other three parties, on the hand, are all honest and respectable. But I am at complete philosophical odds with the socialist NDP and with the separatist Bloc, who anyhow are not running in my riding. So by a process of elimination, the Conservative Party won my vote, though, until recently, I wasn't sure whether I would be casting this vote with a smile or a cringe. It all depended on what Stephen Harper's priorities were. In July, I outlined exactly what I thought these priorities should be (See Use the Summer Wisely). I argued that Mr. Harper should stop pandering to social conservatives and should focus on economic policy and democratic reform.

Now, three weeks into the election campaign, I have decided that I will cast my vote enthusiastically. The Conservatives have been presenting a positive, cohesive vision for Canada's future, unlike last election where their focus was on why Canadians should not vote for the Liberals. Also, I am now convinced that Stephen Harper has his priorities straight. He announced that the first piece of legislation that a Conservative government would pass is the Federal Accountability Act, which, among other things, will impose tight new rules on political fundraising and will give more power to independent watchdogs of parliament like the auditor general and the ethics commissioner. He has also been speaking frequently about setting up a process by which senators will be democratically elected before the Prime Minister can appoint them to the senate, as opposed to the way it is now, where the PM can appoint whoever he wants. Reforms like these are essential for restoring credibility to politics in Ottawa.

On the other hand, I am now convinced that the social conservative pandering that I worried about is more talk than substance. In the English Debate, Harper declared unequivocally that he will not use the notwithstanding clause to reinstate the traditional definition of marriage. Thus, his proposal to reopen a can of worms with another vote on the issue will amount to little more than pouting, since there would be no other legal way for him to overrule something designated by the Supreme Court as a minority right guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Renewal of Democracy
My official endorsement: electing a Conservative government on January 23rd will have a long-lasting positive effect on Canadian democracy, even after the Conservatives leave office. On the one hand, voting the Liberals out of office will teach politicians that if they breach the public trust, the public will hold them to account. On the other, the Conservative Federal Accountability Act will provide transparancy that will prevent corruption and breaches of public trust from occuring in the first place, and an elected senate will decentralize power from the Prime Minister's Office and add a check and balance to the equation of government.

Democracy requires consistent maintenance or it will fall apart. I urge you to think long and hard before casting your vote. The future of Canada's democracy depends on it.