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Harper Takes Reins

Dr. Bikram Lamba

The 22nd Prime Minister of Canada, Stephan Harper was always harping on two major themes with recurring vehemence during his election. He was all for maintaining the ethical standards, and need to make Senate more representative.  His first step as Prime Minister was to take action negating these two lofty principles.  The Two astonishing cabinet appointments were among Stephen Harper's first acts as prime minister Monday but they may just be obscuring a far more interesting gambit.

Ethics

The cabinet - 27 members, including the prime minister - marks another deliberate step toward the pragmatic middle and away from the new Conservative party's ideological roots. Harper, who cried blue at the time of defection by Belinda, did not bat an eyelid in encouraging defection by Emerson.  And imagine it is the same Mr. Emerson, who during the election was crying hoarse reviling the Conservatives, was equally anxious to embrace the ideals that he earlier scorned, with the enthusiasm of a devoted acolyte. He turned his back on voters who thought they were casting a progressive vote, when they voted him. Jack Layton says:” The day after the election Mr. Emerson was quoted as saying he would be Mr. Harper’s “worst enemy.” It certainly appears that what we have here is yet another example of Conservative values of convenience.

All the hue and cry over floor-crossing Liberal David Emerson and unelected, soon-to-be-senator Michael Fortier vaulting straight onto the Tory front bench merely drives home the point. "This seems to be a clear nod toward quite a pragmatic, centrist style of government," said Allan Tupper, a political scientist at the University of British Columbia. Put another way, the old grassroots Reform party is dead, dead, dead. "This is the final transition away from Reform," said Faron Ellis, a career Reform-Alliance-Conservative party chronicler who teaches at Lethbridge Community College. "And I don't say that critically."

Much will be made over the next few days about some of Harper's cabinet selections, not just Fortier and Emerson. Manitoba's Vic Toews at Justice is raising eyebrows because of his impolitic rants against the Charter and the Supreme Court in his former role as justice critic.

Jim Flaherty at Finance is being remembered as among the most flinty-eyed neo-cons in Ontario's Mike Harris government. Stockwell Day as public safety minister is still living down his ill-starred stint as Canadian Alliance leader. "Are we going to get SeaDoos for the Coast Guard now?" joked Heather MacIvor of the University of Windsor, Ont., which is a reference to Day's penchant for showboating.

Restive Conservative MPs were openly muttering about holding by-elections if Prime Minister Stephen Harper opts again for unorthodox means to fill out his cabinet. Weaving their way to their first caucus meeting, some did little to conceal their unease with Harper’s decision to welcome Liberal defector David Emerson into his cabinet along with Michael Fortier, who will run the Public Works Department from his seat in the Senate.

Some Tories talked about reviving a bill that would stop MPs from switching parties until they face voters in a by-election.‘‘Oh, I think there is support (for the idea),’’ said Calgary Tory Diane Ablonczy who, surprisingly, was left out of cabinet. “That’ll be up to Parliament to decide but I think it’s probably going to be back on the table.” Turner, another MP was still more vocal in expressing his resentment on his web site and in discussions on national TV.

Harper’s surprising decision to encourage a Liberal defection and appoint a senator to round out his cabinet dominated parliamentary hallway chatter after the Conservatives’ first post-election meeting.

Child care

Stephen Harper is faces the next challenge in fulfilling his famous commitment regarding childcare.  There is every likelihood of his facing a showdown with premiers over his plan to scrap child-care deals that were years in the making. The PM offered to negotiate a "transition period" with Quebec before cutting off related funding to all 10 provinces after March 31, 2007. It wasn't immediately clear if other provinces will get similar offers before the Conservatives snuff the Liberal plan to set up a $5-billion national day-care system.

The leaders in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba said they expect the Tories to honour commitments made by the former government. All three provinces signed five-year funding deals, but they allow either side to opt out with 12 months written notice. Other provinces had one-year agreements in principle as they worked out details to negotiate longer terms. That process was interrupted by the recent federal election. The Liberals had committed $5 billion over five years to help create early-learning spaces across Canada. But the Conservatives slammed the deal as a potential black hole of overspending that doesn't offer parents real choice. They want to give families $1,200 a year for each child under age six starting July 1. They will also offer $250 million in tax credits to employers and non-profit agencies that cover the full cost of providing new spaces. Heather Forsyth, Alberta's minister for children's services, said she wanted to hear details, adding she had not yet heard from Harper.

Business community reacts positively

Despite these initial misgivings, there is a light at the end of tunnel. The overcast sky has some glitter of stars. Some members of Alberta's business community are pleased with the Alberta cabinet appointments. Their hope is that the ministers will understand how their new portfolios intertwine with Alberta's economic future. Dan Gaynor, chair of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, is encouraged by the appointment of Solberg as the minister of citizenship and immigration. He said finding solutions to the shortage of skilled labour in Alberta is a key issue for the chamber. Gaynor hopes that having the immigration minister familiar with that issue will mean changes in policy. He is also hung ho regarding Rona Ambrose being given the environment portfolio, saying he believes Ambrose is well suited to balancing environmental concerns with those of industry.

Petroleum industry upbeat

The President of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers sees potential benefits in Monday's cabinet appointments, in particular those who come from areas with strong ties to the energy sector. Pierre Alvarez said he was also encouraged by the appointment of Ambrose, especially while the industry grapples with the Kyoto Protocol. "From our point of view it's good to have someone who's familiar with the advantages of the industry and she's also aware of the challenges," Alvarez said. He was of the opinion that it’s clear from the appointments that Harper wanted cabinet ministers who will not only represent the interests of their portfolio's stakeholders but those of the provinces as well

Defense

Harper is committed to strengthen the military services. That is absolutely fine and welcome. However there is a feeling of wariness. His appointment of former military lobbyist Gordon O'Connor to the pivotal role of defence minister has created a minefield all its own. Possibly Harper has purposely, but cleverly, planted this political suicide bomb in his first cabinet, the

At first glance, O'Connor may seem a natural choice to be giving the marching orders at National Defence headquarters.

In any minority government, experience is a definite asset, and as a retired general and the former Conservative defence critic, O'Connor is only too well aware of finding  his way around the department. Harper may have possibly thought he would be sending the military brass and rank-and-file a positive signal by appointing one of their own as the political boss. In opposition, O'Connor was a responsible, hard working, straight shooter, worthy of a place in the Harper cabinet. The problem is, that he was also a successful military lobbyist, a part of his resume guaranteed to create no end of political and public relations nightmares for himself and for Harper.

Core Pledge

It is time to study Harper's core campaign pledge to end what he called the "revolving door" of senior political staff and bureaucrats -- and generals -- who leave government jobs to become high paid lobbyists. They use their old contacts to influence their old departments. That would certainly explain why the new prime minister would instantly make a former defence lobbyist his defence minister, a general who retired to lobby his old department on behalf of military contractors who will now be lobbying him for billions of dollars in giant purchase orders. What a confusion worse confounded.

It is too early to predict what course the history would take, but the rumblings are ominous. The average life of the minority governments in this country has been 18 months. Would Harper show some decisive action and fulfill his dreams, but not the way he has done till now? Or would he, with Jack Layton, ready to take his pound of flesh, breathing down his neck plunge the country into yet another winter election. I hope my fears are ungrounded and the governance really takes place, I hope , we do not become an object of mockery by self serving polticians.Amen.