Author: Stephen Taylor

…and how they are a continuous source of inspiration for blog posts.

A couple of days ago, I received the general mailing list email that gets sent out to subscribers of the e.ndp newsletter. This edition provided insight into the base level of rhetorical tone that the NDP is likely to set during the next session of Parliamentary debate.

The subject line optimistically declares:

Parliament opens Monday!

Multiple exclamation marks are perhaps even a little too profligate of Canada’s most socialist party, but that single one does indicate anticipation to sit in Parliament again. Anticipation is a symptom of purpose, and it would seem that the NDP will be looking forward to achieving something during this session.

The NDP email begins:

Parliament re-opens Monday, and the new NDP caucus are ready to go. We’ll be fighting to move forward on our working families agenda while ensuring Canada does not move backward on key issues.

While it is particularly encouraging that Jack and crew plan to fight for ‘working families’ (which by last count was almost everyone’s family), the promise not to compromise on “forwards-backwards” issues is there for his base. Of course, one’s reference point on “forwards” vs. “backwards” is completely dependent on the direction (“left” vs. “right”) that one is facing.

However, I get the sense that Layton and the NDP will want to get things to work during this session of Parliament.

In fact, the NDP immediately seeks to distance their party from what they predict will be an ineffective Liberal opposition which will merely seek to oppose:

The Liberals say they’ll oppose everything — they say they don’t have to work with anyone. People expect better from their minority Parliament, and New Democrats will deliver the principled opposition Canadians deserve.

I get the impression that the NDP has realized that it’s now safe to distrust the Liberals now that their agenda isn’t dependent upon them. And yes, they do go so far as to call the Liberal party unprincipled. Here the NDP also indicates that they are willing to be constructive with the Conservative government on a variety of issues:

In this session, NDP MPs will be fighting to put working families first by working to:

* Strengthen public health care.

This fits in with the Conservative plan to introduce a Patient’s Wait-Time Guarantee. While ‘strengthening public health care’ will never include taking Chaoulli out to the ice-flows, the NDP will be happy to participate with the government by partnering to create a wait-times guarantee.

* Ensure care for seniors and opportunities for young people.

While these two areas are not explicitly included in the government’s list of 5 priorities, creating a more prosperous country by reducing the tax burden on these low income earners by cutting the GST and cracking down on crime are two of Harper’s policy initiatives that resounded well with this segment of the electorate.

* Provide economic security for families and communities.

The child tax allowance of $1200 per child under the age of 6 will certain help create flexibility in the options available to parents seeking childcare for their children. I understand that this is counter to the NDP’s approach for raising children, but when “economic security for communities” is uncovered as a “dental plan and strike pay for local 382”, Canadians will always select the freedom to choose their daycare options.

* Protect the environment.

Who doesn’t want to protect the environment? Look for a made-in-Canada solution soon that addresses our air, water and land. Hopefully environmental protection will soon be removed from the concept of wealth-transfer to developing nations. (Let us debate that issue under the terms of “international development, but we should never dishonestly promote ID as “environmental policy”).

* Deliver real change for Aboriginal people.

Sounds good. Unfortunately, while we all want to help improve the situation, we disagree on the method.

* Introduce electoral reform.

Yeah, that one’s likely on the end of the Conservative list too. As conservatives, we believe in the power of bottom-up approach rather than the top-down. Since electoral reform hasn’t been a deal-breaker in the past, it’s unlikely to become a deal breaker now.

There are a few paragraphs on specific issues from the Chinese Head Tax apology (which the NDP notes that they are in agreement with the Conservatives on this issue), foreign ownership limitations on telecommunications, and a critique on Conservative lobbyists (here the NDP does not honestly differentiate between a CPC party worker and a partisan government employee — the latter would be banned from lobbying for 5 years under the Conservative government’s new plan).

The NDP closes their email, not by taking aim at the Conservative government, but by taking another parting shot at the disgraced Liberal party on their anticipated unprincipled opposition. The party quotes a Globe and Mail editorial:

“It is a bit rich for the Liberals to be nailing their colours to the mast of daycare, since they were notorious while in government for pledging action on child care in Throne Speech after Throne Speech and then delaying.”

On January 23rd, Canadians certainly did vote for change and they voted for a new ethic of governance. The NDP seems to realize that while Canadians handed Stephen Harper a minority Parliament, they also granted him a modest mandate at the same time. Harper ran on a platform with 5 clear priorities. Because he did so, he can now be reasonably expected to implement the policies that Canadians asked for.

The GST cut proposal was arguably one of the most popular proposals during the campaign. Opposition will be expected from the Liberals, but the NDP and Bloc should be expected to vote for a GST reduction as this will benefit the marginalized people they purport to represent.

Similarly, the childcare tax allowance marked one of moments when the campaign turned towards the Conservative Party. Real relief for hard-working parents was contrasted with nanny-statism-knows-best. Conservatives will continue to champion all parents who face a variety of situations regarding their childcare. These are the people that handed Harper a mandate.

The Federal Accountability Act is sure to be the easiest hurdle to pass with consent from all parties.

While there are obvious points of contention, I see many areas where the Conservative government can work with the NDP on issues in this upcoming session of Parliament. I’m encouraged that the party is predicting an obstructionist Liberal opposition as this indicates a potential constructive relationship that the Dippers may take with the government.

They’re still talking about it. In 1984, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney landed a famous “knock-out punch” to Liberal leader John Turner. In the famous “you had a choice” berating, the former conservative Prime Minister admonishes Turner over patronage appointments.

Today, many in the media long for similar drama when the leaders of our political parties square off. It’s almost cliché to hear political analysts and pundits alike claim that there wasn’t a “knock-out punch” akin to the Mulroney-Turner debate of 1984.

Have things really changed though? In the video, the moment is almost lost when the moderator attempts to redirect the debate. We can be certain, however, that the debate format itself will also be up for debate. For instance, why does the Bloc debate in English when they hardly hide that they’re not targeting English voters in Quebec and while they do not run any candidates outside of Quebec? Further, why does the Green Party get shut out of debates? Could a debate format exist in which the two front runners challenge each other to a private debate? Would Jack Layton picket that debate?

Given the reconfigured concept of “party” in our Parliamentary system, how could we accommodate all parties? Should we?

Perhaps we’ll never again see a “knock-out punch” like the one in 1984 if we talk about extending the English debate format from 4 parties (including one that hasn’t a need to debate in English to a fifth party that gets only 5% of the popular “can’t vote for anyone else” vote. Once we extend the stage to anyone who meets the easy requirements of forming a political party in this country, the serious contenders for power in this country will be drowned out and constantly interrupted by tangential issues from implementing Marxist labour codes to creating a Canadian theocracy.

How can we ever have another knock-out punch when the debate format is so disjoint and without focus? Particularly unhelpful was the decision by the network to disallow direct engagement and debate among party leaders.

Another important point is that the current evolution of the Canadian leaders debate favours the incumbent. One cannot turn popular opinion on its head if tertiary parties (that didn’t run for government — ie. the NDP) cloud the focus of the debate (ie. the issues of the day).

Be sure to watch the historic moment between Mulroney and Turner on BT-TV (on the left-hand sidebar). Also, you can host this video and other conservative moments in Canadian history by putting the Blogging Tories TV plugin on your own website. Click here to find out how.

UPDATE: The clip is now temporarily unavailable

I received the following just a while ago from one of my contacts in the government. It’s the transcript of Stephen Harper’s comments that preceded his speech on accountibility. The original speech on accountibility (prepared before the hostages were released) is available on the PM’s website, however, I’ve included the remarks concerning the hostages here.

Before commencing my remarks, I would like to make a statement about the successful rescue of the Canadian and British hostages in Iraq.

Il est maintenant confirmé que les Canadiens James Loney et Harmeet Singh Sooden, capturés et tenus en otages en Iraq en compagnie du britannique Norman Kember depuis des mois, sont désormais trois hommes libres.

Ils ont été l’objet d’une délicate opération de sauvetage, qui a permis de les soustraire sains et saufs de de leurs ravisseurs.

Cette nouvelle est un immense soulagement pour tous les Canadiens, à commencer par les proches de MM. Loney et Sooden.

J’ai eu la chance de parler de vive voix a ces deux messieurs. Je leur ai exprimé, au nom de tous les Canadiens, ma grande joie de les savoir enfin libres et en sécurité. C’était pour eux une épreuve extrêmement difficile et angoissante, et pour les citer ils sont << contents d’être en vie >>

Bien que nous soyons tous contents et reconnaissants que m. loney, m. sodden et m. kember soient sains et saufs, j’aimerais offrir mes condoléances, au nom de tous les Canadiens, à la famille de M. Tom Fox.

La dépouille de M. Fox, un citoyen américain, a été découverte le 9 mars dernier.

J’aimerais aussi souligner et témoigner de ma gratitude pour le rôle exceptionnel qu’ont joué nos alliés britanniques et américains dans cette opération de sauvetage réussie.

J’ai parlé plus tôt aujourd’hui avec le Premier ministre Tony Blair et J’ai également demandé à l’ambassadeur wilkins de transmettre au président bush toute la gratitude des Canadiens pour leurs efforts dans cette opération réussie.

Enfin, et surtout, j’aimerais remercier les membres de plusieurs agences et ministères du Gouvernement du Canada, qui ont travaillé sur ce dossier délicat avec leurs homologues britanniques, américains, et iraquiens qui ont fait leur part dans le succès de l’opération.

Vous avez fait de l’excellent travail, et m. loney et m. sooden m’ont demandé spécifiquement de vous remercier pour l’assistance que vous avez fourni à eux et à leurs familles.

The confirmation that Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden and british national Norman Kember have been rescued from their captors unharmed is wonderful news for their families, and for all Canadians.

I have spoken to the Canadians and personally conveyed, on behalf of all Canadians, my happiness at their safe release.

As you can imagine, they’ve been through a lot and to quote them they’re “Happy to be alive”.

And while we are all happy and thankful for the rescue of mr. Loney, mr. Sooden and mr. Kember, I and they would like to re-iterate, on behalf of all Canadians, our condolences to the family of Tom Fox, the american national, whose body was found on March 9th.

I would also like to recognize the outstanding role played by our British and American allies in securing the release of the hostages.

In particular, I spoke to Prime Minister Blair this morning and I have asked ambassador Wilkins to convey our gratitude for their efforts in this successful operation.

Finally, but not lastly, I would like to thank the numerous departments and agencies within the Government of Canada who worked with the British and Americans, and Iraqis, on this sensitive file.

You did very good work, and mr. loney and mr. sooden asked me specifically to thank canadian officials for their assistance provided for themselves and their families.

UPDATE: Here is the audio of the PM’s speech today