October 13, 2008 | In Politics |
Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party had strong momentum going into this election season, but appears to have lost its edge over the past couple of weeks, as Tory fortunes slump in Quebec and Canadians everywhere panic over the ongoing financial crisis.
But as I alluded to earlier in the campaign, it is largely a lack of decisiveness and principle that has caused the Conservatives to lose their momentum, and prevented any other party from picking it up.
Take the issue of arts funding for example. While in power, Harper’s Conservatives cut back on government grants to arts programs, triggering a small wave of anger in arts communities across Canada, but leading to lasting resentment in Quebec where “culture” reigns supreme. Bloc Quebecois leader, Gilles Duceppe, capitalized on this sentiment perfectly, painting the Tories as anti-Quebec culture, and presented himself as the candidate to prevent Harper from gaining a majority and gutting the province’s unique heritage.
Harper responded by backing off, explaining that he wasn’t really “against the arts,” but just reevaluating spending. But instead of being all apologies, he should have said something along the lines of:
“Our party believes in the ability of Quebecers to preserve their own arts and culture without handouts from a centralized federal government. We will reduce taxes across the board and put Quebec culture back in the hands of Quebecers where it belongs.”
Although somewhat risky, a statement promoting decentralized federalism and economic self-determination could have paid off big time for the Tory leader, as it would have demonstrated that he was being true to his principles, rather than simply “hugging the center” and declining to take a stand.
Freedom of speech is another vital issue where Mr. Harper could have stood up for what is right, while gaining votes at the same time. Most Canadians who have heard about Section 13 of the Human Rights Act (which makes it a quasi-criminal act to say anything “contemptuous” against certain groups of people) realize that this sort of legislation is a very dangerous attack on liberty.
Even immigrants and racial minorities, who supposedly benefit from this “right not to be offended,” have every reason to be skeptical of such laws. Why, after all, do new immigrants bother traveling all the way to Canada, if not for the fundamental freedoms that our country offers? And with the mainstream media firmly on side, how could the Tories go wrong with a proposal to scrap Section 13?
On economic issues, Harper may have redeemed himself to a point, but only by proposing less than the other leaders. Dion wants to experiment with a reckless carbon tax (punishing Western Canadians, and making Canadian products less competitive in the global market), while Layton wants to hike taxes on businesses, which would likely increase unemployment and further erode the pensions and investments of Canadians.
If a recession is unavoidable, Harper will ride it out, where Dion or Layton will make it much worse. As the soundest economist, Harper has likely captured enough respect to squeak through with another minority government. And with the opposition split between four parties, he might even do a little better than he deserves.
