There are interesting political happenings here in Canada. The Conservative government led by Stephen Harper proposed last week to get rid of the public financing of political parties here. The Conservatives are a minority government, and thus cannot do whatever they want, but, given the widespread notion amongst his enemies that Harper is some type of evil genius, I assumed that such a proposal would not have seen the light of day without it having been given substantial forethought. Alas, Mr. Harper appears no more competent than the so-called conservative to the south, and has already withdrawn the proposal. This doesn’t mean he’s safe, however, as the Liberals still plan a confidence vote next week.
As I understand it, Canadian political parties get a certain amount of money based upon their showing in the last general election ($1.90ish per vote, I believe). This grand socialization of the party structure took place under a recent Liberal regime, and it quickly became the leading if not sole means of income for most of the parties (Liberals, BQ, NDP, and Green). The Conservatives are the only party to have maintained a significant non-socialized fundraising operation. Given the parlous state of the Liberal Party’s financial affairs, the bill would have harmed it significantly, but the BQ also receives something like 80% of its budget from the federal government, as well (which is quite ironic given that the stated goal of the BQ is the destruction of Canada as it now exists).
The Liberal response has been to call Harper’s bluff and threaten the minority government. It is in talks with the NDP and the Bloc (it would have to include the Bloc in some capacity because Liberal and NDP numbers won’t make a majority) concerning the creation of a coalition government. All this is a transparent defense of their corrupt and corrupting jobbing of the federal fisc, but politicians rarely have any other skills and thus attacking their jobs is one certain way to gather strange bedfellows together.
The fact that Harper either didn’t recognize this or was too foolhardy to put this proposal in a stimulus bill which would have left-footed the Liberals and NDP is a rather obvious indication that he deserves neither his reputation as a strategic magus nor his position as leader of the Conservative Party. I’m looking forward to seeing how the BQ works with the other left-of-center parties, however.
The placeholder coalition would be an appropriate name for the new government. Perhaps it’s time to break out the Bolingbroke and ‘The Structure of Political at the Accession of George III’.
EPISTEME: December 2023
2 days ago
3 comments:
I know nothing about Canadian politics, so I yield to your views. Nevertheless, might there not also be the Machiavellian possibility (consistent with Harper being an evil genius) that Harper engineered this to discredit the opposition, possibly provoking new elections which he would win with an outright majority (as the polls currently show: the crisis is helping Harper, not harming him)? Consider: if the opposition had stayed silent, they would have been crippled financially. If they had spoken up without trying to seize power, they would have publicly displayed that they can only finance themselves through extorting taxpayer money, not through voluntary support from Canadian society. And if they tried to take power (as they are doing now), they would provoke the outrage that they have.
Harper seems pretty sharp to me.
Addendum:
Harper's motive is obvious: he doesn't want to lead a minority government. He thought he had a good shot at winning a majority six weeks ago, but got stuck with an increased plurality. I'd be frustrated too! Go Harper! Ha.
I agree with Harper's policy decision to cut public funding for political parties, but Harper keeps forgetting that he doesn't actually have a majority government. The Liberals threatened his first minority government with a no-confidence vote on a regular basis, but never delivered, in part because they knew that they couldn't win a national election. I think that Harper seriously miscalculated this time, however, and what he did (it looks like it might be merely temporary, for which I am grateful) was unite all of the left-wing parties. The Liberals might not have to win a national election to take power.
The polls do look good for him and the Conservatives right now (in part because the Conservatives have maintained a balanced budget during Harper’s brief stay in office and are viewed by Canadians as more trustworthy stewards of the economy), but it still looks unlikely that the governor-general will call another election if Harper loses a confidence vote and there is an alternative which can maintain a majority in Parliament. So, though he might come out alright, his standing amongst his own party has been diminished because they most emphatically do not see him any longer as a tactical genius.
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