Last week marked the not-so-triumphant return of parliament in Ottawa. The weeks leading up to it were exciting ones for journalists—the prorogue of parliament until mid-October, the delayed opening, the Liberals’ (and thus, Stéphane Dion’s) failures in the Quebec by-elections, Harper’s hijacking of parliament by turning every vote into a confidence issue, and the NDP-Bloc rejection of the throne speech. Throughout all this, reporters and commentators across the country played their favourite game: election speculation. The fate of the minority Conservative government seemed to rest upon the decision of Stéphane Dion, a man whose name has been preceded with the word “embattled” in recent months.
But Dion decided to let the throne speech pass. The speech itself was very much like the Conservatives’ mandate: mild, balanced, and not, in fact, all that Conservative. A Conservative minority with three left-leaning parties in opposition hasn’t done the country too badly. The budgets have been about as fiscally conservative as Liberal ones, particularly after being fiddled with by other parties. Harper’s move to declare the Québécois a nation within a united Canada was a brilliant political response to Gilles Duceppe’s separatist rhetoric. More blatantly right-wing policies have been kept in check, as when aspects of the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act were not renewed. So far, our government hasn’t done all that badly at their job—governing.
That’s what makes all the more disappointing Harper’s insistence that every parliamentary vote be a confidence issue. Instead of attempting to debate, reshape, and reform bills so that they can get enough support from our elected representatives to pass, Liberal amendments to the throne speech are likely to be rejected. The Liberals, in a show of opposition, will likely only send enough MPs to parliament to allow the speech to pass. All of this is in fear of an election that would likely return us to the same sort of government we have now—either a minority Liberal or Conservative leadership, with sizable Bloc and NDP opposition.
Fear of such an election is helping to set a dangerous precedent, and gives Stephen Harper undeserved power to pass unbalanced legislation, such as his Tackling Violent Crime Act. If the Conservatives’ past environmental plans are any indication, they could very well force the Liberals to choose between an unwanted election or an unsatisfactory environmental policy full of half-measures and concessions to big polluters (we’re looking at you, Alberta oil companies). Harper is attempting to simulate the power of a majority government, something that his party hasn’t earned, and, according to many polls, would be unlikely to gain in an election.
At the centre of all this is the oftmocked Liberal leader. Stéphane Dion hasn’t been well-treated by the media since the Liberal Leadership Convention honeymoon ended in February or so. He’s jeered at from across the floor, his communication skills are questioned, and even his own MPs anonymously e-mail reporters with their criticisms of his ways. As of right now, a trial-by-fire election victory would likely be the only way Dion’s image could improve, but that would require that Harper messes up to a John Tory or Kim Campbell degree.
Despite the negative buzz, of the four leaders, Dion (in true policy wonk fashion) is the only one who is attempting to make parliament work. The NDP and the Bloc are content to oppose most Conservative bills and are eager to head into an election to strip votes off of what they view as a weakened Liberal Party. Dion, if not his party as a whole, wants to do what he was elected to do: represent this country’s populace and pass balanced legislation that reflects their desires. Only time will tell if this session of parliament will be allowed to do so.
