BUILDING WALLS AND BRIDGES....MAYBE !

Tensions along the North American borders, the 'de facto' stalled talks involving Mexico, Canada and the United States over the North American Free Trade Accord (NAFTA), and an increasingly, somewhat hostile, and surely dysfunctional American Administration; add these to a grid-locked Congress and Government, and none augur very favourably to support the construction of new international crossings and / or the infrastructures and facilities which they require and demand.

 Meantime, all of a sudden along the International Border between Northern Maine (USA) and the Province of New Brunswick (Canada) it seems that no one noticed, until recently that is, that the 100 year old 1,500 Ft steel-span bridge over the St. John River was falling apart. (Figures, eh ? - S'tie !)

Politicians are like High School students waiting until last minute to start cramming, in this case 'scrambling' for a quick fix - The Edmundston / Madawaska International Bridge is the life-link which joins the local economy. The American owned Twin Rivers Paper Company operates mills in both countries of the community and the busy bridge links the company's Pulp and Cardboard mills in Canada to its Paper and Packaging Labels manufacturing mills in the USA.  Alas...the international bridge's deteriorating span has forced a 5 Tons weight restriction on vehicles crossing since last October, and the bridge is too old to fix. - Wait ! - There's more : Since 9/11 Canadian Federal authorities have spent multi-millions of dollars to build new and crucial border inspection facilities at the bridge and there is absolutely no appetite to relocate them - In fact that has been made crystal clear to all concerned.  The opposite is true on the American side where the border post dates to near the end of World War 2 and needs to be replaced. Trouble is the current bridge approach on the USA side is way too small to accommodate the mandate from Homeland Security.

 

The "locals" have come-up with a 'made at home' proposal to build a new bridge on the Canadian side where the existing border infrastructure exists, and north up river about 1/2 mile where there would be room to build a new USA Border post. Accordingly the new bridge would be diagonal across the river, and about twice as long as the current 100 year old span...and somehow they expect to be granted authority to proceed and build between 2020 and 2022.  Well, wait until the upper levels of governments and echelons of the bureaucracy on both sides of the 'divide' get hold of this nose stretcher ! - May I digress ?

 

 

It's 14 years since the Government of Canada proposed building a new bridge across the Detroit River to link Ontario and Michigan and (essentially)  replace the (now) 87 year old privately owned 'Ambassador Bridge' over which $2-Billion of trade (The most anywhere in the world) crosses the International Border every day.  It's 6 years since, out of sheer frustration and no doubt hoping to score political capital, the Government of Stephen Harper created the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority to manage the (fiction of the)  'Gordie Howe International Bridge' - So far that corporation has spent close to $ 1/2 Billion (Canadian Dollars) and there ain't no bridge ! - President Obama said OK to the bridge if Canada pays for the USA Border Post in Detroit ($250-Million) - We Canadian have also offered an Interest Free loan of $250-Million to Michigan so they can pay their share...The State Legislature said: Umm... No Thanks !

 

Wait ! There's more : American Billionaire Matty Maroun owns the Ambassador Bridge and he's been offering for at least a dozen years to build a new bridge AT HIS OWN EXPENSE - Guess what ? - Very quietly late last summer, Mr. Maroun's company outmanoeuvred the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and received a permit from the Trudeau Cabinet to plan and build a new bridge next to the 'Ambassador' as long as the Ambassador Bridge is torn-down within 5 years of the new one becoming operational . There's much speculation now on both sides of the border these days that 'Gordie Howe' will not see the light of day.

 

Perhaps the elected officials of my home town should give Mr. Moroun a call - He's in the Detroit Phone Book.

 

STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE

Actor Johnny Depp who stars in an autobiographical film about Hunter S. Thompson, "The Rum Diary" which opens this weekend, says the journalist/author committed suicide in 2005 because of his growing disillusionment over the collapse of the America dream. Depp says Thompson's faith in, and disappointment with, America resulted in a..."bubbling oozing rage especially during the Bush era."

Perhaps a lesson not too late to grasp for moderates growing rageful at the people who attempt to run our lives. - Oh, Canada! A country with a proud history of accommodation, peacekeeping and inclusion, in the grips of the new hawks of the western world who, in the name of their "War on Big Government" justify policies which make no sense, decisions that can't be justified and initiatives only understood by the few who may be privy to a hidden agenda.

Lest I digress: "War" is such a distasteful term that it should NEVER be utilized in the same sentence as government; and most certainly never to justify initiatives against the democratically constituted institutions of a peaceful society. I am disappointed at the orchestrated attacks against our cultural institutions primarily CBC/Radio-Canada, fronted by Sun Media and its parent company Quebecor and I fear, orchestrated within the deepest recesses of the corridors of elected power.

Canada has changed incrementally since the election of January 2006. So it is outrageous that on at least six separate occasions since the election last May of Mr. Harper's first majority Conservative government it's seen fit and appropriate to limit legitimate democratic debate in the House of Commons on important (some critical) matters such as the Omnibus Crime Bill and all of its ramifications, cutting subsidies to political parties, cutting the powers of the Wheat Board and the Gun Registry.

They claim, as the parliamentary weekly newspaper "The Hill Times" reports this week, to be simply cleaning-up the backlash from 5 years of minority stalemate in Parliament so that..."they have an opportunity to hit the reset button and some time in 2012 come with a new Throne Speech that sets (Mr. Harper's) longer-term agenda." May Heaven help us!

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercise in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."

Canadian - American economist, John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006)

TEAM BUILIDNG / TEAM BUST

Enough time has elapsed since last week's Parliamentary filibuster to draw some objective conclusions about the effectiveness of the NDP's new found muscle in the House of Commons.

Conventional wisdom would seem to suggest the war-of-words waged in the House of Commons over about 80 hours should have been a boost to the New Democrats. Canadians care about the issues which affect their daily lives. Though they are no longer quite as critical; sending / receiving mail and the larger question of the long-term viability of Canada Post are of concern. A week after the NDP's filibuster we know nothing has really been changed. In essence issues of importance to Canadians can only be addressed by policy initiatives. A filibuster is playing the game politics.

In fact there's anecdotal evidence which suggests the NDP filibuster ended abruptly, and with neither fanfare nor whimper at mid-evening on Saturday (June 25) because the very union and union members the party claimed to be defending told the party leaders to quit the gig. Once the dust settled a Liberal party insider is said to have described the newbies over on the NDP bench in these words..."so these guys are kind of amateurs, posers frankly...you've got all these young, spunky new NDP members and they were able to last two days?" - Essentially, Members of Parliament barely out of high school playing high stakes politics in the House of Commons.

In fact team building with the party's young and inexperienced MP's who now sit across from the Harper Government as the Official Opposition may be the only positive from Mr. Layton's (at best) ill defined strategy over the CUPW strike and lock-out. But, at what cost?

Over a couple or three days in the latter part of last week, Mr. Layton both delayed the summer recess of the House of Commons, and in a tight-rope like walk poised the future of his party's fortunes perilously close to a dangerous fall on the wrong side of the political spectrum. Political analyst Angelo Persichilli says Mr. Layton and the NDP..."are living a magic moment in the history of the party, and they deserve it all. But they have to be very careful about how they live it, because their dream could easily turn into a nightmare."

To be kind, and assuming there was a strategy behind the New Democrats' decision to filibuster on the merits of Bill C-6, it was that it gave Mr. Layton a chance to play to the NDP's core values and support base; rally the party's freshly elected 101 Members of Parliament; and clearly define the party's ideological differences from the Harper Tories. Although therein lies a danger which even the union Mr. Layton's troops was defending (CUPW) may have realised before party strategists. The New Democrats folded on their filibuster because CUPW came to the merciful conclusion that it could not win, and that the longer its 48,000 members were locked-out, the more money they would lose. The abrupt end to the Parliamentary platitudes may have substantially mitigated the perception among "unconverted" electors that the NDP is a better opposition than it could ever be a government in waiting. Which (of course) is precisely what Mr. Harper's Conservatives want every Canadian to believe. Perhaps fortunately for Mr. Layton, he has four more years to alter this classic perception.

BY THE NUMBERS: With assistance from Hansard's someone actually took the time to count "words" in the filibuster.
Some examples: Total Number of words spoken by all MPs - 432,143
The phrase(s) "Mr. Speaker" - 1,087 times
"Canada Post" - 287 times
The word(s) "rights" - 548 times
"outrageous" - 21 times.

A QUESTION OF LEADERSHIP

A couple of provincial political parties have come to grips publicly this weekend with matters of leadership.

Out on the west coast, British Columbia's New Democrats are struggling with a decision whether to shift their traditionally left-wing party into the Centre to challenge head-on the Liberal Government of Premier Christy Clark in the next provincial election. - Or take the party to a more traditional hard(er) left; in a counter effort against the Right of Center burgeoning B.C. Progressive-Conservative party which is being championed by their own former NDP Premier, Bill Vander Zalm, and former Newfoundland P.C. Premier, Brian Peckford.

Whilst in Quebec, Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois picked-up 94% support in a confidence motion at the party's annual conclave. As with British-Columbia, Quebec is gearing-up for a widely anticipated Provincial Election pitting 3-term scandal plagued Liberal Premier Jean Charest (scraping the bottom of the polling barrel) against all comers. Despite her astounding "vote o' confidence;" in Quebec's political backrooms, Mme Marois is disliked and not the PQ's first leadership choice to confront the Charest Liberals. Federal Bloc-Quebecois Leader, the charismatic Gilles Duceppe, is much more likely to lead (and win) the provincial Separatist movement in any upcoming Quebec Election. Duceppe you will recall threw-in his hat against Marois in the PQ's last leadership go-round to replace former Premier Bernard Landry; but in a move never adequately explained, he stepped-out just as fast as he'd stepped-in.

Be that as it may: Beyond Mr. Duceppe's anticipated transfer to the Quebec Provincial scene; the current May 2Nd Federal General Election will define the future political career of all 5 major Canadian Party leaders: From Stephen Harper on down to the Greens' Elizabeth May:

STEPHEN HARPER: Pundits, observers and pollsters share the opinion that Mr. Harper's Conservatives will be re-elected On May 2 once more with a "Minority" of seats in the House of Commons. Though the Conservative Party of Canada is said to be a one-man effort (Harper's), waiting in the wings for the right moment to swing into a leadership challenge is New Brunswick's former Premier Bernard Lord. The charismatic fluently bilingual young politician has been purposely staying-out of the current Federal tilt so as not to taint his own image with the Harper Brand. A 2011 version of a Harper Minority Government; the Prime Minister's 4Th attempt at a majority will sound the death knell of his leadership either with another eventual defeat in Parliament...or more likely with the call of a party leadership convention and Stephen Harper's retirement from active politics.

MICHAEL IGNATIEFF: For the Federal Party dubbed the 20Th Century's "natural governing party," only a win will do. And, as an astute observer noted this week..."that win is squarely on the shoulders of 64 year-old Ignatieff." From Wilfred Laurier; on down through MacKenzie-King, Louis St. Laurent, Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien: Liberals are expected to perform, and the performance criteria is winning elections. And; as even Nobel Laureat Lester B. Pearson learned after being elected in two historic Minority Parliaments, if a House majority doesn't materialize, there is no room at the party helm for that person anymore. Although the (very) young Justin Trudeau has aspirations to, and is clearly being groomed for an eventual leadership bid, party insiders know that he's not yet sufficiently seasoned to take over from Ignatieff when, - barring a "Coalition" of minority Parliamentarians of sorts later this spring, - he does not end-up Prime-Minister, and walks away. At that point; the Liberals may be looking for another short-term leader and Ignatieff's old college roommate and former Ontario NDP Premier Bob Rae may be among the very few choices.

JACK LAYTON: Far less is at stake when you are the perennial third or fourth place finisher. His party aside, polls suggest Mr. Layton is best liked and integrates the leadership qualities Canadians demand. Someone observed in conversation just yesterday that had Layton stepped-on over to the Liberals (as did Bob Rae), he'd most likely be elected Prime Minister on May Second. Except for a limited number of strong New Democrat ridings, Mr. Layton "is" the NDP. One of those growing areas of support is in metropolitan urban Quebec. Based on decades of work by Phil Edmonston, picked-up much more recently by former provincial (Liberal) Cabinet Minister, and current NDP Deputy-Leader and Outremont MP Thomas Mulchair, the party may record significant gains in May taking votes away from both the Liberals and the Conservatives. In light of Mr. Layton's health issues, any significant breakthrough in the large urban ridings of the province of Quebec would bode well for a Mulchair leadership takeover and (perhaps like the NDP in British-Columbia) a significant makeover of the party philosophy.

GILLES DUCEPPE: The charismatic Mr. Duceppe is a consummate politicians and like many previous Quebec based fringe parties with national aspirations; Real Caouette and the "Socreds" for instance; I think he knows that the Quebec destiny (whatever it is) will be shaped at home. It's over for the "Separatist" movement as we've known it for 40 years. The new "Independantistes" are pragmatic and urbane and Mr. Duceppe is itching to be Premier of Quebec. A 21St Century Rene Levesque in white armour ready to tackle both domestic issues and "les anglais" of Canada. In the aftermath of the May 2Nd election (with a secure lifelong Federal Parliamentary pension in hand) he's about to be handed his chance. Despite her overwhelming "vote of confidence" this weekend, the machinations are already well greased in the Provincial Parti Quebecois to secure Duceppe's leadership so that he's poised to slay the pesky Jean Charest before year's end.

ELIZABETH MAY: A week in politics is an eternity. Never mind 3 years! Stephane Dion's cornerstone Liberal Party platform in 2008 was an omnibus "Green Plan." - Sadly, and despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, in this second decade of the 21St Century, If at all, "The Environment" is an insignificant blip on the political radar screen. Though Mrs. May and the "Greens" polled about one-million votes in 2008, no one was elected. No positive results either at a handful of noteworthy Federal by-elections in the 3 years hence, including one or two attempts by Mrs. May herself. In eliminating Mrs. May from last week's debate, the "Leaders' Television Consortium" was anticipating realistically the Federal vote results. There's just nothing for Mrs. May to hang-on for.

As they say on Election Night: If the trends are maintained; though the standings in the House won't change much: 2011 may be a seminal election which leads to a wholesale shake-up in Canadian party politics. - In Monte Carlo they'd say: "Les jeux sont faits!"

SHOWDOWN IN PARLIAMENT - REDUX

HARD NEWS, STRAIGHT TALK: Meet the new signature tag for Sun News Network which launches on Monday, April 18th just as the dust begins to settle over next week's televised leaders' debate(s); and 2 weeks to Federal Election day. Pundit, blogger and former Jean Chretien campaign chief Warren Kinsella will assume a starring role over at Sun News as the web's token Liberal. Let it not be said that Quebecor's foray into English language all-news television won't be "fair and balanced" just like America's Fox News on whose template it's being propped.

SCARY EVEN TO LITTLE CHILDREN: Pundit Kinsella opines that the Harper Conservative campaign is flawed from the git-go. Mr. Kinsella has suggested that the Tory attack ads against Michael Ignatieff have been built..."on too many exaggerations, too many out of context quotes and too many falsehoods." And; as electors become increasingly exposed to the reality of the Liberal Leader, the Conservative contradictions become painfully obvious. With the campaign now well under way, Canadians tuning-in have seen that Ignatieff,(perhaps) unlike his predecessor Stephane Dion, isn't nearly as bad as he's been made out to be.

HECK! THE SAME OLD SAME OLD: The "Harper Headed to Majority" headlines have the Prime Minister's handlers fretting that the campaign efforts may be peaking too soon. They've had Mr. Harper launch the week's campaigning assuring his audience in Welland that..."the Conservatives would govern the same with a majority as they have in a minority." Implying that there is no hidden socially conservative agenda. It's the unspoken fear that derailed Mr. Harper's three previous campaigns and eventually scared enough voters away to deny his party a ruling majority.

ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING: The Prime Minister has successfully ignored his own suggestion of a "one-on-one" debate with the Liberal Leader. Neither politician is a scintillating spell-binder. Still there's a sense that (...here I hesitate) an American-style debate between the two front-runners would have injected considerable interest into a otherwise moribund campaign. Of course, the downside of a campaign debate moderated by Rick Mercer is that the CBC Comedian and current 'McLean's Magazine' pundit may himself have ended-up being elected Prime-Minister.

WHEN A MAJORITY IS NOT A MAJORITY: In the May 2nd election there are roughly 16-million eligible voters. If (as they say on election night coverage) the trend persists: Perhaps no more than 8-million people will be voting in this Federal Election. Regardless of which party wins on election night...if 40% of votes cast represent the magic majority of seats in Parliament: Under 4-million Canadians could elect the country's first majority government in eleven years. More than 40% of eligible Canadian adults did not bother to vote in 2008, the lowest turnout since Confederation, and there's little indication that next month's election will yield better results. I guess we'll get the government we deserve.

WITH ELECTIONS, IT'S BEST TO DIVE RIGHT IN.

-THAT COALITION THING: At the end of the day, Governor-General David Johnston will be hard-pressed to decline an opposition offer to form a two (or three) party coalition government if, as polls steadfastly suggest, another Conservative minority is elected on May second. In the early going, though the motive to take away as many seats as possible from the NDP and Bloc is strategic; Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is wrong to categorically rule-out a coalition. To their disadvantage, this issue is not going away, and will continue to haunt the Liberals right through the election campaign.

-A REFERENDUM ON LEADERSHIP: The election is an unprecedented fourth attempt by any Canadian national party leader to secure a majority number of seats in the House of Commons. It's testimony to Stephen Harper's tenacious iron-grip on his leadership of the Conservatives that he's still around considering just how we've gotten where we are: Though it can't be argued that Mr. Harper forced the first election as leader of the Reform/Alliance back in 2004...in 2005 it was Mr. Harper's own motion of non-confidence that upended the Paul Martin government, and in 2008 it was he who asked the Governor-General to dissolve Parliament on the eve of the "Great Recession", describing The House as dysfunctional. In this fourth go around Mr. Harper is the centrepiece of the campaign. - Winner to be declared by whichever of the main parties presents the most credible version of the "real" Stephen Harper.

- IT'S NOT A POLITICAL GAME: When his government collapsed on Friday last, Mr. Harper lamented from the foyer of the House of Commons that Canada's economy is not a political game. Of course he's right. That's why the Conservative strategy to paint themselves as guardian of Canada's economic strength will fail. Where it matters, in the world's economic markets - New York, London, Tokyo, Beijing...Hell! even in Toronto; global investors have far weightier issues on their minds than the outcome of yet another election in Canada. Three days into the campaign, Moody's Investors Services is already telling its significant players that any new budget, Conservative or Liberal, introduced after the election will continue to embrace the (national)..."consensus on the desirability of debt reduction." - Mr. Harper's Government in fact may be playing loose with some of it's own economic facts: Canada is NOT leading the global economic recovery. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says we're 10th amongst it's 17 member nations in 2010; and (to be fair) expected to move up to ninth by this year's end. Matter of fact, Australia and Sweden are at the top of the list.

As the saying (repeated ad nausea) goes - "In politics a week is an eternity" - Stay tuned?

ABUSING POWER - PARLIAMENT PARALYZED BY CHILDLIKE BEHAVIOUR

I've got to admit about being all set to weigh-in heavily on Canada's parliamentary paralysis over this business of a Federal election in the aftermath of the national budget which will be tabled on Tuesday next.

I still will. But, it may tempered by President Barack Obama's "time-out" to record his College Basketball picks on America's national sports network ESPN, at a time when many believe that the most powerful political leader on earth should really otherwise be occupied with matters of much more urgent nature.

Really, I don't think President Obama needs me to remind him of those current event issues that really matter...Though I find it hard to locate "March (basketball) Madness" near the top of the list.

Okay; that said: Back to Canadian politics. We may wanna be; but unlike the USA it's plenty clear that we're nowhere near the top of any one's list of the planet's influential powers. Regardless, it seems that our Parliamentary democracy has been hijacked, overwhelmed and paralyzed by this illogical death desire to plunge us into a two or three hundred million dollar Federal election which every public poll known to man suggests won't change a damned thing.



The implied suggestion that Her Majesty's loyal opposition thinks, repugnant as it is, that the ethical sludge seeping-out of Parliament Hill is a strategy for winning the election is seriously flawed. Clearly the top-of-mind issue is, and will remain through an election, the nation's economic performance.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been criticised for telling an audience in British Columbia that Japan's unfolding disaster is a reminder of the fragility of the global economy; subsequently adding that the fallout from the devastating earthquake means now is not the time for an election. Few would argue with the Prime Minister's conclusion. But actions speak louder than pious words. His party and his government continue feverish unabated preparations for securing the elusive Parliamentary majority which has eluded the Conservatives since taking office in January of 2006.

When the dust settles following next Tuesday's Federal budget, and if the Government is ultimately defeated in Parliament, the Conservatives will go into the election on the strenght of all of the wonderful things which would (or could) have resulted from what in effect will have been an imaginary budget. It's plenty obvious that is not the frame nor context within which Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals want to campaign. Clearly the Conservatives are vulnerable on their promises to clean-house in the aftermath of the last decade's advertising scandal. It's just that at this juncture the timing appears quite wrong.

NO WIND IN THE SAILS OF SUCCESSION

Before month's end; the Minister of Finance will stand in the House of Commons to deliver the annual fall fiscal update of the Conservative government of Prime-Minister Stephen Harper.

Just last week, Minister Jim Flaherty met in Ottawa with the nation's top academics, bankers and economic thinkers to gauge just in which direction the winds of the recession and recovery are blowing. In just two years through the various measures to counter the economic downturn sparked south of the border in 2008; the government of Canada's annual deficit has ballooned to about $50 Billion: Largest ever in the country's history.

Anticipating a ruckus in Parliament when he rises to speak; the Minister raised eyebrows a couple of weeks back predicting a national calamity if a coalition government of Liberals and NDP were elected to govern in the next Federal election which is widely expected in the spring of 2011. It was after all Mr. Flaherty's economic update in the fall of 2008 and its impact on the financing of the parties of opposition which stopped the country dead in its tracks after the three parties opposite told the Governor General they would topple the Tories and form a coalition government if Mme Jean gave the move her blessing on the Queen's behalf. The rest as they say is precedent setting history.

Still it is amazing that Mr. Harper's government has held-on to power in minority status for just coming-up on five years amidst acrimonious sessions in Parliament and two nation-wide Federal elections. In a cogent analysis of the state of Federal politics and more specifically of Mr. Harper's hold on government; Jim Travis in a weekend edition of the "Toronto Star" writes that: "Two lessons this Prime Minister learned from the former (Liberal) Prime-Minister Jean Chretien are never take your foot off an opponent's throat and never miss an opportunity to win an election." - Albeit so far by twice failing to obtain the 40% (or so) support to eek out a majority in Parliament.

It's the same message that comes out of author Lawrence Martin's "Harperland - The Politics of Control" already a Canadian best seller after just one week on the bookstore shelves. Martin though expands the "foot on opponents' throat" analogy further by suggesting as well that Mr. Harper employs the same tactic with his own Party caucus; or for that matter his Cabinet members to muzzle internal opposites. Lest I digress; witness the treatment meted-out to the hapless Minister Helena Guergis even though she's now been fully vindicated by the RCMP.

In political terms Mr. Harper, aged 50, is still a young man. But, in three successive Federal elections: 2005 won by the Martin Liberals; 2006 and 2008 won in minority by the Conservatives; the western based reform movement which the Prime Minister spearheads has not registered the breakthrough it's been coveting since the publication of the Preston Manning Reform manifesto: "The New Canada" in 1992.

With Mr. Harper at the helm, in effort to achieve the wider consensus to national power, the western based conservative movement has allowed several accommodations including tilts towards Ontario and (in their estimation) the despised Province of Quebec by swallowing-up the more moderate Progressive-Conservatives of MacDonald; Bennett; Diefenbaker and Mulroney. What has not changed is Mr. Harper's ultimate grip on the controls of the right of centre coalition which was created when the P.C's flamed-out at the hands of their last leader Peter MacKay back in 2003.

Since that time: Be they Peter MacKay; Jim Flaherty; John Baird; Peter Van Loan; Stockwell Day...the list is long - Ministers and high fliers within the party with aspirations to succeeding Mr. Harper have been kept well in check also with the Prime Ministerial (and his handlers') "foot on their throat." Those who strayed have long ago been relegated to the anecdotes of history: The fore mentioned Helena Guergis and the multi-millionaire Bellinda Stronach among them. (Perhaps a topic for a future post: Noticeably both non-evangelical women). That too is a lesson learned from Jean Chretien who gave his Finance Minister enough freedom to allow Paul Martin's eventual messy take-over. That too is politics.

The problem for Mr. Harper though is that he has successfully manipulated the Conservative Party into a single personality party (his) without the charm and charisma from which others had previously benefited: Trudeau and Mulroney come to mind. Following Brian Mulroney's departure the Progressive-Conservatives were decimated electing only two Members to Parliament, Elsie Wayne of New Brunswick and Jean Charest of Quebec in the Federal election of 1993.

The issue for the current Conservative Party is that not only does it not have a succession plan in place; but Mr. Harper's domineering control won't even allow one to be contemplated. That being the case; unless Mr. Harper is omnipotent it could spell problems somewhere, somehow down the road.

Given that since he assumed the Party's leadership in 2002-03 the Conservatives haven't come close to Majority status in 3 general elections (2004 - 2006 - 2008) - despite the all too public squabbles amongst the Liberal's Chretien / Martin forces; the sponsorship scandal; and the questionable abilities of Stephane Dion. If and when the next election comes, should the ultimate results not prove any better I'd start fretting. For the time being it seems no wind is being allowed to catch into the sails of succession.

MAYBE NOT ON A FULL STOMACH

It may just be that I have been wrong to dread the resumption of Parliament in the third week of the month. Despite all the issues which have kept the media active through the intervening period, it has been a long three-months' summer hiatus. It has become anecdotally obvious that the nation's Parliamentary scribes are perhaps just as anxious as our elected officials themselves to get into the mayhem of the House of Commons and the fireworks of Question Period for the Conservative minority government of Prime Minister Harper.

Good God, in the interim they've taken to equating politics with food. In the process eliminating one of life's few simple remaining pleasures; to wit: A decent meal un-interrupted by politicians, telemarketers and snake-oil salesmen.

In a short series of articles being published by the Toronto Star, journalist Susan Delacourt has been examining how and why politics has been swayed from the institutional towards an ever increasing market-oriented model. She concludes that it's not by accident..."that politicians see the voters as one big crowd of hungry consumers, and that the citizens think politicians like...merchants, see them simply as wallets."

In fact, it is an accident of the prosperous "boom" period following the Second World War. Bolstered by the desire to re-construct the North American economy; citizens were encouraged to acquire feverishly every possible consumer gadget and widget starting with the automobile, the first television sets and even their complementary TV-Dinners. It wasn't long before we were lulled into equating prosperity and consumerism as the product of good politics and by implication those representatives we elected.

As "The Star" explains, nowadays the shopping/consuming link to politics is often expressed through coffee choice: liberal lefties sip "lattes" at Starbucks; the common folk to Tim Hortons for a "double-double. Which explains precisely why the pollsters and marketing gurus amongst Leader Michael Ignatieff's "Liberal Express" Tour over the summer sought so hard to dispel the image, regardless of how uncomfortable it made their leader:



Without missing a beat the Conservatives this weekend have countered with the release of a "celebrity" cookbook authored by Ontario Conservative MLA (Nepean-Carleton) Lisa MacLeod - "I'd Rather Be Home Baking Cookies" lampoon's a Liberal blogger suggestion during MacLeod's last campaign that implied she'd be better at home baking cookies. Obviously the list of celebrity chefs' recipes is a who's who of Tory politicians including the Prime Minister (salsa), Ministers John Baird (cookies) and Peter MacKay (lobster bisque); and even Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien (french toast).

Bloated at first, and worried that I might be sick or fat by the time Parliament resumes, I've been relieved to learn ironically that "Tums", the iconic tummy ache tablet, turn 80 years old this week. "Tums" basic formula is unchanged in 80 years; and from its single plant in St. Louis, Missouri it churns-out more than 4 billion Tums tablets each year: I digress! (24 flavours)

Cynics define politics as the art of looking for trouble and finding it - Then misdiagnosing it and misapplying the wrong remedies. I conclude with the fear that regretfully "Tums" short-term flavourful relief may not be very helpful for what ails us.

TAKEN FOR GRANTED

Admittedly Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is not a great friend of the Province of Quebec, nor of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Newfoundlanders have been smarting for 50 years over Hydro Quebec's hoodwink of Joey Smallwood over the Churchill Falls hydro project back in 1961.

In a most recent example on Wednesday; Premier Williams told the St. John's Board of Trade - "The rest of the country, and even Quebec itself, is finally admitting that it has been getting away with highway robbery in Canada for decades."

Canadians are generous. Just this week for example the British-based "Charities Aid Foundation" ranked us third in the world for generosity according to its survey of 153 countries for the willingness of their citizens to donate both time and money to worthy causes. Australia and New Zealand tied for first, Canada and Ireland tied next in line. The United States was next along with Switzerland.

But as Premier Williams' observation suggests; the problem in this country is the too frequent perception that our own money is spent not too wisely to buy the votes of any given segment of the population. It happens all the time at every level of the representatives we elect to municipalities, provincial legislatures and yes: The Federal Parliament...Sometimes it's just too blatant and flagrant to ignore.

Politicians from the lowest to the highest levels of government somehow manage to ignore that on the other side of the equation there is only ONE taxpayer: Us! - More galling and insulting, they use the money to advance their own "benevolence." Their ultimate goal being to stuff the ballot box with votes bought using the same dollars. - We fall for this? It works!

The Federal Liberals may have claimed the noblest of all vocations; "Saving the Country" for the excesses of the sponsorship scandal; but the tactics, methods and goals were the same anyhow. The politicians behind the current Economic Action Plan -Noble cause; "Saving the Economy" use the exact same ploy insisting that the billions of our stimulus dollars being doled-out are conditional on the project managers putting up the Government's (sponsorship) signage. "Secret" memos obtained by the Canadian Press note that the signage is so critical that funding contracts hold-back 20% until photographic proof of sign installation has been filed. Dear God!

Little wonder that faced with a weak and virtually ineffective opposition in Parliament it's the media which has been howling (summer long)to call attention to the Conservative Government's stumbles which; I noted in an earlier post, are too frequently "self-inflicted."

As the Parliamentary Chess challenge is about to resume there's growing anecdotal evidence that the government is looking for an obvious "elegant" way to sink at least another $200 Million (or so) of "our" dollars financing an NHL hockey arena in Quebec City. The trick being to avoid making us (rightly) conclude that it's a Quebec buy-off, Conservative style. It would be a sorry day if the case for the defence were to raise the specter of the Liberal sponsorships.

The Prime-Minister travels to Quebec City next week and Mayor Regis LaBeaume fully expects walking away from his meeting with Stephen Harper, grant-in-hand, at least equalling Premier Jean Charest's provincial commitment of $160-million. Spin doctors obviously at the ready to sell the rest of the country a "nose stretcher" about funding - "Really for a multi-purpose municipal amphi-theatre which (among other things) will bolster any future Quebec City Winter Olympic bid". Quebec City was a Canadian runner-up to the Vancouver bid a decade ago. Observers point out that one really disquieting matter about the plan is that the team owner of the proposed NHL franchise in Quebec City (and primary tenant of the arena) is billionaire Pierre Karl Peladeau. If the name sounds familiar: Mr. Peladeau owns Sun Media Television, the right-wing news channel with an application now before the CRTC.

And, if Winnipeg and Manitobans cry "fowl" over their own NHL Franchise "in the wings" for lack of a decent arena, they should be reminded that there are just 14 Parliamentary seats in Manitoba and Quebec has 75. That tactic worked for Brian Mulroney in '86 when the Military CF-18 maintenance contract was yanked-out of Winnipeg in favour of Montreal. We buy this? It works! Or simply: - They'll be flipped-off Trudeau style and told: "Mangez de la merde!"