Stephen Harper Cooking in Saint Johns, Newfoundland.


Now I know that I am morally and traditionally conservative in my opinions but as of late I don't know if I want to be politically affiliated with the Conservative Party of Canada. I mean...It all started when I was in Trois Pistole, Quebec when I had a huge debate on separatism and politics with a couple from London, a professor of English from the U of Guelph, and and really smart Quebecor bum off the street. The professor expressed his curiousity in how the West hates the Liberals, and shared his concern over the idea that he feels the West has been "hijacked" by the Conservatives. At first I did not think much of the comment, but as I entertained the idea a little bit more in my head, the answer seemed simple: the Conservatives are a regionalist party in the minds of Westerners. Just like the Quebecors have the Bloc de Quebecois, so the West has the Conservative party. And one can see why; it is not like the Liberals listen to us or do anything for Western Canada, as long as they have Ontario and Quebec on their side. The NDP doesn't offer any alternative, except a good environmental policy which Albertans don't want. Thus, left with no other options, it is my newly found idea that the Conservative Party of Canada is actually a regionalist party for Western Canada. Maybe such an idea would explain why the Conservatives have such a hard time gaining support in Ontario, Quebec, and Eastern Canada.

Anyways, since I arrived home in Manitoba a week and a half ago, I have been able to keep up with federal politics a lot easier; mostly due in part that the news is in English, not French. Yet as I have been watching Question Period and other f ederal proceedings in the House of Commons over the past week, I have been disturbed by some of the actions taken by the Conservative Party. Now I appreciate that the Conservatives are all for holding the government accountable (after the sponsorship scandal I think everyone should be cautious), but even within the past week I have seen that the Conservatives are carrying the whole situation too far. I can deal with having to listen to every Conservative MP spew insults at the Liberals over how incompetent they are but when they start lying or the partisan jabs get in the way of the well-being of their own constituents, I think a line is being crossed. For example, this past Tuesday or Wednesday night I watched the emergency debate on the Devils Lake Project in the House. Now for all of you who don't know the situation, the short story is that North Dakota is planning to transfer water from this lake (that is full of pollutants and what not) into a nearby river which flows into the Red River and into Lake Winnipeg and Manitoba. Because no environmental impact study has been completed on such a project, neither sides no what type of an effect that such a transfer of water could have on the safety and quality of water in Manitoba. Now such a project has been attempted many times before, but all previous attempts have been shut down or deemed unruly by the IJC (a bilateral commission set up in the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty) that settles such disputes. Yet this time the project planners have planned the project in a way to avoid an environmental impact study and have almost completed the project which is a couple weeks from opening. Earlier in the day during Question Period, one Conservative MP slammed the Liberals for not solving the problem and for supposedly "refusing the offer to go to the IJC in 2002 when the US invited them". This MP also had a letter which supported her clai that the Liberals actually made the refusal and so she tabled the letter in the House. The Liberals of course fired back that such a claim was a lie and that they had never refused to go to the IJC. Yet the Conservative MP and her party persisted with this claim. Later on that day during the emergency debate, this same Conservative MP (who called the emergency debate) opens the debate saying that "We are in the 11th hour...the North Dakotans are about to flip the switch and so something needed to be done fast." Yet instead of trying to work with the 9 other (mostly Manitoban MP's) in the House (1 from the BQ (part time) , 2-3 from NDP, 2-3 from the Conservatives, 1-2 Independents, 1-3 from the Liberals depending on time) to solve the problem, she starts off her speech by slamming the Liberals, claiming they did nothing for ten years and blah blah blah...She also brought up the same claim of how they refused to settle this in 2002 when they were invited by the US to the IJC. Her fellow Manitoba Conservative MP continued the slamming. Within 10 minutes the entire House was arguing over each others validity and incompetence, calling each others liars, slanderers, and blah blah blah. Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Petigrew came out and made a quick speech concerning what Canada is in the process of doing, and pointed out that the refusal of Canada to go to the IJC in 2002 which this letter claimed was actually for a different plan being discussed in North Dakota by the US Army, which was later thrown out. Minister Petigrew also added that the Liberals did not refuse to go to the IJC, rather they thought it was "premature" to go to it when the projects was only an idea being discussed with no guarantee that it was going to happen...and obviously it didn't. All of a sudden, the Conservative MP's were quiet. They had been caught in their own lie. Thankfully, NDP MP Bill Blakie turned the discussion around reminding that the issue is in the 11th hour and that there was not time for partisan jabs. Within the next two hours debate commenced where all sides decided to work together to bring a solution to the House the next day.

I guess the point I'm trying to say here is that it is one thing to be always reminding the Liberals of their unaccountability, scandal, corruption, untransparency, and greed, but trying to cry "scandal" over every little thing that the Liberals do, even to the extent of lying - that's not right. Even the fact that the two Conservative MP's who called the emergency debate decided to used it only to politically slam the Liberals, rather than work together to solve such an important issue (especially to their constituents), pisses me off. And these lies and refusal to work with the Liberals have caused the Liberals to express utter hatred towards the Conservatives. And in a minority government where the Conservatives have the opportunity to have their say in the way things are done, I don't think they should completely sever all relations with the Liberals...no matter how rotten they are. And now, we see the Liberals allying themselves with the NDP, and even the Bloc; refusing to work with the Conservatives, leaving the Conservative Party basically ineffective to have any say in what this minority government does. A pure example of this can be seen in regards to the budget bill of the NDP's and the Liberals. This past Thursday evening, the Liberals, NDP's and the Bloc colluded to force a vote on the budget bill (using a rarely used procedure) when enough Conservative MP's were missing in order to pass it. All three parties ganged up on the Conservatives, and I don't expect this to be the only time in the coming six months. The reality is, there is going to be no election until winter and so the Conservatives should quit trying to stall and crash the government and try to do something useful and work with the Liberals to have some sort of input in what is going on.

So I don't know what to do with the situation. Obviously, Stephen Harper and his team have chosen this strategy and I think that if they continue such lying and losing track of the needs of their constituents, the Conservative Party should think about getting a new leader. I mean, it's not like I ever really cared for the guy...I have always been deeply suspicious of him. I mean, I am hard-core Conservative and I don't even trust him! At best, I would only allow him to have a minority government, keeping him on a leash from doing some insane thing. Plus, it seems that Paul Martin is either willingly or reluctantly trying to do things with his government, realizing that he can't afford to do nothing after the sponsorship scandal. So right now I feel lost and not supporting any party. This brings me to the question of why I am aligned politically with the Conservatives. Is it because I grew up in a place neglected by the government for ages and that I just wanted a leader or government who cared about us? I dunno...all this congnitive dissonance is leaving me dazed and confused.

Canada's parliamentary system is a little over the top, with the role of 'royal opposition' being played out at the max! I agree. I wonder how the commons would look if they had a european style set-up! ...all the closer to yell the insults...hmmm...
de plus, je suis contente que tu aies aimé le Quebec! c'est bien que tu aies parlé de la politique là-bas.. je voulais le faire aussi, quand j'y étais... mais les gens s'arrêtaient tout le temps! ben, qu'est-ce qu'on peut faire...