Give Dion a chance
An interview with prime minister
stephen Harper
by Angelo Persichilli
THE HILL TIMES
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion’s shadow Cabinet of critics and caucus chairs, unveiled last week, is all about connecting the past with the future.
Dion created critics for ministries that existed when Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin were in power, but which don’t exist now, and he created special committees, many of them, to map out the future.
It’s almost as if he’s trying to ignore, or look past, the present Stephen Harper Conservative government, to make a connection between what was going on three years ago and what’s going to happen in the future.
The reason for creating a huge shadow Cabinet has nothing to do with existing federal programs, but it does have a lot to do with Dion’s strong desire to unify the party. The creation of so many committees indicates that Dion is serious about tackling the most important issues the country is facing now, but that might work only if the critics and caucus chairs are going to have enough time to do their jobs.
The new leader of the Liberal Party is an intelligent individual who knows full well that his party doesn’t have a team ready to fight an election in the spring. He also doesn’t have the money or a platform. Most of all, Stéphane Dion is not ready himself to lead the Liberals into a national campaign.
For this reason, Dion doesn’t need, and, I suspect, doesn’t want, a strong team to deal with the present Conservative government because the last thing he wants right now is an early election.
His intention is not to declare an immediate war against Harper’s government, but only a warfare hit-and-run, just to make sure that the Conservatives don’t start to feel too comfortable in this position of power and that Canadians aren’t too cosy with the Conservatives.
Will his plan work? Well, that’s another story and the answer is very complicated because there are many people holding the cards who will determine the date of the next election.
Let’s face it, despite some pollsters saying that no political organization can take comfort from the results of resent polls, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that the only party that might benefit from a spring vote is the Conservative Party. The supporters of the Bloc are going to be busy on two fronts because of the impending Quebec provincial election as will the Liberals in the upcoming Ontario election.
The Conservatives have no direct organizational interest these elections.
The Liberals, as I said before, are not ready for a spring election, and the NDP has no direct interest, or power, in triggering an early election.
So does this mean that Dion’s plan will work? Well, in order to answer that question, we have to venture into a minefield: the unity of the Liberal Party.
Dion’s good intentions look good on paper, but they might run into some difficulties when they hit reality.
Already, I’ve heard disputes about the creation of the new team around the leader and about many “vetoes” flying all over the place.
The “Martinites” and “Chrétienites” are still out there, but there’s still no sign of “Dionites.” It’s a long and tortuous process and there are some already complaining about the direction of the new party.
“Some might have already reached the conclusion that Mr. Harper is going to win the next election,” one a Liberal strategist, who did not want to be identified, told The Hill Times, “and our only hope to win back government is after the next election. So why don’t we go immediately to the polls, pay the price and start to rebuild the party with more time.” So is this merely a strategic plan to unify the party, or just an opportunity to get rid of a leader who still has to prove himself? I hope Dion will be given the opportunity to prove himself. He is trying hard to unify the party. He’s also honest, intelligent and he loves his country. Yes, he has some difficulties expressing himself in English, but I prefer by far someone who has good ideas but difficulties in articulating them in one of our official languages over someone who has nothing to say, but says it very well.
