|Monday February 9, 2004 |
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THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE
Conservatives
lately act like those brothers who killed the parents and, once in
Court, were asking for mercy because they were orphans.
They want
the Prime Minister of Canada not to call the election because they are
not ready. If Canadians had to go to the polls when they were ready, we
had to put on hold the entire electoral system for the last ten years
for reason they can blame on nobody but them.
The question
they have instead ask themselves is: are the Liberals ready? They
confuse the need Prime Minister Paul Martin has to go to the polls, with
their readiness. In fact, Liberals are not ready for an election.
How can they be ready if they are expected to
establish a Royal commission to inquiry on corruption allegedly plaguing
their government?
Let's see.
In terms of
policies they are split on almost all the most important issues: fire
arms, same sex marriages, the amount of money to put aside for social
programs, the redistribution of the ridings boundaries, and lately even
on issues that they believed to be part of the past, the Clarity Bill.
Not to mention the Auditor's General report this week, CSL, the inquiry
in British Columbia by RCMP, and the search for the candidates for the
election.
Do the
Conservatives know that Liberals are fighting at each other in many
ridings all over the Country?
They are
fighting in British Columbia. Former minister Hedy Frey is challenged,
as well has Joe Peschisolido. The riding of former minister Herb
Dhaliwal is in turmoil and a few other are developing the same disease.
In Québec there is more harmony between guerrillas' factions in Iraq
then Liberal groups in La Belle Provence. It only takes a few minutes to
read statements made by Jean Lapierre and Stephan Dion to understand the
mood. And, in a few days, there is the Auditor's Report that might bring
former minister Alfonso Gagliano back into the debate and, with him,
many members of the former administration of the Liberal Party.
Furthermore,
many Liberals in Québec are not concentrating on this government or the
next election, focusing on future endeavors. There are rumors that
Minister Pierre Pettigrew is only parking himself in the federal
politics for another couple of years: when the time comes for the next
provincial elections, he wants to became the premier of the Province,
with Jean Charest back to were he was: running for the leadership of the
new Conservative Party. The return of Jean Lapierre in the political
game might have the effect of the arrival of a fox in a hen-house:
feathers are flying all over.
The only
bright spot for Québec Liberals is when they look in Ontario.
Liberal
candidates are safe like American soldiers in Baghdad. There is warfare
in Hamilton between Sheila Copps and Tony Valeri, the same in
Mississauga where the split is much deeper, even though less evident.
The fight between Carolyn Parrish and Steve Mahoney goes well beyond the
internal squabble and includes Canada's foreign politics, especially the
one in the Middle East. This involves many communities and, however
wins, the fight will have a lasting negative effect on the other camp.
Gary
Pillitteri, one of the staunchest supporters of Paul Martin for years,
is not running in Niagara Falls and the fight for the nomination is
harder then ever with some local councilors involved. In the neighbor
new riding, two other MPs, Tony Tirabassi and John Maloney are fighting
for their political survival. The 905 area between Burlington, Brampton
and Mississauga looks like the Bermuda Triangle for the Liberals: Colin
Boumier is challenged, so it is Pat Torsney, Paul Szabo, Sarkis
Assadourian, John Cannis and, most likely, Karen Kraftsloan and, not
very far in the North, Karen Redman.
In Toronto
Charles Caccia career in the Liberal Party might well be over after the
nomination meeting, while Sarmite Bulte is fighting hard to hang on.
Fights are
already developing to replace David Collenette with many supporters of
Paul Martin running for the same spot. Bob Wood is not running in the
next election, as well as Alex Sheppart and Ivan Groose. An announcement
was made last week also by former minister Bob Nault who is not in the
mood to campaign in the next campaign. He follows Lyle Vanclief, John
Manley, Alan Rock, Mac Harb and, in Québec Martin Cauchon. There are
also rumors of pressure on Claudette Bradshaw to leave: her riding is
courted by former premier of the New Brunswick Frank McKenna.
Yes, Mr.
Martin is advocating freedom in the system, but it looks like he's got
more then he was bargaining for. And, the boundaries between freedom and
anarchy are very thin: nobody feels anything when you cross it. You will
only feel the effects when it's too late.
Many might
ask why Mr. Martin wants to go to the polls if he is not ready?
The answer,
again, is in the numbers.
If he
doesn't go to the polls in May, he has to face the Parliament with this
caucus. It is a caucus he cannot control and doesn't want to control. At
the same time he needs the support of all of them to carry on.
Especially after the MPs feel left on their own destiny for the
nominations, he cannot invoke loyalty: there is no much left of that
merchandise in the Liberal Party.
Furthermore,
with all people leaving, the numerous infightings, the disgruntled MPs
left out of the government, and some just waiting around the corner to
get even with the new leadership, how remote is the possibility that Mr.
Martin will not be able to pass the legislation for the riding
re-distribution? Yes, the Liberals count on the vote from the
Conservatives to overcome the shortcomings within the Liberals. They
believe that the new Tories-Canadian Alliance will not dare to vote
against a bill that gives more seats to the West. What if they will
dare? Isn’t the future of Mr. Martin’s government in their hands?
So, going back to the
Conservatives: they are not ready? Neither are the Liberals.
Instead of
asking help to fix a problem that is of their own making, why they don't
work harder themselves to create a democratic alternative to the
Canadian Parliamentary system, just as the Liberals do for the past ten
years?
