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Monday June 14 2006 |
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An
Interview with Prime Minister Stephen Harper
by Angelo Persichilli
THE HILL TIMES
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the House of Commons
could sit beyond the June 23 scheduled summer break if his priority
government bill, the controversial Federal Accountability Act, is not passed
by then.
But the bill is being rammed through the House Legislative Committee on Bill
C-2 this week and will likely be passed by the summer break.
In a wide-ranging in interview with The Hill Times, Embassy, and Corriere
Canadese, Prime Minister Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) also said he
doubts the bill will be passed by the Senate this spring, but wants it
through the House and indicated that nothing meanwhile prevents the federal
government from being accountable, transparent or from ending the “extremes
of patronage” with or without the Federal Accountability Act in place.
“That can be done without an act. Ministers avoiding conflict of interest
and conducting themselves with transparency and avoiding any wrongdoing or
illegal actions. Those are things that can and should be done whether the
law is changed or not. So, to a large degree, while we would like to
strengthen the accountability laws, I believe that the government is already
making improvements on those fronts just through our actions,” Mr. Harper
said.
Meanwhile, asked about the recent sweep of alleged terrorists in the Toronto
area, the Prime Minister said although the 17 Canadian men and youth
recently accused of participating in a terrorist group are innocent until
proven guilty, he also said it should be a “wakeup call” for Canadians.
Declared Mr. Harper: “Canada is really the target of serious violence and
terrorist activity. That it has been for a number of years and it will
continue to be, doesn’t mean that we have to turn our society upside down
but we can’t take security for granted.”
The Prime Minister also said the federal government’s surpluses likely won’t
be as big in the future as they have been in the past, but also said the
federal government will be more transparent about its finances.
Asked about the federal Liberal leadership race, the Prime Minister, who
said he likes his current job so much he want to hold onto it “for awhile,”
said the Liberals are divided in Parliament which was obvious on the
Afghanistan vote, and aren’t acting as “one body” any longer, but 11
different would-be leaders.” However, Mr. Harper also said he would
not discount the Liberal Party bouncing back, pointing out that “over a long
period of time,” it is “a very resilient organization.”
Said Mr. Harper: “We are watching right now with some amusement, but I
think, in time, we will see who emerges and will take that person very
seriously.” Mr. Harper said he likes the job of Prime Minister so much he
wants to hold onto it “for awhile.”
Mr. Harper, after almost five months, how do you feel on the other side
of the House?
“I’m really enjoying the job. I’m not saying it’s easy. It has been a big
adjustment in many ways. The hours are long, there is a lot to learn, it’s a
great responsibility and sometimes you feel the burden, but, overall, I’m
having great fun. I’m really enjoying it and I think I might try to keep it
for awhile.”
Which issue challenges you the most?
“That’s such a broad question. As you know, what we have tried to do, as a
government, is lay down a small, set number of legislative priorities with
three broad objectives: to clean up the government, to restore
accountability, to deliver benefits to ordinary people and to strengthen
Canada here but also in the world. There are many challenges; there are
things that are easier than others, some can be done quickly, such as
certain tax reductions, others require a longer term commitment, such as
dealing with healthcare challenges and some of the international challenges
and security challenges that we face. But our success, at this point, has
been to determine some objectives we can fulfill, get on with doing those
things, not overload ourselves, but begin to move forward on a bunch of
fronts.”
You mentioned accountability. If it’s not going to be approved by the
House before the recess, what are you going to do?
“We shall see. The bill got through second reading, it’s gone to the
committee, it’s a very complex bill and I think that, ultimately, it will go
through the House, maybe not quickly, but look, these measures, eventually,
in one way or another, have to become law and have to go through the House,
but nothing prevents the government from being accountable.”
For example?
“For instance, making sure that we make quality government appointments to
necessary positions; in other words, ending the extremes of patronage. That
can be done without an act. Ministers avoiding conflict of interest and
conducting themselves with transparency and avoiding any wrongdoing or
illegal actions. Those are things that can and should be done whether the
law is changed or not. So, to a large degree, while we would like to
strengthen the accountability laws, I believe that the government is already
making improvements on those fronts just through our actions.”
Maybe working until it is approved through the summer?
“It could. My hope would be to get this bill out of the House of Commons by
the end of the session and into the Senate. I don’t think there is any way
that this would be passed by the Senate in the spring session, but I’m
optimistic that by early fall we will get this wrapped up.”
What should we expect on the immigration front? There are thousands of
undocumented people, a huge backup of applications at our embassies. What is
your plan?
“There is a lot of work to do. The previous government left immigration in
this country in a terrible mess. In the longer term, what we want to make
sure is that we will orient immigration towards the country’s labour market
needs, not to just benefit the country but to make sure that immigrants’
credentials can be used in this country, so that immigrants will be able to
fulfill the goals for which they came to this country in the first place.
We’re putting more money into that, into settlement services. And,
ultimately, I hope that over time we will have a more efficient and fair
immigration processing system. That’s what we are trying to do. Let me be
clear, what we always are trying to do is to run a well-structured,
efficient immigration system that rewards those who obey the law and the
rules and makes sure that they can adapt and gain full potential in this
country. Those are objectives, but there is a lot of work to be done in
terms of solving the system’s problems.”
There was some very dramatic news from Toronto two weeks ago. Allegedly
there were threats against Canada but also against yourself. How do you feel
about it?
“On a certain level, I think that Canadians should take a lot of comfort
from the fact that our police and security agencies were able to work
together and stop anything before it happened. Of course, we all know that
these are all charges and not convictions. People have the right to be
presumed innocent, but the fact of the matter is that our security and
police agencies understand the threats that this country faces. This
government has put additional resources into their activities to make sure
that they are able to do their jobs. So, we can take some comfort from this
but, at the same time, this should be a wakeup call for many people to
understand that Canada is really the target of serious violence and
terrorist activity. That it has been for a number of years and it will
continue to be. It doesn’t mean that we have to turn our society upside down
but we can’t take security for granted.”
The major topic during the previous meeting with U.S. President George
Bush was the softwood lumber dispute. Which topic is going to dominate the
next meeting?
“I think that softwood lumber is just about behind us. As you know, we are
in the process of finalizing the legal text, which is a long operation, but
I hope it will come to a conclusion in the next little while. I think the
big difference is it takes that subject off the table, in the sense that the
American president and the Canadian prime minister can now talk about other
subjects. In recent years, every time they met the conversation was
dominated by softwood lumber to the detriment of reaching any other
discussion. The next discussion will be more wide-ranging. It will be just
prior to the G8 summit in Russia and I think this discussion will be
primarily about trading views and preparations for some of the G8
discussion.”
Like what?
“Well, they will be of an economic nature, but there will also be some
discussions related to some of the world’s security situations.”
The provinces want the equalization formula changed. If they are not
coming with their own proposals, are you going to impose changes?
“We have already moved a fair way down the road to establish fiscal balance
in this country. Our government has transferred more money to the provinces.
Most of them are now running surpluses or close to that. Ontario is an
exception, but it is a decision that Ontario made. I don’t think you are
going to see our surpluses as big in the future as in the past. We are going
to be more transparent about our finances. We will reduce taxes. I would
like to get a longer-term deal on federal-provincial financial relations
with all provinces and I’d like to get consensus on that. And that’s the
goal we are still working towards, but obviously, if the provinces cannot
agree among themselves, that will prompt the federal government to act
itself; we are prepared to do that if we have to, but I continue to work to
build a consensus.”
On the Liberal leadership race: who do you think is going to win, who do
you want to win?
“I won’t answer either of those two questions. I don’t have much
intelligence on the race. The Liberal Party these days in Parliament is
pretty divided. We are talking about a bunch of factions. If you look at how
they are acting on things like Afghanistan or other matters, we see that
it’s not a Liberal Party but a bunch of MPs and Senators calling themselves
Liberals, but they are not acting as one body any longer. There are 11
different would-be leaders but, and we have learned that ourselves, you can
never count a major party out. The Liberal Party has proved itself to be,
over a long period of time, a very resilient organization so we are watching
right now with some amusement, but I think, in time, we will see who emerges
and will take that person very seriously.”
If you had the possibility to go back to Jan. 23, Election Day, what
would you change?
“My answer is that probably I would change a couple of things but I’m not
going to tell you guys. I’ve said this at the time of the leadership, I’m
not an analyst anymore; I’m an advocate and a leader. I believe that,
overall, for a brand new government, things have gone pretty well. I think
our ministers are performing well. In a quick period of time the government
has taken decisions on a range of issues that matter to people and moved
things forward in a difficult minority situation. I believe things are going
pretty well, there are things we can improve, we know what those are and I’m
going to keep those things for myself.”
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