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Monday Mar. 10, 2008
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Sorbara
warns Flaherty
by Angelo
Persichilli
THE HILL
TIMES
Pundits in Ottawa and at Queen's Park have been
wondering why Canada's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, has been
lately so thoroughly attacking Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and
his policies. Some are saying that the attack was coordinated with
Prime Minister Stephen Harper who is tired of the continuing attacks
against his fiscal policies. But others believe that Flaherty's
high-profile challenges to the Ontario government has more to do
with his interest in provincial politics and the internal dispute in
the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario than his own federal
government.
Recall that Flaherty was defeated by the present leader of the
Ontario Conservatives, John Tory, and has never been seen as one of
Tory's supporters. Is it possible that he's interested in returning
to provincial politics if Tory will give up the leadership?
Apparently, Flaherty has no intention of giving up his federal job,
but his wife, Christine Elliott, who is currently representing the
provincial riding of Whitby-Ajax, Ont., for the Conservatives, might
be interested in the leadership in case Tory decides to resign.
The change in Flaherty's relationship has been swift, compared to
the excellent one he had with the Ontario Liberals during last
October's election. Specifically, Flaherty had an excellent
relationship with former Ontario finance minister Greg Sorbara.
So I asked McGuinty's former right-hand man the reason for the
change of tactics. "I think there is a political agenda here. I
think it has to do with Mr. Flaherty trying to attribute the
problems in the Ontario economy to things that are taking place in
the Ontario government," says Sorbara. But the former minister is
convinced that "it is a strategy that wouldn't work because there is
not much credibility in what he has been preaching around the
country lately."
Asked why there's a change of heart only now, after the provincial
election, Sorbara says that, "we are on the edge of a federal
election perhaps, even if it doesn't come, I believe, until
September. One thing we know for sure about is that they are always
preparing the environment for an election. That's why we have seen
the negative campaign against Stéphane Dion for so long."
According to Sorbara, because they don't know when the election is
coming, "they do as much preliminary work as possible and I believe
that this is a specific strategy to try to negate any criticism that
will come in that campaign about how Harper and Flaherty have
mismanaged the economy, at least in central Canada. Jim and I [got]
along very well. I don't consider that he is trying to destabilize
the Ontario economy. But, the fact is that the kind of activities he
is engaging in could have the effect to destabilize the economic
activity in Ontario. And that is unprecedented for the federal
minister to engage in activities that can weaken a province or a
region in Canada. I've never seen that before and I hope I will
never see that again."
But how does Sorbara characterize his excellent relationship during
the provincial election, when rumours of a federal election were
already out there? "During the provincial election, I'm not sure
that Mr. Flaherty was particularly interested in promoting the
forces of Mr. Tory, with whom he had contested the leadership of the
provincial party. So I'm not surprised that he has waited until now
to engage with what is pure politics, but not much substance."
Sorbara is convinced that "he has been engaged in a political
exercise. I did the job long enough to know that when you are
dealing with substance you evaluate the positive and you try to
address the negative and try to strengthen the negative. But this is
all negative and that's why it's clearly political."
Whether there is any partisan relationship to the Ontario
Progressive Conservative Party and the Ontario Liberal Party or the
federal election, "there might be a little of all of that in that.
But I tend to suspect that it is an anticipation or preparing the
territory for a federal election which still could happen before the
leaves are out on the trees."
The former minister of finance says he believes that things
eventually will be straightened out: "I do have enough confidence in
the Harper government and Mr. Flaherty. So I continue to hope that
this political sparring won't interfere with the substance, which is
getting on [with] financing things like infrastructure, health care
and other items we worked very closely on."
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