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Monday Apr. 6,
2009 BACK NEXT
HARPER AND MCGUINTY'S
COOPERATION DOESN'T
PLEASE EVERYBODY
It's hard to say if the growing underground criticism will
develop into an open challenge to the leadership of Dalton
McGuinty.
by Angelo
Persichilli
THE HILL
TIMES
During tough economic times we all want
our leaders to work together for the common good. That's exactly
what Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton
McGuinty are doing.
However, this new cooperation is
creating a bit of a tiff within the provincial political
organizations in Ontario and, in particular, between the Liberals
and the Conservatives.
The new political environment has
created a new dynamic with four players involved in a dance whose
partners are not always clearly identified.
In general, I
must say that the two branches of the (Progressive) Conservative
parties, provincial and federal, are experiencing more difficulties
in their relationship than the Liberals. For example, last week, in
his speech in Toronto, federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made
a brief mention of his support for the provincial budget presented
by Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.
It was not a
strong support, but Ignatieff was able to avoid any controversy
about the Ontario budget even though many inside his party are
unhappy, especially with the harmonization between provincial and
federal sales taxes.
On the other hand, the Conservative
interim leader of Ontario, Bob Runciman, was very clear in his
rebuke of the provincial budget and the harmonization tax federal
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty wanted. The split between the
Conservatives is so deep that even Christine Elliot, the provincial
Conservative Member of Parliament, candidate for the provincial
leadership and Flaherty's wife, has criticized the initiative.
Runciman, on the day of the presentation of the budget at
Queen's Park, drew a clear line between his party and the federal
party. "We are the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and
they are the Conservative Party of Canada. Of course, we have some
differences."
The Liberals, while it seems are able to
better cope with the differences between the two branches of the
party, definitely have bigger troubles dealing with the ranks of the
provincial organization.
Criticism against the initiative of
premier McGuinty to go ahead with the harmonization sales tax is
widespread within the caucus and the rank-and-file.
MPPs
have vented their frustration during caucus meetings but also
privately with many journalists. "This is not a Liberal budget," is
one of the most frequent criticisms. But they receive many
complaints from supporters, especially in the business community.
Yes, they like the harmonization "but not at this time." Others are
saying that "we have sold ourselves to Stephen Harper" and privately
they show their unhappiness.
But, if the opposition was so
strong, I've asked some strategists very close to the office of
premier McGuinty, why they did it. The answer has been very simple:
"They need the money, a lot of money because the cupboards are bare
and they do not want to go into an election cutting social
services."
It's hard to say if this underground criticism
will develop into an open challenge to leadership. There is no doubt
that the Ontario provincial Liberals had a long honeymoon with the
voters over five years. With the Conservative opposition divided,
the NDP just coasting towards the convention and with the economy
pumping so much money into provincial coffers, no criticism seems to
stick on McGuinty. The caucus was forced to toe the line despite
much unhappiness in their ranks and media couldn't find any
particular angle to find a crack in McGuinty's protective system.
Things have changed: opposition parties are dealing with
their internal differences and the economy has removed the big
protective blanket over McGuinty's government.
Backbenchers,
who had to contain their frustrations for not being in Cabinet in
the past, are becoming more aggressive and this might be a problem
for the leader.
Everything depends on how the economy will
react to these measures next year.
I don't know if
McGuinty's decision is right or wrong. What I know is that he has
decided to work with the federal government and is trying to get
through this economic crisis. Of course, he could have decided to
avoid any cooperation with the federal government by blaming Ottawa
for every future problem and let the economy sink. At this point we
would have seen the provincial Conservatives led by Runciman
accusing McGuinty of lack of cooperation and they would have
defended the idea to harmonize the tax system.
In fact, that
is exactly what they had said up until a few days ago, so obviously
they believed that McGuinty would not go for it. It might be a wrong
decision, but the premier has decided to keep in mind Ontarians'
interests. I don't know if I can say the same thing about the Bob
Runciman's Conservatives.
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