Last week's decision by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff to
impose the party line and ask his MPs to vote for the Harmonization
Sales Tax in Ontario and British Columbia was an important step for
his leadership. His stand is not only the reaffirmation that cheap
politics, as adopted by the Ontario Conservatives of Tim Hudak,
shouldn't be the standard setting for Canadian politicians, but also
a reminder about who's in charge of the Liberal Party. Last week, he
asked who was with him and who was with one of the other
not-so-hidden potential candidates aiming to replace him.
I don't know if the HST will be good for Ontarians and British
Columbia or not, but the point is that Liberals have always
supported this idea in the past (Martin's and Chrétien's governments
had already tried to convince the provinces to implement it) and
they shouldn't change their views only because it is Stephen
Harper's government who has reached an agreement with the premiers
of Ontario and British Columbia.
I'm firmly convinced that Ignatieff has finally made the right
decision to face his raucous caucus and tell them who is in charge.
The problems he is facing now are the effects of his
too-accommodating leadership, starting with the MPs from
Newfoundland who decided to challenge the party and who voted
against the party line and with Newfoundland and Labrador Premier
Danny Williams.
He set a very dangerous precedent that has contributed greatly to
the erosion of his power and leadership. A party cannot vote for a
government budget for the sake of the country and allow some of his
MPs to vote against it for the sake of their province. He accepted
the notion that the interests of a province can be more important
than those of the country—and this is unacceptable.
Ever since then, the notion that whoever screams the most gets
the best from the leader has been adopted by many other Liberals.
Many of them have thought they could freelance as they pleased while
contributing to creating the chaos the party is in now. Remember
what happened with the nomination process in Quebec and other
issues?
Ignatieff had probably saved himself some trouble from some of
his MPs who are against this legislation for regional reasons. He
could have said that this is a provincial issue, that Liberals would
respect the will of democratically-elected provincial Parliaments
and abstain from the vote by not falling into the trap set by the
government.
But he would have only delayed a showdown with the caucus and
this would have been bad for the party and, most of all, for him.
Ignatieff looks physically and psychologically tired. He doesn't
need this any longer and I'm sure he wants to get to the bottom of
it as soon as possible.
His leadership has two main problems. Many doubt his ability to
lead and there is the loyalty problem.
Of course, while loyalty is the most important issue, it's still
not the most pressing. If MPs are convinced he can lead and bring
them to victory, a surrogate of loyalty will soon follow. After all,
the only thing most MPs want is to win their ridings in the next
election and, subsequently, be a part of government if the party is
able to form one.
That's why I believe that Ignatieff asking his MPs to vote for
the Harmonization Sales Tax has not only made the right decision,
but also a courageous one.
Letting the members of his own caucus do whatever they want is
even more embarrassing than voting against it. It would not be worth
abandoning a successful academic career to be the leader of a party
he doesn't
lead.
