Sure, the Liberals lost Outremont and may lose another seat on
March 17, but by-elections are politically meaningless when the balance
of power is not at stake.
In fact, despite negative press and
the huge disadvantage of being in opposition and competition for
centre-left votes from the NDP, the Green party and the Bloc, Mr.
Dion’s Liberals have hung tough with the Conservatives in the polls to
this day. Nanos Research, consistently the most accurate political
pollster in Canada, has the Liberals in a slight lead!
Yes, Mr.
Dion’s English is imperfect and there are about 20 words his
speechwriters should never use. But otherwise his English is quite
decent.
The media also criticizes Mr. Dion for not bringing
down the Harper government. Come on. Four of five Canadians don’t
want another election. If the Liberals had caused one last fall based
on an innocuous throne speech of all things, or relatively minor bills,
the electorate would not have been kind.
Here is why the mainstream media have got it wrong:
- 1. Restoration of Trust and Unity within the Liberal Party
Mr.
Dion won the Liberal leadership race fair and square, marked by
civility and open debate with many excellent candidates. He has since
overcome the fractious Martin-Chretien years, drawing all of his former
opponents to his team. He has restored trust and unity within his
party, which is surely a remarkable feat and leadership goal number one.
- 2. The Liberals have Better Policies
Leaders
are also only as good as the direction they’re heading. Mr. Dion has it
all over Mr. Harper on this count too. Mr. Harper’s singular purpose is
to emasculate the federal government except for defence and security,
while most Canadians favour the Liberal vision of Canada – an activist
government on a whole slew of policy issues, including Afghanistan, the
environment, Aboriginal and women’s rights, childcare, fighting
poverty, progressive taxation and fair trade.
Mr. Harper’s
enthusiastic support for all things American is another clear
distinction in Mr. Dion’s favour. No reasonable person still supports
the Bush administration’s disastrous wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and on
terror generally, further “deep integration” with a sinking ship and so
on. With the political demise of Mssrs. Blair and Howard, Mr. Harper
is arguably the last Bush poodle.
- 3. The Liberals Have a Better Team
Good
leaders surround themselves with competent people and empower and
support their team. Most Canadians surely prefer Michael Ignatieff, Bob
Rae, Ralph Goodale and the other Liberals over Mr. Harper’s pit bulls
and poodles. The Liberals are free to speak while the Tories, even
Ministers, have been muzzled, so much so it seems his PR people are
running the country!
- 4. Mr. Dion’s Leadership Style is in fact Superior
Leaders
vary from autocratic to democratic and it is clear to which camp Mr.
Harper belongs. He’s an arrogant, dismissive and secretive control
freak who doesn’t trust his own team. He has centralized power in his
office to ridiculous degrees and, when criticized, he resorts to smear
tactics and name-calling.
Mr. Harper’s astounding censorship
of the federal bureaucracy is so unbelievable that one wonders what all
those communications people are doing these days. I suspect mostly
preparing talking points for Ministers in advance of forced disclosures
of the embarrassing kind under the Access to Information Act.
Wrong
on critical policy issues and unwilling to admit mistakes. Obsessed
with control and secrecy. Disrespectful of political opponents and even
his own team. Is that leadership or is it dictatorship?
In
contrast, Mr. Dion is a proven healer with an empowered team and has a
vision most Canadians prefer. When it comes to the human side of
leadership, building consensus based on right vs. wrong and making
choices to help the disadvantaged the most, Mr. Dion is the clear
winner.
- 5. Women and Ontario Will Vote Liberal, No Matter the Media
Finally,
when push comes to shove, it is a given that the 52% of the electorate
who happen to be women prefer Mr. Dion over Mr. Harper by a wide
margin. The Liberals’ superior position on issues of war and peace,
human rights and child care will keep that margin wide into the
foreseeable future. Women don’t vote for bullies.
For someone
who is widely reported as a cunning tactician, Mr. Harper has been
unbelievably stupid in his treatment of Ontario (the Maritimes, etc.).
Coming up with legislation that shortchanges Ontario by fully ten
federal ridings is a gift to the Liberals whenever the next election.
And allowing the Finance minister, Jim Flaherty, to run off at the
mouth trashing Ontario’s business environment is the height of
political folly.
So, Mr. Dion and the Liberals bide their time.
The Conservatives are embroiled in an increasing number of scandals
that are showing their true colours. The economy is heading south but,
because they’ve squandered the budget surplus on useless measures such
as the GST cuts and war, the room to take action is limited.
The
time for an election is growing on the simple grounds that the Harper
government keeps shooting itself in the foot. They’ve not many toes
left.
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