After a hiatus due to other personal shit, I've decided to write another boring, dry editorial on Canadian politics concerning minority governments and how some elements of the American system may be a good thing for this country, considering the political clusterfuck we're currently in.
Sometimes I envy the governmental system of the United States. It certainly beats what we have up here in Canada, at least in some regards. In the United States, you elect a president for four years and you vote directly for them. You might hear some bitching and moaning from the losing party, but the ruling government has free reign to rule as they see fit. There are also anti-corruption measures such as impeaching (though in practice, we know just how well that works...). Americans may certainly not see the advantages of this simply because I'm willing to bet quite a few have no clue about Canadian politics (And Americans reading this, feel free to correct me if I am mistaken about American politics). In Canada, you vote for a party and the party picks its leader. You vote for a representative of the party in your riding called an MP. An election can be called at pretty much any time. This can defeat the government. There are numerous ways to defeat the government. This provides extensive counter-measures against corruption, but it comes at the cost of less effective governance and costly numerous elections which largely the same results every time.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has been in power since 2006. It has won two elections, defeated a coalition of all the major Canadian political parties because of the Governor General's decision to prorogue (suspend) Parliament, and now is currently facing opposition from those same parties over mainly economic issues. Their fate rests in the hands of the Liberal Party, bitter rivals of the Conservatives.
A trip over to StatisticsCanada shows that since 2006 the economy was booming until the recent global recession (which is no fault of Harper's). Even in the recession, Canada has come out top among countries in terms of banking system and Harper's own fiscal plan was approved by the International Monetary Fund months ago. Canada has chewed up and spit out American banks and insurance companies left and right. When the recession subsides, Canada is going to be in a very good position due to Harper's policies.
Opponents of Harper will point to tens of billions in deficit. But deficit spending is not only natural in a recession, it's pretty much the only way to keep the economy afloat. Look at the United States. Correct me if I'm wrong, but despite massive debt, hasn't Obama poured billions upon billions into infrastructure projects that not only create jobs, but benefit Americans as a whole? Isn't it wise to invest in your own economy?
Opponents will point to the current isotope crisis. Canada produces 30% of the world's medical isotope supply in one reactor at Chalk River. The problem is the reactor is aging and in dire need of repair. Our nuclear watchdog shut it down for health and safety reasons. But the government has to force it back open because we're facing a shortage of these isotopes which not only impacts OUR healthcare system, but has a huge impact globally.
When the Liberals were in power before 2006, they were under pressure to replace the reactor at Chalk River with two new reactors called MAPLE1 and MAPLE2. But there was a huge flaw in the design. The mechanism to speed up the reaction had no control on it, so what we would have seen is an unstoppable nuclear explosion. The Liberals spent huge sums of money on this and the project had to be scrapped. Thus the ancient Chalk River reactor had to remain open.
The Conservatives inherited this problem from the Liberals, yet these same people are asking "What are the Conservatives going to do about the isotopes!?" and demand his resignation for it. The Liberals also wish to challenge the Conservatives over Employment Insurance reform - a policy that Liberals themselves instituted. Doesn't anyone else in this country find it a little odd that the Liberals are attempting to topple a government for not changing something they themselves put into effect?
These are just a few of MANY examples. Harper has been by and large a good leader and I certainly support him because of it. But the guy has not been able to do his job. In America, this wouldn't happen. You might have attacks from the losing party, but the government is allowed to do their job effectively (at least have the potential to do it effectively). In Canada, the ruling government is not allowed to govern effectively because at every turn they are threatened with being toppled (especially minority governments!). Instead of worrying about the economy, isotopes, Arctic sovereignty, our missions in Afghanistan and Haiti, North Korean nuclear activity, Russian military activity in the Canadian Arctic, or "the environment", the man is forced to cover his ass at every turn to people who clearly do not wish to compromise.
I would be saying the same if the Liberals were in the hotseat and the Conservatives were forming coalitions. The Conservatives were re-elected October 2008. Within MONTHS a coalition was formed and tried to topple the government, which is just a basic disregard for the will of the Canadian people. Whatever the OPPOSITION thinks of Harper's performance, the Canadian people voted clearly for the Conservatives not months before and definitely do not want another costly election within months. Not to mention this coalition activity forced the Governor General to suspend Parliament.
I don't care which party is in power. I want a leader who will do what is best for this country and at the moment that is Harper in my opinion. Ignatieff has only postured and threatened. He has offered nothing in the way of constructive criticism and has just made demand after demand after demand in order to try and attract voters. The last thing I can think of on the Liberal platform is a carbon tax from the days when Dion was the Liberal leader. A tax that would absolutely destroy our industry and remove all the industry already here and with little incentive to stay.
Many Liberal supporters want to compare Harper to Bush in order to villify him. The ruse has somewhat worked. I ask any Canadian Liberals here in the crowd: What the Hell does Harper have anything to do with Bush? In fact, American Democrat and Canadian Conservative policies are almost identical, the Democrat policies being slightly to the right of the Conservatives. Yet Liberals will fawn over Obama and villify Harper.
Canada and the US have recently signed a treaty that allows joint patrolling of each others waters. For example, let's say some drug smugglers were off the coast of Newfoundland and a Canadian Coast Guard ship takes pursuit of the drug ship. In most cases, the drug ship would go for American waters (or vice versa - a ship in American waters going to Canada) because it would take the authorities of either country time to deploy a boat to re-locate and chase the drug boat, usually losing them in the process. So a US Customs Officer might be aboard that Canadian ship and give it permission to go into American waters and chase the ship and bring the criminals back to Canada.
The reverse can also happen. An RCMP officer might be aboard a US Coast Guard ship and give permission for American Coast Guard ships to enter Canadian waters to bring criminals back to the States. It doesn't mean that Canadian authorities have law enforcement powers in the United States nor does it mean American authorities have law enforcement powers in Canada. Yet, this is spun so that it seems like Canada is losing its sovereignty to the big, bad United States, much to the detriment of Harper. It is a good solution to a big problem: smuggling. The United States and Canada have combined a fucking massive coastline to patrol facing three fucking oceans. Even with their combined resources, patrolling is difficult. Sometimes we need Americans in our waters, sometimes they need us in theirs. It's reciprocal and common among the best fucking allies in the world.
Similar "America is going to take over Canada!" scares have been perpetuated by the Canadian left in order to make Harper seem more like Bush or an American patsy. This is a little ironic because the very leader of the Liberal Party has spent more time teaching at Harvard than he has been in Canada. Another example I'll mention is the treaty that allows each others troops to cross the border without asking permission during natural disasters. Let's say there was a massive flood in New York State and the Canadian Forces are closer and can respond faster, or just as fast as the US Army to reinstate order and to save lives. Asking permission to cross the border takes time and loses lives. The Canadian Forces can cross the border and help save American lives from the flooding.
Reverse. Say there is an ice storm similar to the one in the 90's in Canada in Southern Ontario and Quebec. The US Army can cross the border to help with repairs and building of shelters for people without asking the Canadian government for permission. This was interpreted by many to be an invitation for American troops to be on every street corner, billyclubbing every Canadian man, woman, and child and Liberals viewed it as the equivalent of high treason. Few people bothered to mention that Canada has the power to do the same. And both only have the power to do so in the event of a natural disaster where lives are at stake. If the Americans crossed over in droves on a bright, sunny day, that's a fucking act of war. If the Americans crossed over because they wanted to save hundreds of thousands of Canadians from freezing to death in a fucking ice storm, they are - and should be - perfectly allowed and invited and welcomed with our gratitude extended to them.
This is exactly what I mean by the flaws in Canada's government system. While it allows us to get rid of corrupt governments damn fast, it hinders perfectly natural and beneficial progress by idiots and yokels with nothing better to do than spread disinformation. Why SHOULDN'T Canada develop a closer relation with the United States? We have similar cultures, the same language, similar history, similar ideals, a history of military conflict together, long-time trading partners, our largest fucking trading partner. Why would anyone - Liberal, Conservative, or other - oppose that? Why would anyone oppose progress that benefits all Canadians? The answer is simple. Politicians do not care about what is best for the country, but that they are in power.
I think the Canadian system needs an overhaul. We need the American benefit of our government being able to operate effectively without having to deal with juvenile bullshit (attack ads included, so I at least can't be accused of being a hypocrite), but with the Canadian benefit of being able to dispose of corrupt governments quickly.
We should have fixed terms to 2 or 3 years with confidence motions in Parliament as the main way to defeat ruling governments. I think that is the simplest way of dealing with things. Not only does it spare us frequent and costly elections, but allows our government to not have to worry about opposition parties squabbling. We should remove the idea of minority governments and give the ruling government majority powers. So if in those three years the government has NOT done its job, it has absolutely no excuse because it did not have to worry about politicization and can be subsequently voted out. Whaddaya think?