Canada

Wednesday May 7, 1997

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 7, 1997

NDP’s ideas may be old, but they’re not stale

The last time I recall my morning paper giving heartfelt advice to Alexa McDonough, the NDP leader, was on the occasion of the federal by-election in Hamilton East. The vacancy in Hamilton East was what is nowadays called a “virtual” vacancy in that it was created by the virtual resignation of the sitting member, Sheila Copps, who is the ritual deputy prime minister, mock minister of t he environment, and the government’s let’s-pretend-friend of the CBC. She was resigning her seat in order to seek official atonement for being unable to persuade, as promised earlier, to eliminate the GST by increasing mothers’ allowances and ridding the Great Lakes of conger eels.

Attired in the most fashionable of sackcloth haut couture, the first female deputy prime minister in Canadian history fell weeping upon the shoulders of the good voters of Hamilton East, beseeching their forgiveness for nothing, after all, more than an excess of zeal. And it was midst this thick mist of Liberal lachrymation that my morning paper proposed that the NDP leader test her voter appeal; kamikaze pilots have had better advice from their chaplains. McDonough chose not to run, but filed instead for the seat in her hometown and native province on the occasion of the next grand assize.

All this came to mind when, after the NDP met in Regina to produce its election manifesto, my morning paper filed an editorial complaint under the heading of “New Democrats, old ideas.” This suggested to me that relations between the NDP leader and the editorial board had further deteriorated since her abandonment of Hamilton East. Once into the text, this indeed proved true.

To begin with, the NDP leader has expressed the opinion her party was unlikely to form the next government. It would, however, like to win enough seats in the coming election to be a presence in the next Parliament – anything from a dozen to 40 would be nice, any more than that unlikely but welcome. Unaccustomed to the lack of puffery, critics of McDonough have come unnerved, my morning paper amon g them: “The problem is as long as the New Democrats aspire to Opposition, the longer they will remain there. . . Opposition demands a different calculation and generates a different expectation than government. It allows a less ambitious, less rigorous view of the world, unchallenged by the discipline of power.”

None of this is so, even in the most rudimentary sense. It is like saying the Liberals, in 1993, promised to eliminate the GST, revise the free trade pact with the Great Neighbor, stabilize the funding for the CBC, and do an incredibly better job of creating jobs for Canadians of all ages, and all this implausible promising which all turned out to be impossible of delivery was made because the Liberals had “a less rigorous view of the world” and secretly hoped to remain in Opposition. The NDP might not be able to do half what they say they would do, if elected to govern, but they would likely try harder than the Liberals to keep their word.

Indeed, the rap on the NDP platform is that it promises to make good on some broken Liberal promises. Old stuff, according to my morning paper, and its boardroom constituents. What’s new – as compared to what’s old – in the world of ideas is “reduced unemployment benefits, however imperfect” and reduced “abuses.” This latter is a reference to reform of benefits for the poor, which has been a new idea for the privileged since the Poor Law Amendments of 1834.

Back then – 163 years ago – public assistance to the poor was made conditional on their being put to work. Strong argument was made, by the intellectual forbears of today’s neo-conservatives, against the provision of meals for hungry school children. In the words of one of the neo-cons of that day, “To feed a child is to give relief to its parents – to undermine their independence and self-reliance.”

The difference between the Bleak House of Charles Dickens and the Common Sense Revolution of Mike Harris is that the latter has the endorsement of my morning paper, and three of the four principal political parties running candidates in the federal election to come. The Liberals, from fiscal 1996 to 1999, will cut almost $28 billion from the Canada Assistance Plan. As a result, the poor will be poorer still and their children at greater risk.

The NDP begins its campaign by admitting it is not likely to win it. This must be compared to the predictions of Preston Manning who has promised to win a majority of the seats, including a good handful in Quebec. Manning is my morning paper’s kind of politician, the familiar windbag. But he is as likely to become the next prime minister of Canada as, well, the Reverend Al Sharpton.

It seems to me the NDP’s value to the debate is that the party represents ideas about politics and government that have been absent since the electoral aberrations of 1993 and have been sorely missed. Some of the ideas are old, but as the Conservatives once believed, such was a good part of their virtue. Even so, for those who like their ideas old – as in cheese – some of those being retailed by other parties in today’s contest predate the Industrial Revolution and the invention of income tax. (F3, 4/20/1997, Toronto Star by Dalton Camp, political commentator and broadcaster.)

 

Thursday April 24, 1997

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 24, 1997

Deal with national unity now: Mulroney

Brian Mulroney, who twice failed to enshrine distinct society status for Quebec in the Constitution, is warning Canada’s political leaders that they must try again or risk the breakup of the country.And the former Tory prime minister says time is running out — a constitutional deal must be concluded before the next referendum on Quebec independence, likely within three years.

Mulroney issued the wakeup call in a speech to the Canadian Club yesterday, less than two weeks before Jean Chretien is expected to call a vote, in which national unity could become the sleeper issue, despite the best efforts of the prime minister, most premiers and other party leaders to downplay it.

Although he called on federalist politicians to put aside partisanship to resolve the constitutional question, Mulroney repeatedly took veiled shots at Chretien for failing to show leadership on the issue and for lulling Canadians into a false sense of security before and after the 1995 referendum.

“In the eyes of many, constitutional reform is a tar baby and nobody wants to touch it. To do so is both unfashionable and unpopular.”

Mulroney’s call to arms was greeted by a standing ovation from the almost 1,000 well-heeled guests at the nearly soldout luncheon, who included a host of former Mulroney cabinet ministers, other prominent Tories and the cream of Toronto’s business elite.

A number of Mulroney’s allies from past constitutional fights were present, including former Grit prime minister John Turner and ex-Ontario premiers — Tory Bill Davis, Liberal David Peterson and New Democrat Bob Rae.

While Mulroney’s barbs were aimed at Chretien, he may have inadvertently hurt his successor, Tory leader Jean Charest, as well as Tory premiers Ralph Klein and Mike Harris. Both have resisted any attempt to reopen constitutional talks. Harris, in particular, has called the distinct society concept outdated and unnecessary.

Charest personally supports distinct society status for Quebec, but has had trouble getting his candidates to agree. In deference to them, Charest’s platform avoids promising to entrench distinct society in the Constitution.

Several senior Tories said privately that Mulroney was not doing Charest any favours by making such a high-profile speech just before an election, reminding Canadians of his despised past. Mulroney insisted the timing of his speech was coincidental.

Ironically, given Mulroney’s primary target, Chretien’s Liberals are likely to make the strongest commitment of any party to distinct society. Party insiders say the Liberal platform, to be unveiled during the campaign, will specifically promise to enshrine distinct society in the Constitution.

Mulroney also slammed Chretien’s so-called Plan B — spelling out the consequences of and the rules for independence through such mechanisms as seeking a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of unilateral separation.

He said it only allows for an orderly transfer of powers.

The only way to unite the country, Mulroney asserted, is to get Quebec to finally sign the Constitution.

Mulroney did not have any advice as to how constitutional recognition of Quebec can be achieved without the legally required support of Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, whose premier, Lucien Bouchard, refuses to discuss constitutional issues. (Hamilton Spectator, A1, 4/15/1997)

 

Monday January 29, 1990

 

 

 

RAY HNATYSHYN – OUR NEW GOVERNOR-GENERAL

I waited there in line against a fence that had been created just at the top of the cement stairs directly in front of the Peace Tower. I arrived around 10:30am, 35 minutes before the man to be Canadas 24th Governor General was to arrive in order to receive his installation. The Peace Tower carillon bells rang out attracting Wellington Street passes by. By 10:45 the sounds of marching boots approached the portion of blacktop that spans the entire front of the Centre Black. It was a military honour guard, and a marching band. It was a relief to see their arrival, as the sounds of their instruments drowned out the heckling of a picket sign bearing retired Civil Servant who’s been distraught about the Mulroney government. He had a loud voice, with messages such as “it’s rumoured that it’s so cold outside that even Brian Mulroney has his hands in his own pockets”, and “hold on to your spare change”, and “Ferdinand and Imelda Mulroney”

The limousines bearing unusual world flags would pass by the Centre Block as ambassadors, and provincial Lieutenant-Governors arrived. The entourage of Prime Minister and Mila Mulroney pulled up beneath the Peace tower, then received a short piece of fanfare by the stationed band as they stood at attention before us as they looked outward towards the business section of Ottawa.

The arrival of private citizen Ray Hnatyshyn and his wife was followed by the presence of Chief Justice Brian Dickson. The Hnatyshyn’s arrived in a plain black limousine, when finally the man of the hour arrived, stepping over with a tailed coat and a top hat he received a short musical bit of fanfare before he entered into Parliament where the coronation would eventually take place.

For the hour he was in the Senate Chamber receiving his induction there was nothing going on outside, the marching bands had gone off to a waiting ground just west of centre block. I returned after walk to Sparks Street and decided to situate myself slightly to the west of the Peace tower I could stand on the short brick wall which bounded the sidewalk of the front blacktop if l wanted to get a better look. The soldiers and the marching band came stomping back as the cannons beneath the statue of Queen Victoria began to fire off a 21 gun salute. When the new Governor-General emerged from the doors beneath the Peace Tower, he, his wife and the Prime Minister were salute with fanfare, as the band began to play the Governor-Generals salute, which combines the tune of “God Save the Queen” and  “O’Canada”. Once again the cannons began to fine, and from the west 4 RCAF-18 jets zoomed by over heads, and past the peace lover. It was a fantastic display of patriotism. It was even better to see our new representative to Queen Elizabeth II hop into the awaiting horse drawn carriage surrounded in the front and back by 6 pairs of black coated mounties. The Governor General waved, the Prime Minister waved back, and as the people clapped in praise of the occasion as that idiot with the sign kept yelling anti-Mulroney messages.

Ray Hnatyshyn is a fine man, and he will undoubtedly serve this nation as Governor-General very well.

(I kept a hand written journal between 1984 and 1996 of news. I was aged 13 – 27yrs)