OK, Who Let the Other Harper Out of His Cage?

After weeks of there being just a bit of a semblance that maybe the boys and girls on Parliament Hill were capable of playing nice and getting the business of government done — someone let the other Harper out of his cage. Mayhem threatens, again.

Is Harper completely clueless or does he just prefer to negotiate with a baseball bat? He gained the conditional support of the Liberals to get his budget through the House, a support that can be pulled at just about any time. One would think he’d move to show some respect for the Opposition and them doing their jobs by trying to reach out to get other things through.

He managed to do so when his government hung by a thread…. oh wait, first he ran to the Governor General to prorogue Parliament. The signs have been there in the last 2-3 weeks when his pet bulldog Flaherty was making demands of the Opposition to pass measures immediately, without further debate. The ‘tude showed up in all it’s glory yesterday when Harper demanded that MPs pass an interim supply bill which includes a $3billion fund to be passed out by departments as ‘stimulous’ projects and bypass the usual approval process.

Just the day before, Flaherty admitted that there would be foul ups in getting the stimulous funds out and then proceeds to make sure this comes true in technicolour. I can understand and in fact expect that the Opposition should do their jobs and question strongly the wisdom in this fools errand. The last time we had a slush fund around the Hill… it became a sponsorship scandal. Oh my, isn’t that what Harper brought Martin down over?

Harper opinions that the Opposition has no say as he considers them as having nothing to contribute to this economy. He could have a point since it was Harper who burned through the surplus he inherited from the Liberals. Having said that, it is the government’s job to come up with the ideas and to earn the approval of the Opposition when in a minority position. That is what debate is for.

There are lots of reasons for red flags to go flying high and fast on this move. Let’s start with the Conservative claim that they will report to Parliament on where the money went after the fact. That sounds all well and good were it not following on the report from the Information Commissioner that this government is the worse in recent memory for access to information.

Harper campaigned in 2006 on openness in government, promising to make government open and accountable. He’s been neither, leading the most secretive government in modern history. The Opposition and most certainly the Canadian people have no reason to believe that they will get full disclosure of where the money was spent when the government has repeatedly gone to great lengths to avoid access to information.

Another issue which has been raising its head all too often lately is the complaints of favouritism toward ridings which are Tory blue over those where Opposition MPs were elected. One of the most examples was the Native Reserve unable to get approval for a new school until after the Tories won the riding in October. If it walks like a duck….It will only be after the fact that the Opposition can go after this favouritism should the Tories go down that path.

I don’t believe the Opposition should do any foot dragging just because the Tories are good at it, nor do I believe that Harper has any call to demand the Opposition abdicate their responsibilities. They were not the ones who had Parliament sitting on their hands for 6-8 weeks in order to save Harper’s butt.

I very clearly disagree with Harper threatening an election over the Opposition doing their job and insisting on appropriate oversight. However, the Liberals suggesting that June could be soon enough to see if there is any benefit from the Conservative stimulus package is foolhardy. Unless the Liberals want to be seen as trying to be opportunist and playing politics in the midst of an economic meltdown, they had better be prepared to be watching closely until at least September before they even think about an election over the stimulus package.

Expecting measurable results by June is a little like sending a row boat to turn the QE2 and expecting it done in 20 minutes. We need leadership not political brinkmanship.

So, what do you think? Can the boys and girls on the Hill ever learn to play nice? Is there a leader among them?

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