Justin Trudeau has been walking a tightrope lately, Michael Harris writes. His gymnastics were triggered by the resignation of Bill Morneau:
Morneau’s demise triggered a chain of events that prompted the prime minister to take the greatest chance of his political career — the decision to prorogue Parliament with the wolf pack closing in on his alleged ethical shortcomings once again.
That move brought Parliament’s work to a grinding halt, including investigations by parliamentary committees delving into the WE charity affair. Apart from throwing a histrionic hissy fit at press conferences, as the Conservatives’ Pierre Poilievre did this week, MPs won’t get a chance to call new witnesses before their committees until after a new speech from the throne.
The Conservatives -- particularly Pierre Poilivre -- are furious. But Harris thinks that Trudeau just might get away with it:
The PM bought himself time to craft a new legislative agenda laying out how he plans to restart the economy. Judging from the massive amounts of money already spent on supporting millions of Canadians through the pandemic, it will be a dramatic agenda.
The government is hoping that hitting the reset button will make such a splash that only parliamentary nitpickers will continue to gripe about a dubious program that managed to last all of one week, and has already claimed the finance minister.
The prorogation will be short. And it will end with a Speech from the Thone. Will there be a snap election?
The PM is betting that no political party, with the exception of the Bloc Québécois, will be anxious to trigger an election. He is probably right.
The Conservatives need time to establish the fact that there is a new marshal in town. Going into an election with a leader just over a month on the job would be dicey.
Where would the policy come from? Where would the money come from? Where would the candidates come from? And how would Canadians feel about an election foisted on them during a pandemic? (We will soon see, as New Brunswick heads to the polls in September after its minority government couldn’t work a deal with the opposition.)
As for the NDP, the financial cupboard is bare. Besides, Jagmeet Singh has a chance to use the Trudeau government’s vulnerability to negotiate progressive policies as the price of his support. Things like child care, where he has already gotten $2 billion out of the government, and pharmacare.
As for the Greens, the party is in the middle of a leadership battle and might not even have a new leader if the government were to fall in September.
It's the kind of thing that Trudeau the Elder would do. And it's the kind of thing that Mackenzie King did frequently.
Image: the globeandmail.com
4 comments:
.. I'm as much a Michael Harris fan as I am a Paul Watson fan.. But Mr Harris misses a trick.. Mr Morneau, no more 'cut a check' than did Ms Philpott or ms Wilson-Raybould.. late of the Liberal coterie. The question for mr Harris is wither Scott Brison ? He left Dodge just before those two were showered in partisan shite from all parties' faithful.. reviled evermore. Mr Brison departed to spend 'more time with family' but diverted via Air Canada to utilize his CV and signed up with Bank of Montreal and to look after their Lavalin 'business' file & portfolio.. How wondrous ! Scott ! We barely got to know you !! Poor Scott.. He was immersed in all things Lavalin.. One presumes he saw the 'end times' and bailed. Was he ever deposed ? Any testimony ever.. no he just sallied forth to help his husband with the two girls.. and was never seen or heard from again.. An inverse Houdini with backflips ? somehow 'disappeared' himself..
National politics in Canada has descended to a level of mediocrity approaching narcoleptic. Justin is going to come out with great and exciting things, supposedly, but where is he going to find money when Covid could drag on for up to two more years (latest WHO estimates)? He needs something approaching a trillion dollars to prepare our vital yet decaying infrastructure to meet climate change impacts. He shows no sign of decarbonizing our economy. He'll have to pay for that damned pipeline somehow.
Maybe he can fund these bold new initiatives on his main fanboy's enthusiasm.
That old Liberal disease -- Entitlement -- has clearly found a home in the Trudeau government, sal. In ordinary times, it would bring Justin down. But, as has been noted by many, these are not ordinary times.
Character is destiny, Mound. And, therefore, our future is far from bright.
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