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Lisa Young - Week Four Grades

Political Parties
Pass

Bloc Quebecois

Clearly, Duceppe is doing something right. He is poised to hold the rest of Canada hostage to the Quebec aerospace industry. Western Canadians should all stock up on their blood pressure medication: the CF-18 contract is going to look like small potatoes once the Bloc is done with us. And there won’t be money left over for a national pharmacare program to pay for those pills.

Conservative Party

In the first televised presidential debates in the US, John F Kennedy discovered that youth gives a candidate tremendous advantage, particularly over an opponent like Richard Nixon. Appearing relatively youthful on television helped Harper tremendously in the leaders’ debates. But it wasn’t just a case of Harper’s somewhat stodgy forty-something looks winning out over Martin’s sagging senior citizen demeanor. Harper is an unapologetic ideologue, and the coherence of his political world view bolstered him in debate against Martin. Harper was in control, conceded nothing, and effectively highlighted Martin’s role in reducing transfer payments. He appeared, dare I say it, Prime Ministerial.

But looking the part isn’t enough. At some point, Harper will have to answer some questions about how he would govern. He claims he will not consult with, much less enter into a coalition with, the Bloc or the NDP. He won’t tell us how he’ll find Quebec representation inside his caucus. The mantra that he will win a majority government with seats in Quebec is patently fictional. Am I the only Canadian who is worried about how this is all going to turn out?

Liberal Party

The leaders’ debates were Paul Martin’s last chance to remind voters that he slayed the deficit and to convince them that he has a vision for the country. Instead, we got waiting lists. He wants to be Prime Minister so that he can shorten waiting lists. He wants to be Prime Minister because he isn’t Ralph Klein, or Mike Harris, or Brian Mulroney. Mostly, he just wants to be Prime Minister.

Setting aside all of the trivia about how tired and old Martin looked and his insistence on looking at the camera rather than his opponents, what was most telling about his debate performance was that he appeared to be the only one of the four leaders who lacked a coherent political world view. Martin portrayed himself as a defender of the Charter, but was caught on his earlier support for the traditional definition of marriage; he wants voters to believe that he will save health care, but couldn’t account for his role in reducing transfers to the provinces. If Harper is protected with a Teflon coating, then Martin must be covered with Velcro: everything sticks to him, and it’s starting to look pretty messy.

New Democratic Party

Glib. The man is glib. All through the leaders’ debates he had a funny smile on his face, like there was something amusing about this spectacle that he knew about and we didn’t. And he must know something that we don’t. Otherwise, how can we account for his strategy of leading the attack on Paul Martin throughout the debate?

Perhaps I’m missing something, but I thought that the NDP was hoping to hold the balance of power over a Liberal minority government. That would give them the opportunity to influence public policy. But apparently, Jack thinks that a Conservative government would be a better outcome. So he teamed up with the Conservatives to lynch Martin. Focus, Jack: Harper is now the enemy.

Past Political Party Grades

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