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The English language leaders’ debate complete, the leaders of the five major parties in the federal election are back on the campaign trail, as the countdown to a new government in Canada recommences.
In respect of the English-language leaders’ debate last evening, from the vantage point of VanRamblings, the debate was a clear win for Prime Minister Paul Martin. As the Toronto Star’s Chantel Hébert writes, in a column headlined PM injects life into flagging campaign, “If last night’s leaders’ debate disposed of anything, it may be the already slim prospect of a Conservative majority government emerging from the June 28 election.”
During the course of the two-hour live television debate before Canadians, only Prime Minister Martin possessed the ability to enunciate a clear vision for Canada. Martin’s grasp of domestic and foreign affairs, his willingness to stand up for Canada on the world stage, his desire for fiscal prudence tempered by the need he articulated for the role of government in providing social programmes for young families and the elderly, as well as providing for increased funding to strengthen the public health care system, all of this and more provide cogent evidence that Martin is the only candidate among the five federal party leaders who is able to take Canada through the early part of this century towards the creation of a more just society.
While Conservative leader Stephen Harper hung back, barely more than a phantom afterthought in the campaign debate, constantly biting his bottom lip like an errant schoolboy; while New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton yapped and yammered at Martin like a grade school boy jealous of the facility with which his Liberal counterpart was able to command the stage; and while Bloc Québécois leader played obsequious friend of the NDP, and paradoxical potential coalition partner to the right-leaning Conservatives, only Prime Minister Martin articulated a consistent humanitarian vision for the Canada of which we are all so proud.
How it is that Harper continues to predict a Tory majority in the face of one of the most mealy-mouthed debate performances Canadians have had the poor fortune to witness, is quite beyond VanRamblings? How it is that the Reform/Alliance Conservative leader believes, as he suggested in a speech to Conservatives gathered in Niagara Falls, Ontario this morning that his party has wrapped up a federal election win simply beggars belief.
For his part, Martin seems reinvigorated by his solid performance in both the French and English language debates, and as the election heads into the stretch run, the Prime Minister has set about to reinforce the gains he made over the past two nights by reminding Canadians of the fact that …
“It was a Liberal government that created Medicare. And our Liberal government will preserve it. We will ensure our health care system is sustainable. By making it our No. 1 priority, we will fix it for a generation.”
“We believe that Canadians want shorter waiting times more than they want aircraft carriers. We believe that Canadians want their governments to make it a national priority to bring down waiting times, to bring them down substantially and bring them down for good.”
“I give you my word: I will bring the same energy, drive and determination to tackling waiting times for health care that I did to eliminating the deficit. I’m here to tell you it can be done.”
VanRamblings finds it difficult not to agree with Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente, when she writes …
I hate explaining Canadian politics to my American friends. “Things are going pretty well up here,” I tell them. “The economy is booming. Everyone is glad we stayed out of the mess in Iraq. The separatist threat has died right down. Most people are pretty content with the government’s policies, and they think our new Prime Minister’s a very decent guy. So what we’re going to do is throw him out and elect a guy we don’t know much about who wants to fundamentally overhaul our country.”
When you have prominent ex-Tories switching sides and supporting the Liberals, when the mayors of the major cities across Canada — where 80% of Canadians live — express very serious concern about the Conservative agenda for cities, when commentators express concern about the Conservative agenda for Canada’s system of justice, their utter lack of an arts policy, their articulated policies of intolerance and division, and Harper’s whole, untrustworthy demeanour as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you have to ask yourself, “Why are Canadians even considering electing the Reform / Alliance Conservatives to a first term in government?”
For insight into Stephen Harper’s policies, as well as important 2004 federal election news events, click on VanRamblings’ full Decision Canada coverage.
