The front page story on newspapers across Canada, and the lead item on the various national newscasts these past few days, take the federal Liberal government to task for wrongdoing relating to past payment of Public Works department ‘sponsorship’ monies, $100 million of which was funneled through a handful of Liberal-friendly advertising firms in Québéc.
The popularity of the national government, at present, is in freefall, the opposition is having a field day, and Prime Minister Paul Martin appears to have lost the confidence of Canadians only two months into his ‘mandate’. How did this come to pass? Certainly not solely because of misappropriation of funds issues, or allegations of wrong-doing in the province of Québéc, and its corollary, concomitant federal government corruption.
No, the fact that this latest Liberal scandal has become the cause céleb in the media, and the hot topic in coffee shops across our nation, relates to hubris.
From the point, this past December, when Paul Martin’s ‘new broom’ swept into every corner of the federal cabinet, when the newly-elected leader of the Liberal party, and Canada’s 21st prime minister, retained just 16 of Chrétien’s 38 Ministers — excising talented and high-profile politicians such as John Manley, Alan Rock, Sheila Copps and Stephane Dion, each of whom had gained the trust and admiration of many Canadians — it was quite obvious that there was more at play than a new Prime Minister attempting to put his stamp on government.
Let’s face it, Paul Martin had loathed Jean Chrétien for years. And over the months leading up to Martin’s ascension to Canada’s highest political office, following his somewhat unseemly depature as Finance Minister, Sunday June 2nd 2002, Martin made no secret of just how much he destested Chrétien, both personally and politically.
When Martin became Prime Minister, his first course of action? Rid the government of anyone who was seen to have been a Chrétien loyalist.
What, then, have been the direct consequences of Prime Minister Martin’s curious ‘new broom’ approach?
Well, for one, a schism in the governing party. Public battles between Copps and Martin, allegations by former federal Fisheries Minister Herb Dhaliwal about dirty tricks by Martin loyalists (and who has reported developments in that story recently, or sought to tie this earlier scandale to the travails which currently beset the Martin government)?
Now that support for the federal Liberals is plummeting, as has never been the case before, what has Martin done to heal the wounds which he himself has inflicted on the governing party? Drive the knife ever deeper, twisting it more and more as he pulls the guts out of the party.
In recent days, Martin has been keen to tell us all, time and again, that this latest ‘misappropriation” misadventure by the federal government may be laid at the feet of Jean Chrétien, and those within the senior echelons of Chrétien’s government. Martin has averred that he will get to the bottom of this ‘whole affair’. And if, in the process, he can lop off the heads of a few more Chrétien loyalists, all to the good.
Martin’s slash and burn strategem has not played particularly well.
If this past weekend’s Ipsos-Reid reports of plunging poll numbers for the Liberals are to be believed, Martin’s forces are in for a major re-think. This game of distancing himself from the former government has resulted only in a precipitous drop in support for Martin’s government, an unprecedented decline of more than 9 points this past month alone, from 48% to 39%. Those close to the PM have to be very worried, if not actually reeling.
Obviously, something has gone terribly, terribly wrong for Paul Martin, and his ‘new vision’ for Canada.
Where to now?
First off, Paul Martin has to realize that Canadians elected three successive Chrétien-lead majority governments for a reason. Chrétien was popular when he left the Prime Minister’s office, and Martin would have been wise to trade on Chrétien’s popularity, whatever feelings of animosity exist between the two men.
By pulling an Al Gore (distancing yourself from the guy that brung ya to the party), Martin risks the same fate as Gore: political oblivion. Better that the message of the Martin government should turn its focus to “four more years of good government”, with the kind of balanced approach to government Canadians have come to expect of the Liberals: fiscal responsibility tempered by social conscience.
Second, when allegations of wrong-doing come to the fore, Martin would be wise to adopt Chrétien’s tack: deflect criticism by turning over responsibility for the investigation of the matter to the R.C.M.P, while assuring Canadians that if criminal activity is deemed to have taken place, criminal charges will be laid. “To comment further, would only prejudice the investigation,” is the mantra of the successful politician when confronted with the kinds of issues which currently confront Martin.
Martin has much that he would wish to accomplish, as Canada’s 21st Prime Minister. As long as he continues to allow himself to remain embroiled in la scandale, as long as hubris is the operational motif of the Prime Minister’s office, there’s not much of the Martin agenda which will see the light of day, or be viewed favourably when it does.
Let this scandal die a natural death, allow the R.C.M.P. to get on with their investigation, and let us one and all allow our federal governing party to place its focus on issues of real importance to each and every Canadian: the security of our nation, growth of the economy, the preservation of our social safety net (health care, education, and care for our most vulnerable) and the continued development of a Canadian cultural policy to serve us all.
All good points but here is the problem, while the scandal was brewing Martin was at the Cabinet table as Minister of Finance. A hundred million dollars is, more or less, stolen and he doesn’t know? Hello, this is not how it works. Or, at least not how it should work.
With luck Martin may survive the scandal purely because the NDP is a bit feckless and the Conservatives still have not got a clue about who they are and where they want to be. But between this bit of corupt cynicism and the 2.2 billion dollar gun registry that has thus far prevented not a single gun homicide, Paul has some explaining to do.
You are entirely correct in your assessment of the situation, Jay. Chances are that Martin did know that monies had gone missing, or at the very least as Canada’s Finance Minister, should have known.
Originally, I was going to respond to the article published on your site (www.jaycurrie.com) which is to say, respond through the Comments section. Instead, I chose to write the ‘Liberal Scandale’ article on VanRamblings. There is no question: the reading of the article on your blog was the genesis for the commencement of the writing of my piece, published on VanRamblings. Thank you.
The nature of the ‘Liberal Scandale’ piece was meant to be prescriptive, which is to say: Get the hell on with things. Alas, such appears not to be the case, as Martin digs himself ever deeper into the muck. Just how much damage he’s doing to himself and the Liberal party we won’t know until he calls an election, and we discover the will of the people on election night. The real damage, though, may occur when the results of the inquiry are published, which could be very damning for him, indeed.
Paul will definitely have “some explaining to do.”