by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
November 23, 2004
Newly minted independent MP Carolyn Parrish began her career as a teacher. and between her numerous juvenile attacks on americans and George W. Bush, she did manage to teach Canadians a few things about how the country is run. and it’s not good.
Hidden away in her obnoxious rants towards americans (and yes, Carolyn, "americans" despite your weak after-the-fact efforts to limit your attacks to Bush and the U.S. government), Parrish has exposed Prime Minister Paul Martin for what he is--undoubtedly the weakest man (or woman) to ever hold the office of Prime Minister of Canada.
Martin, much like John Kerry who voted to fund the war in Iraq before he voted against it, tries to take both sides of each and every major issue in order to please as many people as possible. For example, he likes to portray himself as a devout Catholic, appealing to religious conservatives while coming out in favour of same sex marriage to please others. and while proclaiming his wish to improve relations between Canada and the United States, he allowed Parrish to continue her anti-american vitriol, lest he offend his large contingency of anti-american Liberal supporters. The reaction of Martin to Parrish’s "coalition of idiots" comment was to say that it was "unacceptable". If Canada were ever attacked by jihadists it is easy to visualize Fearful Leader with his mouth open, saying that flying airplanes into buildings was "unacceptable". Paul Martin would have shown more backbone if he had simply ignored Carolyn Parrish and cut out the pretense that he somehow disagreed with what she was saying. If he really thought her actions or words were "unacceptable" he would have figured out a way to do something about it. How can this guy possibly govern the country when he has shown that he was completely incapable of governing a mediocre backbencher in his caucus?
The spin that the Liberal Party is putting out on the removal of Parrish from their caucus is that she was booted out as a result of her cumulative acts and statements. as Pauly would say, make no mistake about it, she was never removed from the caucus because of what she said about americans or her actions of stepping on a George Bush doll on the CBC program, This Hour has 22 Minutes. She wasn’t even kicked out after telling Canadian Press that Martin should stop telling her not to act that way in the future because she won’t listen to him and it will only serve to make Martin look weak.
No, Carolyn was only dispatched after she made remarks about the unelected people that surround the prime minister. Once she told the likes of Tim Murphy and David Herle to go to hell, her days as a Liberal MP were over. after all, they are the ones that are running the show, and presumably the country.
Paul Martin is no doubt the least qualified man or woman to lead Canada. He has none of the intellect or vision that Pierre Trudeau had--nor does he have the consummate political skills that gave Jean Chrètien three straight majority governments. Martin spent so much time seeking the office of prime minister that he had no time to think about what he would do when he got there. Canadians deserve better than a man who wants to be prime minister because that office was denied to dear departed daddy.
How can a person be considered a leader when they allow themselves to be played like a violin by the likes of Carolyn Parrish? She made an absolute mockery of Martin’s leadership and his policy, set out in the Speech from the Throne, of closer relations with the United States. Martin was no match for the Mississuaga-Erinadale MP; and it showed. It wasn’t until she went after the real power in the PMO that she was sent packing. Since her "coalition of idiots" comment, the first made under Martin’s leadership, anything that Parrish said or did was not about Parrish--it was about Martin.
Carolyn Parrish had a lot to teach us about the character of our prime minister. If she only had more credibility, she would have performed a real service for the country.