Harper happy with Martin’s Governor General appointment
Last Thursday, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced who he had chosen to become Canada’s next Governor General. Martin has never had a reputation as an original thinker so now we have a Governor General who is a visible minority woman who came to Canada as a refugee and ended up working at the CBC--again.
Stephen Harper, the Leader of the alleged Opposition was quick off the mark with expressing satisfaction over the Prime Minister’s appointment of Michaelle Jean as the Queen’s representative in Canada for the next five years. Harper was quoted as saying, "I know Madame Jean will serve Canada in a dignified fashion." as the position of Governor General is largely a symbolic one, dignity is perhaps the most important quality that a person can bring to the position. There is no other way to interpret Harper’s remarks other than that he was giving his unqualified approval in Paul Martin’s decision to appoint the 48-year-old CBC personality to succeed adrienne Clarkson.
This is not the first major decision that the Prime Minister has made that Harper has approved. When the Liberals brought down their first budget this year, Harper lauded it as a "conservative budget". Had Harper initially criticized the budget, as opposition leaders usually do, he could have forced the government to make conservative-friendly changes to the bill before agreeing to support it. That would have ensured the budget’s passage in this minority Parliament and the Tory leader could have taken credit for the changes. But Stephen Harper’s initial enthusiasm and support for the budget led to the chain of events whereby the country ended up with a second "Jack Layton budget" that saw massive spending increases.
If Michaelle Jean is a poor choice to become Governor General of Canada, that is certainly not her fault and the day that the announcement was made was not a time to criticize either her or her appointment. But not criticizing the appointment is not the same thing as indicating support for it.
Harper’s comments that she will serve in a dignified manner should be contrasted with what NDP leader Jack Layton said. Layton commented that Jean’s life had been "inspiring" and added that it will be nice to see a child (Jean’s six-year-old daughter) living in Rideau Hall again. Layton praised Jean personally for what she has accomplished since coming to Canada as an 11-year-old Haitian refugee and made a cute comment about her daughter. But nothing that he said could be construed as agreeing with her appointment as Governor General. Layton left himself open to level criticism of the appointment at a future time without appearing to be inconsistent.
and the appointment of Michaelle Jean is certainly open to criticism. Paul Martin’s appointment of a Quebecker to the post was nothing more than a blatant attempt to buy votes in Quebec, the province that he desperately needs if he is ever going to form a majority government. as well, we currently have a minority Parliament that has seen motions of non confidence won by the opposition parties but not recognized by the government and brief times where the government of Canada was unable to function legislatively. What Canadians really need at a time such is this is a Governor General who has expertise in the constitutional field or at least someone with vast political experience; someone who could at least credibly threaten to intervene if Parliament is unable to function.
More importantly, by being happy with the appointment of Michaelle Jean, Stephen Harper seems to have bought into the Ottawa-centric, Ontario/Quebec led, CBC-inspired, politically correct vision of Canada that is the Liberal Party vision of Canada.
If Stephen Harper is ever going to become the prime minister of Canada he is going to have to stop these knee-jerk reactions to major political decisions made by Paul Martin.
If he doesn’t, perhaps he should just follow Belinda across the floor and be done with it.