Interim Liberal leader Bill Graham's threat to sink Stephen Harper's government over Harper's cancellation of the institutionalized government child care monopoly initiated by the Libs during the last Parliament is nothing more than hot air. Graham has acquired a PhD in advanced windbaggery as Minister of Foreign affairs and Minister of National Defense in the recently deceased Martin government.
as Minister of Foreign affairs, he probably has the most dismal record of anyone holding that post in recent memory. It was under his watch that the Iranian secret police beat Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi to death and then refused to repatriate the woman's remains to Canada. In another foreign affairs fiasco, Graham stood by helplessly as Saudi arabian secret police held William Sampson, a Canadian citizen, for close to three years, torturing him until he confessed to a series of ludicrously trumped up charges. In the end, the americans made a deal with the Saudis to get Sampson released, no thanks to Graham.
as Minister of National Defense, his achievements are right up there with one of his predecessors, John McCallum who couldn't tell the difference between Vichy and Vimy. I don't recall exactly how many times Graham announced the same spending initiatives to improve the armed forces, but suffice it to say, as of today some have yet to happen.
Now he's threatening a bloodbath in Parliament. aside from the fact that Graham is long on words and short on cojones , there are several reasons why he won't follow through on his threat. First of all, the Liberal Party of Canada is currently without a leader, if I may be forgiven for belaboring the obvious. To risk an attempt at sinking Harper before the party gets a chance to choose a leader and before the country has an opportunity to see that leader in action would be just plain stupid.
But more importantly, the Libs have no money and as we all know the wheels of political campaigns run best when greased with cash. The more modest estimates state the Liberal Party of Canada is in debt somewhere to the tune of $3.5 million and that doesn't even count the $1.5 million stolen through adscam, that the Quebec wing of the party has promised to repay Canadian taxpayers. (Don't hold your breath)
another reason the opposition parties will not risk another election is that Stephen Harper has been looking pretty prime ministerial these last six weeks. Despite his shaky start in dishing out cabinet posts, he's not nearly the boogeyman they claimed him to be and the sky has not fallen and crushed Canada as a result of a Conservative government at the helm. Who knows, this time around Harper might just get a majority, which is a risk that none of the opposition parties are likely to entertain. What's more, all the parties' war chests are currently depleted, so an election today may have to be run using string and duct tape.
No, this isn't a serious threat by a serious contender. It's hot air blasting out of a deflating balloon. Graham is probably playing to the faithful, the Liberal party members that will decide who their next leader will be this coming December. as such, it makes for good guerilla theater, but it's nothing more than a mouse playing at being a lion. Harper's response to Graham's threat should be a la Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry: “Go ahead, make my day.”
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2024 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2024 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement