By Klaus Rohrich
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
While the former mainstream media is rhapsodizing about the Republicans' defeat in the U.S. Congress two weeks ago being a "referendum” on Iraq and a vote of no confidence for the policies of George W. Bush, they appear to have missed the mark in some respects. The american people voted out a Republican Party that appeared to emulate the spending policies of liberal Democrats and largely voted in conservative Democrats. Most of those running under the Democrats' banner could be described as "right of center”, as their attitudes toward their party's policies were decidedly at odds with the party leaders. Many are fiscal as well as social conservatives and some even supported victory in Iraq. While many of the newly elected Senators and Congressmen will have to submit to party discipline and vote with the wishes of the largely left-leaning party leadership, the Dems were given a message by the voters, as well and they ignore it at their peril.
The Conservative Party of Canada could learn a valuable lesson from that election in their formulation of future policies for Canada. The trend among civilized nations is drifting to the right of centre as our traditional liberal sensibilities face an uncertain future. With the failure of multiculturalism and the overt self-segregation of many immigrant groups, Canadians are less inclined to be adventurous. as such a more conservative approach to politics is appropriate.
Ernie Eves's October, 2003 surprise came as a result of Eves miscalculating the electorate's mood and attempting to buy their votes with liberal spending policies. as I wrote in these pages following that election: "... the people of Ontario were disgusted with Ernie Eves, pure and simple. [McGuinty's] platforms were not that radically different, but Ernie had demonstrated to the people of Ontario that he was not to be trusted. Unlike Mike Harris, Ernie had a tendency not to keep his election promises and he tended to flip flop.”
The federal Liberals' defeat at the hands of Stephen Harper wasn't so much due to the adscam scandal, as it was to the constant flip-flopping and blatant vote buying practiced by the hapless Paul Martin. Harper didn't win that election so much as Martin lost it. Once Harper took office, the voters were surprised to learn that he was actually following through with his promises. If Harper wants to continue maintaining his mandate he will have to continue rolling out more of his conservative programs, at least the ones dealing with fiscal matters. Canadian voters tend to be a spoiled rotten, whiny bunch. But even the whiniest of them understands that government largesse is limited. Rather than cater to every vocal special interest group, Harper will earn the respect of all Canadians by making it clear that the days of special interests in Canada are over and that accountability in spending isn't just something the voters would like, it's something they are demanding.
So, Steve, if you want to maintain your position as Prime Minister of Canada, the surest way to do that is to continue initiating conservative policies. There will be a lot of sucking and whining from those special interests that have made feeding at the public trough an art form. But if truth be told, they aren't the ones that make up the bulk of the votes.
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