When it first appeared that the next Parliament might be a Conservative minority, Paul Martin really started to lose it. He seemed to have faced the reality the position that was his birthright was going to be taken away from him. Some of Martin's actions are reminiscent of those of former Ontario Liberal Premier David Peterson who, in the dying days of the 1990 campaign for an election that no one but him thought was necessary, warned that if the NDP were elected, children would go hungry. Peterson's strange behaviour helped bring socialism to Ontario for five years, but the streets of the province were devoid of dead and dying babies.
But when it looked like the Conservatives might be in a position to win a majority, NDP leader Jack Layton began to lose it too. In B.C., Layton asked non-NDP supporters to "lend" him their vote to keep those awful Conservatives out of power. although Jack Layton denied it, it was suggested to him that he was asking disaffected Liberals and Red Tories to hold their noses and vote for his party. There is no doubt that Layton is desperate to see himself continue to the role he had in the last parliament — that of de facto prime minister with the ability to set the agenda and pass budgets. and, of course Layton needs a minority (preferably one led by a weak Paul Martin) government to keep his grip on power.
The CBC came out with the comment, "Martin attacks Layton for not attacking Harper". Now in normal times, words such as these would be uttered on This Hour has 22 Minutes or Royal Canadian air Farce. But these are not normal times and the words actually appeared as a headline on CBC.ca. The PM accused the NDP leader of ignoring the Conservatives who will dismantle social programs, end the Kyoto accord and life as we know it and bring in a conservative social agenda. according to Martin, Jack has no business attacking the Liberals instead of the Tories.
So while Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party go on their merry way, discussing policy and urging listeners to vote for their party, Martin and Layton are spending a lot of time fighting each other and begging each other's supporters for votes. While the thought of the party that holds power panicking over the potential loss of that power is not unusual, here we have two party leaders acting out of what can only be described as sheer desperation.
and they both have good reasons to be desperate. There is no doubt that Paul Martin is headed out the door if he doesn't win a majority and put the Liberals back to the only place they believe they should be--presiding over a majority government. The difference between a Conservative majority, minority or a Liberal minority will only determine how quickly Paul gets the boot and how he will be remembered in the history books.
although Layton's leadership is not immediately in jeopardy, he has a lot riding on the look of the next parliament. He would obviously prefer a Liberal minority where he can continue to do what he's done in the last 18 months--selling himself to the Martin Liberals. a Tory majority would render Layton completely and utterly impotent. and there is only so far Layton could push a Conservative minority with whom he has fundamental policy differences with. Both the Conservatives and the NDP would risk angering their base if they cooperated to the extent that the NDP and the Liberals did in the last parliament.
In their squabbles, both Martin and Layton are underestimating the support that there is in the country for the Conservative Party. They think that with the exception of a few evangelical Christian crazies, everyone else who is indicating to pollsters that they plan to vote Conservative are just disappointed "progressives". They may be in for a surprise.
The way that Martin and Layton have been acting this week at least proves one thing--there is not a lot of difference between their two parties.
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