Dec 02/08: Canadian Political Turmoil
Category: The Editor's Desk
Lost in the current debate in Canada over the fate of the government, is the fate of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). Stripping the CWB of its monopoly over export grain marketing is a long standing goal of the current iteration of the Conservative party and formed part of its policy platform during the last election.
However, the inability of the Conservative Party to obtain more than minority support from Canadian voters prevented it from gaining the majority needed to change the way western Canadian is marketed.
The only way to fundamentally change grain marketing in western Canada would have been to capitulate to the will of the Canadian electorate and work in deep cooperation with at least one of the opposition parties. Such a coalition would have enabled the Conservatives to move forward on numerous fronts and avoid the current political turmoil.
Unfortunately, cooperation does not seem to be part of Harper's chemistry. In defiance of the wishes of the Canadian electorate he has instead tried to beat and bully the opposition parties and the majority of Canadian into submission. This neither leadership nor the type of politics Canadians voted for in the last election. They clearly voted for a coalition government, asking Harper to be its leader. Instead, he refuses to lead a coalition, gambling with the future of both his government and his "leadership".
However, the inability of the Conservative Party to obtain more than minority support from Canadian voters prevented it from gaining the majority needed to change the way western Canadian is marketed.
The only way to fundamentally change grain marketing in western Canada would have been to capitulate to the will of the Canadian electorate and work in deep cooperation with at least one of the opposition parties. Such a coalition would have enabled the Conservatives to move forward on numerous fronts and avoid the current political turmoil.
Unfortunately, cooperation does not seem to be part of Harper's chemistry. In defiance of the wishes of the Canadian electorate he has instead tried to beat and bully the opposition parties and the majority of Canadian into submission. This neither leadership nor the type of politics Canadians voted for in the last election. They clearly voted for a coalition government, asking Harper to be its leader. Instead, he refuses to lead a coalition, gambling with the future of both his government and his "leadership".
