2. Simple logic tells us that it is not necessary to degrade our democracy in order to improve our economy. Any government that appears to assume otherwise is behaving badly. And if this government is rewarded with back-to-back majorities, all politicians will learn the lesson, and the damage to our institutions will have become permanent.
3. Any advantage Canada has enjoyed economically in the past decade, other than commodity prices that are completely beyond anyone's control, has derived from the fact that the Conservatives inherited a more stable financial industry and a more independent monetary policy than other G7 countries--a fact that the Conservatives themselves deserve no credit for, and to which in fact the Conservatives presented the greatest existential threat of all the Canadian political parties.
4. In any event, simple math shows little or no actual growth or efficiency dividend clearly flowing from the government's "economy first" downgrading of social and environmental priorities. In fact, the Conservative government's record is becoming a textbook example of how such a simple minded "great leap forward" in building pipeline capacity and reducing environmental and safety regulation is jeopardizing projects rather than facilitating them.
5. Therefore, the Conservatives' game is not worth the candle.
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{By way of further explication, here is my latest column for November issues of Anahim-Nimpo Lake Messenger, the 100 Mile Free Press, and a number of other interior B.C. newspapers.}
............
What can you say about a government that jeopardizes the
Keystone XL pipeline because of its poor environmental record? And delays the Northern Gateway because it
antagonizes First Nations people and environmentalists? And talks about
unbundling our cable channels, even as it bundles together controversial
and uncontroversial bills in order to
evade accountability? That deregulates
railway safety at the same time that it quadruples the amount of oil and gas
being transported? That appoints the most aggressively partisan people it can
to the Senate and then acts shocked when they behave as expected? That continually throws people under the bus
without any notion of due process or respect for Parliament?
The Canada-EU Trade Agreement is starting to look better
than it had once appeared, providing greater access to a huge market. But does
it really outweigh all the contradictory and self –defeating political
manoeuvres of this government? A last ditch effort to engage First Nations
people on the issue of oil pipelines,
described by one representative of First Nations as "too little too late," comes
after after 20 months of aggressive
campaigning to vilify opponents of the Northern Gateway Project as
"radicals" and "hijackers" funded by "foreign interests;" changes to the National Energy Board Act to
limit public participation in hearings; and
repeatedly antagonizing First Nations with unilateral changes to the
Indian Act and environmental regulations as part of an Omnibus Budget bill,
sparking the Idle No More movement.
Similarly, Natural
Resources Minister Joe Oliver's recent
overtures to the U.S. indicating that
the Government of Canada is "ready
to partner on tackling climate change" , including an un-typically
rapid acceptance by the government of
the latest scientific meta-study from the University of Hawaii, comes after six years of downplaying climate
science, five Fossil of the Year Awards, pulling out of both the Kyoto and UN desertification
treaties, and generally damaging Canada's international reputation in regards
to the environment.
If the government were really serious about a
"Consumers First" strategy, it would be opening the domestic market
in airlines, agriculture and banking; It would reverse the recent decision to
increase tariffs on 72 less developed
countries, which will raise the cost of clothes and sports equipment. It would
open the telecom market to everyone, not just a multinational corporation like
Verizon that made $40 billion in profits last year in the U.S. while paying no
taxes.
Of course, the government will do none of these things. Unbundling cable
channels and tackling high cell roaming fees are popular moves and are safe
politics. Aside from a few regulatory changes related to telecom, cable and
credit cards, (mostly nicked from the NDP) this is just a shift in the
propaganda winds. We should be keenly aware how much these initiatives
represent public relations band-aids for self-inflicted wounds.
Mark Crawford is a former public servant and now
teaches political science at Athabasca University. He can be reached at markcrawf@gmail.com.
