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Jewish World Review May 10, 2011 / 6 Iyar, 5771 A helluva show that may have profound implications By Jack Kelly
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Once and probably future Harvard Prof. Michael Ignatieff deserves a footnote in the history books for making what almost certainly was the most bone-headed move in the history of electoral politics.
You probably haven't heard of Mr. Ignatieff and his blunder because he's a Canadian politician. Americans are about as interested in developments in our neighbor to the North as we are in synchronized swimming. News coverage of Canada reflects that.
The excitement last week over Osama bin Laden reduced news coverage of Canada's national election May 2 "from 0 percent of network airtime to 0.0000 percent of network airtime," said Canadian expatriate Mark Steyn.
That's too bad, because we missed a helluva show that may have profound implications.
Canada has a "first past the post" parliamentary system and, until a week ago Monday, four major political parties: the Liberals, the Conservatives, the New Democrats, and the Bloc Quebecois. The Liberals governed Canada for 70 years in the 20th Century, a record unmatched by any other party in any other democracy in the world.
Thanks to Mr. Ignatieff, the glory days are gone.
In a parliamentary system you rarely have gridlock between the executive and legislative branches. Since Parliament elects the prime minister, he or she usually doesn't have difficulty passing his or her legislative agenda.
But when there are more than two parties, a minority government is possible. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has led a Conservative minority government since 2006. The policy preferences (left and further left) of the other parties are similar. But they couldn't agree on who among them should lead a minority government, so the Tories, who had the most seats, got the job.
Mr. Ignatieff called for a "no confidence" vote March 25, which forced a new election. He badly misread the mood of the electorate.
Tories won an absolute majority of 167 seats in the 308- member Parliament May 2. The Liberals lost 69 seats -- including Mr. Ignatieff's -- to fall to just 34.
The Liberals weren't the biggest losers, though. The separatist Bloc Quebecois fell from 49 seats to 4.
The socialist New Democratic Party increased its strength from 37 seats to 102, vaulting from the 4th largest party to 2nd. (The NDP's popularity soared after the Toronto Sun reported April 29 cops had found party leader Jack Layton naked in a bawdy house they raided in Chinatown in 1996.)
Of the 65 seats the New Democratic Party gained nationwide, 57 came in Quebec. The NDP's candidate recruitment in the province suggests they didn't expect to do so well. One new NDP MP, Ruth Ellen Brousseau, can barely speak French. She rarely set foot in her riding (election district). She spent the last week of the campaign in Las Vegas.
The BQ leans as far to the left as the NDP. But separatism is so yesterday, and the BQ's leaders are long in the tooth. So mostly younger Quebeckers traded in the party that advocates socialism and separatism for one that just advocates socialism.
Quebeckers are still out of step with the rest of Canada. But by raising the status of the NDP, Quebeckers have brought smiles to the faces of the Tories.
Mr. Harper has been gently nudging Canada to the right. But he's had to proceed cautiously, because minority governments are so fragile. Now that Conservatives have a comfortable majority in Parliament, they can be more bold.
There doesn't have to be another election for five years. But if the prime minister thinks conditions are favorable, he can call one sooner.
The elevation of the NDP to the status of Loyal Opposition makes it likely the Tories will hold power for quite some while. Outside of Quebec, the NDP got only about 600,000 votes more than the Liberals. The two parties fish in the same well, and their relative parity in the rest of Canada means neither is likely to get pluralities in as many ridings as the Conservatives do.
Canada's economy is in much better shape than ours, which is chiefly why Mr. Harper won his majority. Barack Obama may help him hold onto it. Canada has moved right, and prospered. We've moved left, and floundered. Canadians are drawing the appropriate lessons from the side by side comparison. We should, too.
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JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration.
© 2009, Jack Kelly |
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