Brian Mulroney says Harper's off to great start. How would he know?
In one of Canadian politics more ironic occurances, Brian Mulroney said during an interview today, "Judging from Prime Minister Harper's first -- I guess I could call it 'term' in office, in the sense that there appears to be a break coming -- I think he's done exceptionally well."
This is one of those times that makes those who remain aware of Canada's political history giggle just a little bit.
While capturing one of the largest majorities in Canadian history in the course of two back-to-back majority governments, Mulroney's nine-year span governing this country turned out to be such an absolute train wreck that Canadians responded to it in 1993 by electing only four Progressive Conservative candidates.
Exhausted and just plain angry after two failed and ill-concieved attempts at Constitutional reform, Canadians instead opted for 13 years of Liberal party government.
Mulroney expanded Canada's national debt at a truly mind-bloggling rate (although, to his record, he did manage to reduce its overall share of the Gross Domestic Product). In the meantime, he got more or less nothing done, aside from the North American Free Trade Agreement.
This was perhaps the greatest irony of Mulroney judging the CBC's "Next Great Prime Minister" competition: he was far from being a great Prime Minister, although he admittedly eclipsed all of his co-judges (Joe Clark, John Turner, Paul Martin and Kim Campbell).
As such, if Mulroney's approval of Stephen Harper's performance as Prime Minister is meant to suggest that Harper is governing the way Mulroney would, then Harper ought to batten down the hatches.
Then again, Harper has clearly outperformed his predecessor, Martin.
Then again, it isn't as if that's a challenge.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
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I hope PM Harper gets the majority he deserve.
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely sure about that myself, to be entirely honest with you.
ReplyDeleteI don't subscribe to the Pearson doctrine that a government needs a majority to govern.
One thing I like about minority governments is that they make it necessary for the government to address the needs of a broader group of people.
That being said, what I don't like about minority governments is the instability.
I can't say for certain whether or not the country is ready for a Harper majority. That being said, I can't deny there's a part of me that would like to see it.
I have to agree with Patrick. I like minority governments for the reasons given by Patrick. The downside is, of course, that there is that constant uncertainty as to whether the government will still be there in the morning.
ReplyDeleteWhich can be a bummer sometimes. Say, the government makes an announcement (e.g., substantial personal income tax cuts), and we all rejoice and celebrate the fact, but a week later, the government falls and so do the much-needed tax cuts.
I hope PM Harper gets the majority he deserve.
ReplyDeleteHow does anyone "deserve" a majority government?