tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149446.post5903251849863993264..comments2023-10-10T10:34:10.843-06:00Comments on The Nexus of Assholery: The Coalition That Wouldn't Go WestPatrick Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04592482865332628189noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149446.post-44291019775999537052009-02-16T21:55:00.000-07:002009-02-16T21:55:00.000-07:00Part of Pearson's strategy toward adopting the new...Part of Pearson's strategy toward adopting the new flag was actually denying that Canadians had fought under the Union Jack <I>or</I> the Red Ensign in WWI.<BR/><BR/>The Hansaard entries from those debates were positively incredulous.Patrick Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04592482865332628189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149446.post-41405931945232687752009-02-16T20:58:00.000-07:002009-02-16T20:58:00.000-07:00Naturally, Westerners have every right to be skept...Naturally, Westerners have every right to be skeptical, given our long memories of the Trudeau and Chretien years. As much as I posted about my own frustrations regarding our tumultuous relationship with the Liberals in a previous entry, you still can't blame most Westerners, particularly Albertans, if their reaction is something along the lines of "pardon us if we're a little cynical." <BR/><BR/>I'm as opposed to the Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition as you are, of course, although it's interesting to see Ignatieff allude to a legislative 'coalition' with another party, a tactic adopted by both Pierre Trudeau and Lester Pearson back when our parents were our age. Both their minority governments were very productive and produced some of the best legislation we could hope for. <BR/><BR/>David Lewis's support of the Trudeau government in exchange for policy concessions is well-known, of course, but I'm curious as to how Pearson managed to juggle everything from rising Quebec nationalism to the adoption of the new flag (fiercely opposed by many of Pearson's fellow war veterans) to the fierce and bellowing opposition of John Diefenbaker on the opposition benches. One book I've been reading alluded to how one opposition party or another supported Pearson's policies until he retired. <BR/><BR/>I think Pearson deserves far more credit than he actually gets, both from political observers and the public at large. Historian Will Ferguson wrote about his attempting to explain things rationally, his beliefs being an eclectic mix of different points of view, and his always willing to accept a good idea wherever it came from. <BR/><BR/>Sure, he bumbled, fumbled and stumbled through five years of minority government, but when the dust settled Pearson had left behind a record bested only by that of John A. Macdonald, and which didn't have any of the blotches that someone like Trudeau did.Jared Milnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07553795678274087372noreply@blogger.com