THE PERILS OF A ONE-PARTY STATE AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF PERPETUAL LIBERAL RULE

Peter G. White and Adam Daifallah

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, as Lord Acton famously observed. The sponsorship scandal, Shawinigate, and the billion-dollar boondoggle at Human Resources amply demonstrate the abuses of power that result from a weak and divided opposition, a culture of mediocrity in government, the bankruptcy of the policy process and ultimately the disengagement of citizens. The authors, early advocates of the Unite the Right Movement, survey the perils of perpetual Liberal rule and suggest that with the realignment on the Right and a revival of the NDP on the Left, the Liberals are finally under pressure at a time of explosive scandals that illuminate the consequences of one-party rule.

Le pouvoir corrompt et le pouvoir absolu corrompt absolument, disait lord Acton. Le scandale des commandites, le « Shawinigate » et les bidouillages d’un milliard de dollars aux Ressources humaines illustrent d’éclatante façon les abus de pouvoir occasionnés par une opposition faible et divisée, une culture gouvernementale de médiocrité, la faillite du processus politique et, en dernière analyse, le désengagement des citoyens. Les auteurs, qui comptent parmi les premiers partisans d’une union de la droite, évoquent les périls de l’interminable domination libérale et notent qu’à l’heure où les scandales mettent en lumière les conséquences d’un système de parti unique, le réalignement engagé à droite et le renouveau à gauche auront finalement mis les libéraux sous pression.

hy should Canadians be concerned about per- power, and Liberal ministers are not immune from this petual government by one party? There are at near-universal human failing. Louis St-Laurent’s minister of W least five interrelated reasons: the tendency of trade and commerce, C.D. Howe, once actually taunted the any unchallenged authority (1) to abuse its power; (2) to opposition about their powerlessness to prevent the Liberal develop a culture of mediocrity leading to decline; (3) to government from doing whatever it wanted. “Who’s to stop sink into a paralysis or bankruptcy of policy; (4) to rule by us?” he asked — not rhetorically — in 1951. And in the clique; and as a consequence of all of the above, (5) to lead pipeline debate of 1956, he famously asked, “What’s a mil- citizens to conclude that there is little point in their lion?” Enough to bring down a government, replied John engagement in the political process. Diefenbaker in the 1957 campaign that finally ended 22 The best-known encapsulation of this syndrome is consecutive years of Liberal rule. British statesman Lord Acton’s 1887 aphorism: power tends The chief danger, and frequently the reality, of such to corrupt. He added that absolute power corrupts absolute- omnipotence is abuse of office. Wherever politicians and ly. is not quite at this terminal stage, although the their bureaucrats have a monopoly or have exclusive rights, sponsorship scandals and related rot in Ottawa would sug- wherever they have arbitrary authority coupled with the gest we are getting there at a speed that may prove danger- conviction that no one can stop them, there is bound to be ous to the political health of . abuse of this unrestricted power, in matters high and low. British Prime Minister William Pitt the elder made the The courts, which are the theoretical bulwark against such same observation a century earlier: unlimited power is apt abuses, are of little help to any but the most rich and pow- to corrupt the minds of those who possess it. This corrup- erful among us, in any situation where the government is tion of the mind has been well described as the arrogance of willing to further abuse our taxes by spending unlimited

28 OPTIONS POLITIQUES MARS 2004 The perils of a one-party state and the consequences of perpetual Liberal rule money and time to defend its initial one with political pull, only a fool he $700 million that Canadian abuse relentlessly, an advantage that would actually steal. T taxpayers contributed to the no private citizen can overcome. Even An example of the Liberals’ abuse Atlantic Investment Partnership such apparently powerful figures as of office and public funds for partisan worked out to $603 for every voter in and Conrad Black per- advantage was the $700 million the region. But it was only the tip of sonally felt the vengeful sting of the Atlantic Investment Partnership the iceberg of Liberal largesse to the Chrétien government as it dealt with announced less than four months Atlantic region. Net transfers to the its perceived enemies. before writs were issued for the 2000 Atlantic provinces from the rest of But it is the myriad of less visible election. According to the Web site of Canada (via Ottawa) equal about 30 abuses of government authority that the Atlantic Canada Opportunities percent of their GDP; yet unemploy- happen every day in Canada, and Agency (ACOA) at the time, this new ment levels there are still the highest against which the victims have no program was unveiled at a news con- in the country. effective recourse whatsoever, that ference in Halifax on June 29, 2000, by A related example of abuse of must concern every Canadian who Prime Minister Chrétien, along with office and public funds for partisan believes in freedom, due process and the four regional ministers for Atlantic gain was the entire jobs grants program the rule of law. at Human Resources The Canadian prime minister is the Development Canada, where hen the authority of an most powerful elected figure in any up to $1 billion in grants was W office is abused so as to democracy, as he enjoys complete mismanaged. The auditor gen- benefit the office-holder eral reported that the perform- directly or indirectly, the abuse authority over both the executive ance of HRDC was “disturbing,” becomes outright corruption. and the legislative branches of the involving “breaches of authori- Political scientist Donald government, and personally ty, improper payments, limited Savoie, in his book Governing appoints and dismisses both cabinet monitoring and approvals that from the Centre: The had not followed established Concentration of Power in ministers and senior public servants procedures.” This is bureau- Canadian , has demon- — even judges. Jean Chrétien clearly cratese for saying that many strated that the Canadian abused his office in personally grant recipients were selected prime minister is the most pressuring François Beaudoin, then on the basis of politically moti- powerful elected figure in any vated recommendations from democracy, as he enjoys com- head of the Business Development Liberal MPs and party officials. plete authority over both the Bank of Canada, to approve a loan Public office may also be executive and the legislative to businesses with which Chrétien abused for the purpose of perse- branches of the government, had been associated, in cuting one’s political enemies. and personally appoints and The most notorious example of dismisses both cabinet minis- contravention of the bank’s the use of this tactic by the ters and senior public servants guidelines and recommendations. Chrétien government was the — even judges. Jean Chrétien politically motivated RCMP clearly abused his office in personally Canada. (Why did Atlantic Canada investigation into unsubstantiated pressuring François Beaudoin, then need four political ministers?) The Web rumours of kickbacks to former prime head of the Business Development site said this program was a “five-year, minister Brian Mulroney in relation to Bank of Canada, to approve a loan to $700-million initiative designed to the purchase by Air Canada of 34 businesses with which Chrétien had build new partnerships that would Airbus A320 jets from Airbus Industrie. been associated, in contravention of increase the capacity of Atlantic It took a major libel action and a pro- the bank’s guidelines and recommen- Canadians to compete in an increas- fessional public relations campaign by dations. He and other ministers rou- ingly global, knowledge-based econo- Mulroney, at a personal cost of over $2 tinely diverted huge sums of my. Through the Atlantic Investment million, to clear his name in a 1997 set- taxpayers’ money for their own parti- Partnership, the Government of tlement. Although the Liberal govern- san political advantage, even though Canada would make major invest- ment was forced to allow the RCMP to they may not personally have gained ments in the areas of innovation, com- pay Mulroney’s expenses, it continued a direct financial benefit. They pre- munity economic development, trade the RCMP investigation for another ferred to follow the advice of the and investment, and entrepreneurship five years. And the entire investigation Tammany Hall political boss in New and business skills development.” That now appears to have been based on York, who once said that with all the should pretty well have covered the nothing more than unsubstantiated grand opportunities around for some- Atlantic waterfront. allegations by Mulroney’s sworn

POLICY OPTIONS 29 MARCH 2004 Peter G. White and Adam Daifallah

CP Photo

Victorious and vindicated: Former Business Develoopment Bank president François Beaudoin and his lawyer Doug Mitchell are all smiles following the scathing court ruling that scorched Jean Chrétien’s appointees to the bank for firing him for refusing to extend the Auberge Grand-Mère bank loan requested by Jean Chrétien on behalf of a constituent in a property in which he once had an interest.

enemy, muckraking journalist Stevie borne helicopters, then 37 years old. The most recent, and without Cameron, who has acknowledged that The second was the similar cancella- doubt the most serious, example of she was unwittingly the RCMP’s “con- tion of a contract with a private-sector corrupt abuse of office by the Chrétien fidential informant” in the case. company, Don Matthews’ Paxport Liberals is of course the current spon- Inc., which later joined its rival, sorship scandal, in which tax money inally, it is also abuse of office, and Charles Bronfman’s Terminal 3 group, was thrown around with complete F a major waste of taxpayers’ money, to form the Pearson Development abandon by key Liberal ministers and to proceed with reckless political Corporation to manage passenger ter- insiders under the guise of raising undertakings made in opposition, no minals at Pearson International Ottawa’s profile in . Sheila matter how misguided they may turn Airport in . The first breach of Fraser, Canada’s outstanding auditor out to be in government. Two egre- contract has cost Canadian taxpayers general — who thankfully, unlike gious examples of such politically at least $600 million, and the second, Chrétien’s tame ethics commissioner motivated and expensive decisions by far more. In both cases, 10 years have Howard Wilson, reports to Parliament, the Chrétien Liberals illustrate this been lost with no sign of replacement not to the government — could not point. The first was the cancellation in helicopters, and no completion of the contain her “outrage” at the complete 1993 of the previous government’s redeveloped Pearson Airport, all in the disregard for policies, guidelines and contract to buy new EH-101 helicop- name of keeping Chrétien’s foolish good practice in the funnelling of ters to replace some 30 Sea King ship- campaign promises in 1993. hundreds of millions of dollars

30 OPTIONS POLITIQUES MARS 2004 The perils of a one-party state and the consequences of perpetual Liberal rule through advertising agencies to Three devastating examples of provinces) rank below Mississippi, Liberal-connected recipients. Senior Canada’s decline under the current the state with the lowest standard of public servants “broke every rule in Liberal government are the drop in our living. The wealthiest states, such as the book,” Ms. Fraser fumed, and relative purchasing power, standard of Delaware or Connecticut, have liv- Prime Minister Paul Martin, who was living and overall competitiveness vis- ing standards 50 percent above the finance minister at the time, has à-vis the United States; the deteriora- Canadian average. acknowledged that this could not have tion of our health care system; and the Courchene concludes that we happened without political direction. downgrading of our armed forces. “run the serious risk of becoming an She now believes that some $100 million of taxpayers’ The most recent, and without doubt the most serious, money, which has in effect example of corrupt abuse of office by the Chrétien Liberals is been stolen, will never be of course the current sponsorship scandal, in which tax recovered. money was thrown around with complete abandon by key second danger of unbro- Liberal ministers and insiders under the guise of raising A ken one-party govern- Ottawa’s profile in Quebec. ment is mediocrity, leading to decline in comparison to countries According to economist Tom ‘incubator’ economy for the US and where true political competition pro- Courchene in his book, A State of other foreign multinationals and, in duces better government. In the Minds: Toward a Human Capital the process, we will erode our ability to absence of any serious competition, Future for Canadians, the real pur- grow big business within Canada.” the Liberals have had no incentive to chasing power of adult Canadians, The state of Canada’s shattered and excellence or to innovation. There has relative to adult Americans, reached bureaucratically strangled health care been no sense of urgency, and little a peak of near 84 percent in the late system is too well known to require imagination. Drift and decline set in, 1970s. By 1998, purchasing power description. But it is nonetheless sobering as the perquisites of power exercised had tumbled to a low of almost 70 to compare our situation with other their seduction, as ministers and MPs percent. Courchene cites a 2000 countries. While the OECD ranked devoted their attentions and energies Industry Canada study which says Canada fifth among its 29 member coun- to the ceaseless jockeying to replace that one third of US states have a tries in national health expenditure, we their leader or to ensure their positions standard of living more than 25 per- fell into the bottom third of countries for under his successor, and as boredom, cent higher than the Canadian aver- availability of medical technology such inattention and laziness take their toll age, while five Canadian provinces as MRI and CT scanners. This is an indi- on a team too long in place. ( and the Atlantic cation of the inefficient distribution of resources that is inevitable in a mono- FIGURE 1: LIBERAL AND (PROGRESSIVE) CONSERVATIVE POPULAR VOTE, CANADIAN lithic command and control structure, FEDERAL ELECTIONS, 1891–2000 where only the most restricted role is per- mitted for the private sector, where nor- 60 mal healthy competition is prevented 55 from improving efficiency, and where 50 powerful and monopolistic public sector 45 unions, not accountable to doctors or 40 patients, exert far too much influence. 35 The Harvard School of Public Health 30 found that 67 percent of Canadian spe- 25 cialists think the quality of care has Percent 20 declined by the highest percentage in the 15 Conservative five countries it surveyed. 10 Liberal 5 ur military is also in spiralling decline. The condition of 0 O Canada’s military is bordering on des- perate, and is now a national disgrace.

1891 1900 1908 1917 1925 1930 1940 1949 1957 1962 1965 1972 1979 1984 1993 2000 This is especially galling to many Election Canadians, considering our great mili- Source: Elections Canada. tary history and traditions.

POLICY OPTIONS 31 MARCH 2004 Peter G. White and Adam Daifallah

While our troops are being asked Manpower in the regular forces third danger is paralysis of policy. to serve in increasingly numerous and has fallen by about 25 percent A In the absence of new people with dangerous conflict zones overseas over the past seven years and new ideas, policy generation becomes such as Afghanistan and Bosnia, they numbers continue to drop. unimaginative and stagnant. Liberal pol- are stretched so thin that for troubled The army has been described as icy is guided by polling data, and by elec- Haiti, a country very much within our in a “state of near collapse” with toral considerations, as the Liberals have hemispheric sphere of influence soldiers in some units serving never been shy to pilfer the best propos- (Montreal contains one of the largest continuous rotations overseas als of other parties. In today’s highly expatriate Haitian communities in the with virtually no rest at home. competitive global community, where world), that we are hard-pressed to The militia is in an especially bad there can be no refuge from worldwide play an important role in the new condition and requires additional trends and pressures, such complacent, peacekeeping mission there. In funding simply to pay people, to self-absorbed and negligent leadership Afghanistan, our troops are sent out acquire equipment, and to train has become disastrous for Canada. on dangerous missions in light 20- properly. A corollary to the lack of new policy year-old vehicles that put them even Personnel continue to leave the initiatives is the tendency to perpetuate more in harm’s way. forces in large numbers due to old, discredited and simply bad policies. Deep and systemic problems in policies that compromise opera- We have mentioned massive wealth the capabilities of the Canadian Forces tional effectiveness, and a percep- transfers to Atlantic Canada, and aspects are not being addressed. The tion that government does not of the Employment Insurance program Conference of Defence Associations, take their role seriously. which encourage dependency and dis- the auditor general and other inde- In 2000-01, only $55 million in courage initiative. We might also include pendent analysts have catalogued new funding was provided for policies concerning aboriginal peoples, some of the most serious problems: capital equipment. According to which have failed abysmally to address Capital equipment requirements the Conference of Defence most of the real problems and challenges face a shortfall of up to $30 bil- Associations, the additional facing our First Nations, and have lion by 2012. money was less than 50 percent instead frequently exacerbated them. For years, there was a deficit of some of what would be needed to A fourth danger of permanent $1.5 billion in resources available for address the broader basis of the Liberal rule is government by clique, training and related functions. crisis in the Canadian Forces. and exclusion of all who are not mem- bers of the clique. The long Liberal hegemony in Ottawa has created a FIGURE 2: POPULAR VOTE FOR FIVE PARLIAMENTARY PARTIES IN FEDERAL small, self-perpetuating oligarchy or ELECTIONS, 1984-2000 aristocracy of governors, from which the vast majority of Canadians are per- 60 manently excluded, and to which only bona fide members of the Liberal Party 50 may expect to accede. Since power in the Liberal Party is concentrated in 40 and Quebec (the source of all its leaders), or even more narrowly in 30 Toronto and Montreal, few outsiders need apply. The Liberal near-monop- 20 oly of power in Ottawa has also had the effect of moulding most of the 10 public service in the party’s image,

Percent of national popular vote Percent since the hiring and promotion of 0 most of our public servants takes place under Liberal regimes. Another effect has been the defection to other arenas, 1984 1988 1993 1997 2000 Election such as provincial politics or the pri- vate sector, of many outstanding and PC Bloc québécois NDP public-spirited Canadians who are denied the opportunity to participate Liberal Reform/CA in the governance of their country Source: Elections Canada. simply because they are not Liberals,

32 OPTIONS POLITIQUES MARS 2004 The perils of a one-party state and the consequences of perpetual Liberal rule or could not bring themselves to mentary process, and “Cabinet has joined one in this country about something become so. This has meant a vast loss Parliament as an institution being that mattered, the turnout of 75 per- of potential talent that in most nations bypassed. Real political debate and deci- cent was historically average, but now would be welcomed and highly moti- sion making are increasingly elsewhere...” looks simply historic beside the subse- vated to serve in the government of There is little early evidence that things quent voter rates of 70 percent in 1993, their country. One of the reasons for will be much different in the Martin 67 percent in 1997, and barely over 60 A third danger is paralysis of policy. In the absence of new percent in 2000. Continuing uninterrupted people with new ideas, policy generation becomes and unchallenged Liberal rule unimaginative and stagnant. Liberal policy is guided by is a recipe for the continuing polling data, and by electoral considerations, as the Liberals gradual drift, decline and decay have never been shy to pilfer the best proposals of other of our country. Only the pres- ence of a strong and united parties. In today’s highly competitive global community, opposition in the House and in where there can be no refuge from worldwide trends and every region — an opposition pressures, such complacent, self-absorbed and negligent that is truly respected and leadership has become disastrous for Canada. feared by the Liberals instead of routinely disdained and the comparative vigour of the US gov- administration, notwithstanding the new ignored — can force our government ernment is the constitutional limit of PM’s mantra about redressing “the demo- to be truly accountable to Canadians, two four-year terms for each president. cratic deficit” and empowering MPs and and to either deliver or be replaced. This rule brings a wholesale change in Parliament as the real centres of power With the long-overdue merger last the administration at least every eight and policy discussion in Ottawa. December of the years, attracting dynamic and motivat- Indeed, former long-time Liberal MP and the Progressive Conservatives to ed men and women who know they John Bryden (now a Conservative) has form the new Conservative Party of have a limited time to make their said that central control is even stricter Canada, and with the resurgence of mark, fight for their causes, and under Martin than under Chrétien. the NDP (especially in Ontario) under advance their dreams. A fifth danger, which became more new leader Jack Layton, there is finally evident in the last election, is the with- some hope that the Liberal grip on our onald Savoie, in Governing from the drawal from the political process of national government may be weak- D Centre, gives a timely analysis of the more and more Canadians, and espe- ened or even broken. unprecedented concentration of power in the hands of the The Liberal near-monopoly of power in Ottawa has also had current prime minister. He says the effect of moulding most of the public service in the that government candidates in party’s image, since the hiring and promotion of most of our elections “have little choice but to adopt the policies of the public servants takes place under Liberal regimes. Another prime minister as prepared by a effect has been the defection to other arenas, such as handful of his most trusted provincial politics or the private sector, of many outstanding advisers rather than the poli- and public-spirited Canadians who are denied the cies of the party, to which all members were able to con- opportunity to participate in the governance of their country tribute.” He points out that simply because they are not Liberals. Jean Chrétien abolished a large number of cabinet committees, including cially young people. In an electoral sys- Peter G. White and Adam Daifallah are Priorities and Planning, and cabinet meet- tem that offered no real hope of a co-authors of Gritlock: Are the Liberals in ings became a time where briefings were change in government, many Forever? from which this article is adapted presented, information was shared, and Canadians saw no point in voting at and updated. Businessman Peter White, a where the prime minister and certain all. The turnout in Ontario in the 2000 former chair of the IRPP’s board, is a long- ministers provided a general tour d’hori- federal election, when none of the four time Conservative activist and early advo- zon. As one Chrétien cabinet minister parties was particularly attractive to the cate of the Unite the Right movement. called it, the cabinet became a “kind of voters, was a miserable 60 percent of Adam Daifallah, a graduate of Queen’s focus group for the prime minister.” The registered voters — an all-time record University, is also a Conservative activist Prime Minister’s Office exerted exorbitant low. It is interesting and indicative that and has been president of the Ontario PC amounts of control over the entire parlia- in the 1988 free trade election, the last Campus Association.

POLICY OPTIONS 33 MARCH 2004