The First Six Months of the Harper Administration
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CANADIAN ISSUES The First Six Months of the Harper Administration Teresa Gutiérrez-Haces* s r e t u e R / e i t t a W s i r h C INTRODUCTION time he has been in office. 1 Each call for elec - tions reflects a specific set of political cir cum - Traditionally the tone and rhythm of Canadian stances, and the prime minister and his party are fe d eral elections are very different from electora l fr equently re-elected. Prime ministers like Pierre processes in Mexico and the U.S. Unlike either Trudeau, Brian Mul ro ney and Jean Chrétien of these, the sitting prime mi nister of Canada governed the country for long periods because can call for elections at any time, bringing his each was re-elected several times; the last two, mandate to an end, regardless of the length of in fact, won consecutive mandates with major ity governments. In both cases the prime mi nister * Researcher at the UNAM Institute for Economic needs to have the political skill necessary to dis - Research. cern the extent to which his administration 33 VOICES OF MEXICO • 76 can seek a further extension of its initial mandate, without over-reaching in such a way that their party and the country Unlike some of his more fortunate predecessors are plunged into a crisis of incalcula - the new prime minister ble proportions. was not able to form a government backed by a majority In either of these cases the legal and consisting solely of his own party. political paradigm that is invoked to jus - tify the decision to call for new elect - ions is that of a “loss of confidence” in the current administration, since with - out that framework of legitimacy the complicated by an economic crisis that tory to press forward with its free trade cohabitation of parties and of the prim e afflicted the country during this period , initiatives, including the negotiations minister in parliament becomes difficult blamed by many on the CUFTA . Under which culminated in NAFTA . This case and prevents the government from suc - these circumstances Mulroney opted to demonstrates that a a second and even cessfully carrying out its program. call for new elections, once he reali zed a third skillfully planned call for elections Given the political idiosyncracy of that his popularity ratings had drop ped can revive a failing mandate and enable Ca nadians, who typically place a high considerably and that he needed to it to implement significant changes in priority on moderation and balance and re inforce his initial mandate if he want - policy that it would otherwise be im pos - on consensus-building in preference to ed to carry out the economic and c on - sible to pursue. more polarizing solutions, clearly a call sti tutional reforms he had come t o The elections held in early 2006 for new elections is always the most con sider necessary. 2 Mulroney took ad - were a very different matter since they appropriate, and perhaps most ele gant vantage of this campaign to divide his ev idently included an ineffective prime and peaceful way to bring a poor ad - opponents who had initially converged minister and a governing party that was ministration to a close or simply to r e - in an anti- NAFTA bloc. This coalition widely questioned on both moral and direct the nation toward specific shifts had temporarily brought together key political grounds, and which sought to in policy that could not be undertaken members of the Liberal ( LP ) and New seize the opportunity to reform and in successfully without a specific electora l Democratic ( NDP ) Parties as well as the the final instance redefine itself, in the mandate. main union and NGO leaders. None - crucible of heated opposition. In this One example of this is that of con - theless this opposition coalition even - sense, the way former Liberal Prime servative Prime Minister Brian Mul - tually became divided as the country Mi nister Paul Martin was forced to roney (1984-1993), who won 211 seat s became engulfed in the historic con - resign and call for new elections exem - in his first election, an overwhelming stitutional debate which re sulted from plifies a unique case where the conven - majority in parliament. Although Mul - the Meech Lake Accords. in g of elections was intended to elim - roney had noted during his campaign, It is because of this landscape in inate further risk of the country facing in reference to U.S.-Ca na d ian relations , which national concerns were divided a deeper political crisis. that it was difficult to “sleep with an between free trade and the appropriate elephant,” in fact he trusted in his ma - distribution of power between the fed - jority support in parliament and initiate d eral government and the provinces, and THE MOTION THAT MADE HISTORY negotiations which laid the groundwork Quebec specifically, that Mulroney sur - for a free trade pact with the U.S. prisingly obtained a second mandate On very rare occasions a no confidence But the CUFTA brought enormous despite the sharp decline in his popu - motion 3 has obtained the votes neces - po litical problems for Mulroney, since larity, and won 170 seats in parlia ment. sary in the Canadian system to compel Canadians generally felt that such a It made him the only prime minister to the dissolution of a government and a pact had not been specifically includ - win two consecutive elections with a call for new elections. Nonetheless by ed in their initial mandate for his gov - significant majority since 1957. This the end of 2005 the loss of confidence ernment. This discontent was further conservative government used its vic - by members of parliament in Paul Mar - 34 CANADIAN ISSUES tin unleashed a political crisis of such ic picture in Canada and that the Martin nationalist sentiments, including their magnitude that a censure motion of this government had remained independent traditional mistrust of the U.S. govern - kind drew 171 votes. 4 Canadian voters regarding the Iraq war —supported by ment, and the fear that Harper would as a whole responded in kind by with - Canadian public opinion— these fac - prom ote a deeper process of inte gratio n drawing their initial support for Martin tors were not enough to mitigate the with the U.S. Their TV campaign ads and inflicting a punishing defeat on the discontent that had been provoked by reflected this “anti-Americanism,” and Liberals. Stephen Harper’s victory as the scandals and abuses of this party their slogans constantly reiterated that leader for the New Conservative Party over the last 12 years. Harper was very popular among the ex - (NCP ) reflected the overwhelming tide Fiscal irresponsibility, proven cases tre me right in the U.S. and was Bush’s among Canadians and their represen - of corruption, and lack of transparency “best friend.” In a desperate effort to tatives in parliament against a prime in the exercise of power by the Liberals revive his popularity, Martin emphat - minister and a party that in the past had carried greater weight with the voters ically protested statements by the U.S. enjoyed enormous popularity; the Li b - than the independent stance Martin ambassador who requested that all can - eral Party had governed Canada with - had pioneered for Canada regarding the didates abstain from criticizing the out interruption since 1993. U.S. government’s anti-terrorist poli - U.S., to which Martin responded that cy. Not even the Martin government’s no one would dictate to him which official discourse about a “new multi - th emes he should or should not address. THE CONSEQUENCES lateralism” was enough, nor did its coop - Harper, meanwhile, promoted his eration with the U.S.’ anti-missile shield pro posed government program, which The way in which all of this played itself succeed in reversing the negative swin g included elements that helped swing out is illustrative. Although the voters in public opinion about his remaining in the campaign in his favor. Among the opted for the new Con servative Party, office. most interesting proposals was his it is equally true that only 64.9 percent pled ge to shape a role for the country’s of them went to the polls to deliver a THE CAMPAIGN pro vinces in international forums; to in - strategical ly conditioned mandate for FROM A DISTANCE crease the defense budget until 2015 Stephen Harper. 5 As a result the new and increase troop strength to 75,000; prime mi nister was not able to form a During the last few months of the cam - to support the U.S. anti-missile shield government backed by a majority con sist - pa ign the Liberals, aware of their scant ini tiative; not to veto the recently ap - ing solely of his own party, unlike some possibilities of victory, focused their proved law legalizing gay marriages; to of his more fortunate predecessors. 6 att acks on the New Conser va ti ves, allud - create a national information agency; Much has been written about the i ng to the ideological links Harper had to arm customs guards; to increase the ca uses which contributed to the Li bera l forged with hard-core right wing sectors number of police on street patrol; to de bacle. Nonetheless the most impor - in the U.S. grant revenue-collecting authority to tri - tant lesson to be learned from this case The Liberals sought to win based bal governments in order to reduce thei r is that despite a very favorable eco nom - on a campaign grounded in Canadian dependency on federal funding; and to free all parliamentary votes from party discipline except those regarding bud - getary matters.