What Has He Really Done Wrong?
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Chrétien legacy Canada was in such a state that it WHAT HAS HE REALLY elected Brian Mulroney. By this stan- dard, William Lyon Mackenzie King DONE WRONG? easily turned out to be our best prime minister. In 1921, he inherited a Desmond Morton deeply divided country, a treasury near ruin because of over-expansion of rail- ways, and an economy gripped by a brutal depression. By 1948, Canada had emerged unscathed, enriched and almost undivided from the war into spent last summer’s dismal August Canadian Pension Commission. In a the durable prosperity that bred our revising a book called A Short few days of nimble invention, Bennett Baby Boom generation. Who cared if I History of Canada and staring rescued veterans’ benefits from 15 King had halitosis and a professorial across Lake Memphrémagog at the years of political logrolling and talent for boring audiences? astonishing architecture of the Abbaye launched a half century of relatively St-Benoît. Brief as it is, the Short History just and generous dealing. Did anyone ll of which is a lengthy prelude to tries to cover the whole 12,000 years of notice? Do similar achievements lie to A passing premature and imperfect Canadian history but, since most buy- the credit of Jean Chrétien or, for that judgement on Jean Chrétien. Using ers prefer their own life’s history to a matter, Brian Mulroney or Pierre Elliott the same criteria that put King first more extensive past, Jean Chrétien’s Trudeau? Dependent on the media, and Trudeau deep in the pack, where last seven years will get about as much the Opposition and government prop- does Chrétien stand? In 1993, most space as the First Nations’ first dozen aganda, what do I know? Do I refuse to Canadians were still caught in the millennia. My publishers and I are worst “recession” since the Great market-sensitive. In Opposition, Chrétien Depression. As in the mid-1930s, some Reserving space does not guaran- barely felt the pain; others who faced it tee that it is well filled. Most historians said and did things which first—notably in the financial commu- admit the wisdom of Chou En Lai’s aggravated his problems in nity—had long since emerged. Still, comment that it is still a little early to power. Denouncing the one in nine Canadians were unem- assess the French Revolution. How Meech Lake Accord in ployed and more, in transition from about appraising a prime minister the “old” to the “new” economy, had whose term is still in progress? Only deference to Trudeau replaced a well-paid, often unionized, partisans find it easy. helped consolidate the job with a part-time minimum-wage Personally, I have never voted for Bloc Québécois and perch in the service sector. Real Mr. Chrétien and only once for his robbed Chrétien of much incomes had stagnated since 1979 party—in 1957, when, almost single- and, since 1989, fallen. And how is it handedly, I tried to save the riding of of his influence in the where you live in the fall of 2000? We Toronto-Eglington from the twin 1995 Referendum. prosper—and grumble over a lack of scourges of John Diefenbaker and Olympic medals. Donald Fleming. Never since have I pass judgement because of incomplete In Opposition, Chrétien said and backed a winner in a federal election. knowledge? I do it daily. So do you. did things which aggravated his prob- Far from being soured by this record, I Some years ago, Jack Granatstein lems in power. Denouncing the Meech am often accused of undue respect for and Norm Hillmer conscripted some Lake Accord in deference to Trudeau people in public life. My archival slog- historians to assess prime ministers for helped consolidate the Bloc Québécois ging persuades me that people at the a Maclean’s feature. As one of them, and robbed Chrétien of much of his top are often better informed than my approach was simple: How was influence in the 1995 Referendum. their critics. Much that the media and Canada faring when each PM came on The promised countervailing gains in the Opposition define as scandal was watch and how was it when, by public the West were appropriated by Preston defined by the late A.A. Macleod, LPP or private choice, the watch ended? Manning after Chrétien feebly member for Toronto-Bellwoods, as Trudeau, for example, took over endorsed the Charlottetown Accord. “fertilizing a field with a fart.” Canada in 1968, when the country Chrétien also pledged to repudiate the When I dived into administrivia, was on an emotional and economic Free Trade Agreement and replace the my historical search engine stopped in high and separatism claimed only 18 Goods and Services Tax. By 1993, the the early 1930s, watching the late, per cent support in Quebec. By 1984, cost of quitting the FTA was incalcula- unloved R.B. Bennett create the the separatists were in power and ble. Revenue-neutral alternatives to POLICY OPTIONS 7 NOVEMBER 2000 Comment a-t-il changé le Canada ? quality he wanted in his generals. It also tends to coincide with courage and good sense. With a quarter-century of cabinet experience, Chrétien is the most experienced prime minister since Sir John A. Macdonald. That counts. He also paid a political price for deficit-cutting. Instead of the gener- ous majority promised by 1997 polls, Chrétien won only an eight-seat mar- gin. A score of seats in Atlantic Canada tumbled to the Progressive Conservatives and the NDP. The Bloc lost little ground in Quebec and the promised Liberal revival in the West Canadian Press Picture Archive never happened. Higher taxes and February 1999: Jean Chrétien juggles bottle of black ink given him by Paul Martin sharply reduced benefits helped switch votes to Reform. So did low- the GST had never been palatable and the abuses of capitalism were of text- cost but liberal policies on gun control dropping the tax would have collapsed book clarity, the eclipse of the demo- and gay rights. the country’s credit rating. cratic left in Canada is no coincidence. And moving from deficit to sur- Why was Canada so vulnerable? Chrétien’s post-1993 Liberal gov- plus since 1997 substituted single- The deficit for 1993 was in the order of ernment was no marvel of compe- minded conviction with conflicting $34 billion and rising. Oddly, this was tence. Ministers mishandled the visions. Should the government a Liberal heritage. In his pre-election Toronto Airport contract, the Somalia restore services or cut taxes? Chrétien budget in 1974, John Turner indexed Inquiry and the Airbus investigation, chose to split the surplus equally. Polls both social allowances and income tax. not to mention the notorious HRDC. suggest that most Canadians This blindsided both the NDP and the Liberals pledged to keep the promises approved. A minority, rich and poor, PCs but produced an exploding gap in their Red Book and promptly (and did not. With their real income sliding between federal spending and revenue appropriately) forgot many of them. and little hope of extracting raises that neither Trudeau nor Brian Yet Chrétien kept the promise his from hard-faced “new-economy” Mulroney ever really tackled. Mulroney predecessors had broken: He tamed employers, many Canadians believe insists that Michael Wilson and Don the federal deficit. that a tax cut is the only way to Mazankowski fought the deficit. No This leads to another irony: In restore spending power. They have doubt they tried. Did they have their 2000, Jean Chrétien presents himself become awkward allies of Canada’s prime minister’s support? Sometimes. as protector of Medicare, the social insatiable wealthy. Triumphant in After 1993, Paul Martin tried too. safety net, equalization and other tat- The difference was that he had his tered remnants of Canada’s “kinder prime minister’s full support. And and gentler” image against the most During seven years in Chrétien’s government had to be far right-wing alternative Canada has office, what has Chrétien more brutal than if similar efforts had faced since George Drew. Meanwhile, really done wrong? Few been made earlier. Critics claim that much of the English-speaking male prime ministers have had the crucial 1994 and 1995 budgets fit- proletariat likes Stockwell Day. ted Chrétien’s fiscal conservatism. Few longer experience of still claim that the effort was unneces- hrétien has been lucky. His politi- government or used it to sary. An unexpected irony of the 1990s C cal opposition was feeble and better effect. Those who has been the fading of the democratic divided. Canada’s economy headed blame him for the photo- left at a time when its constituency, the into a cyclical revival. The nineties working poor, has been brutalized by brought few distracting issues; even the finish referendum result in public policies. One reason is that too photo-finish conclusion to the 1995 Quebec in 1995 are often many of those Canadians were per- Quebec referendum was so unexpected the same people who suaded that NDP-style spending was in Ottawa that it barely distorted gov- sabotaged earlier irresponsible. In a decade when living ernment priorities. Luck is no crime; it standards for most Canadians declined, worked for Laurier and St-Laurent. attempts to win hearts working conditions deteriorated and Luck, said Napoleon, was the only and minds in Quebec. 8 OPTIONS POLITIQUES NOVEMBRE 2000 The Chrétien legacy imposing their views, from But many of them are attracted to the al” government on offer to Canadians. Mulroney’s Free Trade deal to Alliance. Martin is also the hope of During seven years in office, what has Chrétien’s anti-deficit priority, Liberal backbenchers who want to be Chrétien really done wrong? Few Canada’s elites now claim the right to ministers.