Harper and Iggy

Well maybe that was just a bit over the top! And it is already dated. (But given this week in Canadian politics what isn't !)

Nevertheless it is correct on at least one points. Harper is a dangerous megalomaniac whose instincts are extreme and nasty. Sometimes his brains control his instincts, but often - as in the period leading up to the formation of the "coalition" - they don't.

He is now promising to "compromise with the opposition" (Harper's own words) and put more stimulus measures in his budget. And he has promised not to ban federal employees' right to strike, and not to repeal public funding for political parties. (However, he still hasn't given-in on repealing pay equity for women.) Strategically this makes sense - and it is good for the country too. But his own words belie his thinking. He is not going to do these things because he now thinks they are right; but because he is being forced to "compromise." If he had his druthers - or a majority - he would do none of this.

Should this government be defeated. You bet! It policies - so far - and its instincts - all along - have been wrong for Canada and for these times. Only 38% of the voters thought they were correct in the last election. The rest of Canadians - 62% - voted for parties clearly to the left of the conservatives.

Will this governmnet be defeated soon? I doubt it. With Iggy as the new liberal leader - caution will be the word of the day. Iggy, too, would prefer to rule alone, rather than have to compromise with the NDP. And he figures if he waits a year or 18 months he can reach that goal. And if the country has to suffer through a worse recession than necessary so that more people get good and fed up with the Conservatives - well so be it. "In the end it will better for the Liberals and me personally" - so thinks Iggy today.

As a strategy for personal power and rebuilding the Liberal party, it may indeed be better to wait a year before bringing down the government and fighting an election. But allowing wrong and destructive policies to batter the country for another year - when you have it in your power to form a government and change those policies now - that is not leadership, or patriotism, in my book.

I hope Iggy and the Libs take the plunge and bring on the coalition as soon as possible, but I am not betting on it. In the end they are likely to remain cautious careerist centrists - as always.