Canada's Political Landscape In Turmoil

Whispering in the Wind (WITW 24) April 9, 2014

Making sense out of Canadian politics is not an easy undertaking.  Two weeks ago Alison Redford was forced to resign as premier of Alberta, not because of her successes on the policy front, but because of her more aggressive management style – actually Ms. Redford was thrown under the bus and disgraced by her own party.  Pemier Pauline Marois and her left of centre, sovereignty party went down to defeat on Monday to the more moderate Liberal party headed up by Philippe Couillard.  Simply put, Madame Marois was not able to convince Quebecers that her Charter of Values reflected Quebecer’s values in the 21^st century.  And let’s not forget about the confusion in Ottawa; specifically the turmoil within the Conservative Party of Canada.  Two questions emerge when it comes to the federal Conservatives:: can Prime Minister Stephen Harper calm the troubling waters within his own party, prior to the 2015 election?  Second, will Mr. Harper be around to fight in the 2015 federal election?

Turmoil Within Conservative Party 

Dmitri Soudas was summarily dismissed from his job as the Conservative Party’s chief operational soldier for the upcoming federal election in 2015 – Mr. Soudas simply disobeyed direct orders and interfered with an Ontario riding nomination hoping to see his girlfriend win the nomination.  Prime Minister Harper has had to (indirectly) apologize to the Supreme Court of Canada for his appointment of Marc Nadon to Canada’s top court.  The Supreme Court justices rejected Mr. Nadon’s nomination as being unconstitutional.  Should Mr. Harper wish to have Mr. Nadon’s nomination remain then the constitution will have to change.  The so-called Fair Elections Act has become a black eye for the Conservatives and Mr. Harper – virtually every knowledgeable expert on the matter has written that the proposed legislation is fraught with problems – the well respected former auditor general, Sheila Fraser has called it “an affront to democracy . . . and damaging to the democratic system.”  If there is one thing acting in the government’s favor it is that the electoral reform package is of little interest to the Canadian electorate – as an issue as presented has little traction with Canadians.  And let’s not forget about the year old Senate Expenses Scandal and the role the Prime Minister played in the scandal – when will the RCMP complete its investigations and what’s the holdup?   

The Chong Solution – A Good Idea, Will It Fly?

Last December Conservative MP Michael Chong introduced a private members bill that would rebalance the roles and powers of Members of Parliament and party leaders, of riding associations and party headquarters.  The bill is currently before a Commons Committee and is gaining interest and support from Conservative government members and members of the opposition parties.  Two important items that are included in Mr. Chong’s bill:  a transparent trigging process for initiating a leadership review within a party.  The process would be controlled by Members of Parliament and their respective party caucuses.  Mr. Chong’s bill would also revamp the riding nomination process, a process that would include a supervising provincial authority who would give a final nomination endorsement for each riding association nominee – the party’s supervising authority would be elected by all the provincial riding associations.  If enacted Mr. Chong’s bill would take effect seven days after the 2015 election.