The Canadian Way, Not the Harper Way

Whispering in the Wind (WITW 64) February 11, 2015

The news flowing out of Ottawa in the past week or so has got the country’s political pundits speculating about three or four very confusing, if not contradictory developments.  Has the resignation of John Baird seriously damaged Harper’s Conservative brand?  Has Eve Adams’ floor crossing helped or hindered Justin Trudeau and the Liberal brand?  Has the latest cabinet shuffle shown Mr. Harper to be attacking or has he just run out of ideas? Will Canada ever get a Canada-Europe Trade Agreement?

John Baird’s Resignation

Last week, the big political news was the abrupt and surprising resignation of John Baird as Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister – he also announced that he wouldn’t run for office in the next federal election.  Deemed to be one of Prime Minister Harper’s closest and most capable ministers, John Baird was interviewed just after his resignation by Peter Mansbridge of the CBC.  In the interview Mr. Baird explained that he didn’t want to be guided by ideology but by values – the comment tells me that Mr. Baird is not in total agreement with the singular, Harper ideology.  In the same interview Baird indicated that he was not comfortable with the current level of partisanship in the House of Commons and that’s coming from a man who has shown that he can be very partisan – it tells me, Mr. Baird is not in agreement with the Harper Way when it comes to doing business in the House of Commons and the use of the Harper “majority” to show contempt for the British parliamentary system and its traditions.  As to other possible reasons for John Baird leaving Harper’s Cabinet; like a lucrative position in the private sector or head of some international agency like the World Health Organization, I think it might happen but unlikely to be the major reason.  In my view, politics is deeply engrained in Mr. Baird’s DNA, his reason(s) for leaving are very personal and I think Canadians will see him re-emerge after the next federal election.  As to the impact Baird’s leaving parliament is going to have on the Harper Way and the next election, none!  One qualification; Mr. Baird leaving parliament could end up re-enforcing Harper’s ties to his Reform base.

Eve Adams Crosses the Floor

On Monday a strange, if not bizarre event occurred on parliament hill that took just about everybody by surprise:  Conservative MP, Eve Adams gave up her Conservative posting as parliamentary secretary to the minister of health to join Justin Trudeau’s Liberal caucus.  Mr. Trudeau welcomed Adams claiming that the Liberal Party is an inclusive party and welcomes people of different political stripes to his Liberal team.  Eve Adams will still have to be nominated under the Liberal banner, a strange juxtaposition if I’ve ever seen one.  A phone-in poll undertaken by the CBC on the floor crossing indicates that the public is split on Eve Adams’ move to the Liberals.  There is a major twist to the Eve Adams’ drama; her partner is Dimitri Soudas.  Mr. Soudas was a very close, senior associate of Stephen Harper, until he was fired about a year ago for meddling in an Eve Adams bid for a Conservative nomination.   My view, as to the impact of the Eve Adams move is questionable but it does show that Justin Trudeau is willing to fight dirty.  If it doesn’t work out then the Liberal Party machine will have had a few months of strategic advice from a couple of former Conservatives who know how to fight in the trenches.

Harper’s Mini-Cabinet Shuffle

With the resignation of John Baird, the Prime Minister rearranged his political chess board on Monday:  Jason Kenney moves from employment and social development to defence; Rob Nicholson moves from defence to foreign affairs; and Pierre Poilievre moves to employment and social development (and retains his responsibilities as Minister of State for Democratic Reform).  As to whether this shuffle of responsibilities is good for the country is still open to question?  My thoughts:  Kenney is a good choice for the defence ministry but he is going to run into a battle with the prime minister who likes the exposure when it comes to war and terrorism.  Nicholson is questionable for the foreign affairs ministry (he doesn’t speak French) but he will be under the thumb of the prime minister and won’t hog the spotlight.  Putting Pierre Poilievre into the employment and social development portfolio is an extremely bad choice – he has already screwed up the democratic reform file, a responsibility that he will keep.  To put Poilievre into the portfolio that deals with unions and the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, it’s going to be a disaster for the Conservatives.

Harper Meets with Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Prime Minister Harper for about an hour or so on Monday evening – the purpose, to update the prime minister on her diplomatic efforts in solving the eastern Ukraine crisis.  In the news conference afterwards it became clear from the Prime Minister’s comments that he remains hawkish (as does US President Obama) on Russia’s incursion on what is deemed to be sovereign Ukrainian territories.  As to other matters brought up at the news conference, it was clear that the Canada, Europe trade agreement is still being negotiated and not a done deal and that’s got to be a major irritation to the prime minister who wants the deal signed prior to an election – the prime minister has already announced that it is a done deal two or three times.