I was listening to Roy Green of CHML on Friday and he was asking his callers, who is the better Prime Minister, Jean Chretien or Paul Martin?
Now, of course, the question is not fair as PM Martin has not been on the job long enough to judge him fairly. Furthermore he is Prime Minister of a minority parliament. It does speak to the incredibly high expectations that PM Martin built up for himself though.
First of all there is the "democratic deficit". Here is a CBC News story from Oct 22, 2002.
He said reforming the House of Commons will help to buck this trend towards a "democratic deficit."
"Unfortunately, the authority of individual Members of Parliament has been allowed to erode, while power of the executive...grows," Martin said in a speech Monday at York University's Osgoode Hall law school.
"It's who do you know in the PMO...We must move to address this democratic deficit."
He outlined a series of proposed changes which include:
- Allowing politicians to vote as they choose – not merely vote the party line – as long as the vote doesn't bring down the government
- Introducing an independent ethics commissioner
- Having more independent parliamentary committees
- Renewing the system for private members' bills
Well I guess 1 out of 4 isn't so bad. No free vote on SSM and probably not on Missile Defense either, even though both would pass. I haven't seen any evidence of independent parliamentary committees and the private member's bills are as blocked as ever.
How about the issue of "Western Alienation"? Again from the CBC
Paul Martin seemed to be taking western alienation seriously. "Out here in Western Canada, it seriously calls into question that Mr. Martin might do any better than Jean Chrétien did last time," Prince says. "And let's face it, that's meaning really 18 or 20 seats in Western Canada out of a possible 80."
Michael Prince In fact, the prime minister recently told CBC News he'd consider his leadership a failure if he didn't deal with the problem. "The issue of western alienation, which I don't believe is a myth, I think it is a reality, and I am determined to do something about it," Martin said.
I am sure PM Martin considers himself a failure then...or not.
Or finally we can judge the goals PM Martin laid out in his acceptance speech at the Liberal leadership convention (and what would I do without the CBC)
...In times such as these, in which we are now living, the fundamental mission of government is to turn the national will towards great accomplishment. To set the objectives and to build the necessary consensus to achieve them. And in order to do this, it is clear that we must set about doing things in a different way. First, we must pursue a new politics of achievement: we must ensure a place of influence and pride for Canada in the world; we must build a truly 21st century economy; we must strengthen the social foundations of Canadian life. And to achieve these ambitions and dreams, our governments and our leaders must change the way they conduct themselves.
I'll let you know when I see one of these great accomplishments.
...Quebec's aspirations are being pursued by its government within the spirit of Confederation, rather than in opposition to it. In Western Canada, new voices are rejecting calls to build firewalls - wanting instead to exert the influence on the national stage that the West's size and success warrant.
Too bad Liberal corruption lead to a resurgence of the separatist Bloq and much to PM Martin's chagrin, Western Canada is still solidly blue.
Across the country, a new guard is taking the centre of the political stage, demanding an end to our perennial problem - the uniquely Canadian combination of regional discord and inter-governmental bickering.
Ask Danny Williams how that one is working out. It almost so bad that the CBC could prepare a news special, Canada: A Nation Divided, or PM Martin: A divider not uniter...again, maybe not.
And, most importantly, the old insecurities about the Canadian identity have been replaced by increasing confidence, pride and ambition. A new sense of nationhood has taken hold - one that is at ease with our multicultural diversity and linguistic duality.
More like we are at ease with rampant anti-Americanism.
So the scorecard is not great, but no so bad that I wish for the return of PM Chretien though.
