No "Political Capital" in Ottawa

By Zamboni

Whew. For some reason, we cats think that Canada got mighty jealous of the political drama that's taken place in the U.S. over the past few months.

Why? Because they've concocted some of their own. As in a Conservative, minority-government Prime Minister acting an awful lot like George W. Bush.

Here's how. In October, Stephen Harper's Tory government was re-elected — but still as a minority. That's the way it is in parliamentary democracy. Sometimes you have a super mandate (think Tony Blair in 1997), and sometimes you don't (think Lester Pearson in the '60s).

In this past October election, the Tory minority picked up seats, but remained 12 short of a majority. To most normal Prime Ministers, a situation like this would advise a certain amount of caution. Not so Harper, who we suspect has a direct line to Karl Rove in the White House (at least for the next month and a half, after which he'll have to go through a serious case of withdrawal).

So what does Harper do? Basically a version of Bush in 2005. He said "screw you" to the rest of the country and submitted a budget that not only didn't address the global economic crisis — no economic stimulus, for example — but which also cut the political parties' governmental subsidies. Nice move, Steve! What better way to get your opponents' backs up? Which is precisely what happened: Right now, the Liberals and the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois are trying to figure out if they can topple Harper's fragile minority government on a budgetary vote of no confidence.

Harper's tone-deaf reaction after a squeaker election is so reminiscent of Bush’s "I earned political capital and I’m gonna blow it the way I’ve blown through everything else in my worthless life" attitude that followed his theft of the U.S. vote in 2004.

We all know what awaited Bush in the wake of his bluster. Social Security reform cratered, Terri Schiavo repulsed all Americans who resented governmental intrusion in their lives, and the response to Hurricane Katrina horrified everyone else. Now, Bush is the most despised American President in modern history. So why is Stephen Harper taking political advice from his team?