March 27, 2005

TANNED, RESTED, AND READY TO MANAGE THE DECLINE:

Tories ready, willing and able to take reins (Rick Anderson, 3/27/05, Toronto Star)

The Conservatives are certainly ready to govern. This really boils down to two main questions and, on both counts, the Conservatives are increasingly in better shape than the Liberals.

First, the Conservatives are slowly putting together an attractive policy program: Raise incomes and create jobs by easing the heavy hand of government on economic levers and in your pocket; shift the emphasis to individual, family and local responsibility; curtail the growth of the nanny state. Let innovation flourish in health care, guided by practical criteria — better services and access, value for money — instead of shackled by partisan clichés. Common sense approaches to international affairs and relationships. [...]

Second, the Conservatives have the depth of talent. Long-term MPs like Diane Ablonczy, Jay Hill, Monte Solberg, Chuck Strahl and others have a dozen years of parliamentary experience under their belts. Younger MPs like James Rajotte and James Moore are smart and steady contributors. Vic Toews, Loyola Hearn, Brian Pallister and Rob Nicholson bring ministerial experience from provincial and federal governments. And rookie MPs such as Gord Brown, Gordon O'Connor, Bev Oda, Jim Prentice and Belinda Stronach add valuable experience from outside politics.

Bottom line, the Conservative benches compare increasingly favourably to the Liberals in terms of creativity, energy, idealism and freshness.

Finally, there is the principle known in French as l'alternance.


All they lack is an electorate that hasn't given up on a future.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 27, 2005 6:16 PM
Comments

If they truly wanted to govern a conservative country north of the 49th parallel, they'd propose separating from the Ontario border to the Pacific Ocean and establish a new nation. They would be swept into power by the West - who would delight in seeing the East founder and flounder in their socialist failure.

With the oil in Alberta, potash in Saskatchewan and untapped oil and natural gas in and off the coast of British Columbia (and without having to subsidize Quebec & the Atlantic provinces any more), this would be one affluent and First World country right out of the starting gate.

Hey, I can dream can't I?

Posted by: oswald booth czolgosz at March 27, 2005 10:55 PM

All conservative means in Canada is conserving what the Liberals have done over the last sixty years.

I have suggested what you propose, in a slightly different manner, but was roundly rebuked for the effort. What I suggested was forming a coalition with the separatists on a platform of decentralizing the federal government to give Quebec all that they wanted (and the other provinces as well).

If that failed, the coalition would work toward an amicable separation of Quebec with as open a border as possible and any shared items they want (currency, defense, whatever).

This would lose the Liberals a lot of seats in Quebec and the west, isolating them into Ontario and the east. The resulting minority government would have a fantastic gun pointed at the head of the Liberals and could get the coalition whatever they wanted in the proposed decentralizing of the federal government.

I would still bet that the end result would be separation, but either way it would force Canada to reckon with itself.

Posted by: Randall Voth at March 28, 2005 4:34 AM
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