Do You Want to See a Real Side Deal?

Wasn't it just last week that the Con's were bleating disingenuously about Dion making a side deal with the provinces? It was all nonsense of course, but that has never stopped them has it?

Never a group to shy away from hypocrisy however, they brazenly announced their own real plans for side deals and it's something that should concern the 70% of us who would never vote for these guys.

It's frightening to see how arrogantly Harper and his party are, in terms of going forward with what we've known has been his intent all along.

In the clearest indication to date that the Conservatives are willing to offer exclusive arrangements for each province, Mr. Cannon signalled the Harper government is prepared to shift the way the national government works with its provincial counterparts.

While he declines to use the word "asymmetrical," Mr. Cannon concedes the effect of his proposed framework creates precisely such a landscape.

Of course it's going to create an asymmetrical system. Worse, it's the path to turning provinces into independent states, yes, somewhat like the US. That's the plan.

Now, before anyone on the Left chimes in with 'the Liberals propped up the government' nonsense, consider what we were faced with. Had we gone to an election early on, we'd either be where we are now or worse and Jack would be just as unable to do anything as he is now. So could we put that aside that old chestnut and work together here for common cause?

To be honest, I find this article to be really depressing. The article primarily focuses on labour issues and some could read it and find it pretty innocuous. Perhaps that is why the Con's are going forward at the pace they are. Articles are written but there is no context given, as in this one, as it relates to Harper's ultimate vision of this country.

The strategy could lead to a restructuring of powers between the federal and the provincial governments, especially given that the Harper government's recent rounds of tax cuts reduced Ottawa's ability to launch new social programs.

This article however provides a bit of context.

But Brooke Jeffrey, a professor of political science at Concordia University, said she believes Mr. Harper is using decentralization as a “back-door way” to achieve his neoconservative goal of less government.

“If you devolve responsibility to the provinces and you only give them a certain amount of money and essentially cut them adrift, you're going to guarantee the withdrawal of the state from certain areas of activity that you don't already believe in,” she said.

By pursuing a rigid interpretation of the Constitution, Mr. Harper ignores Canada's regional disparity and the disconnect between provincial responsibility and federal funding, she added.

“Mr. Harper is being either willfully blind or ingenuous,” she said, noting that the fathers of Confederation never envisioned Canada's welfare state when they set out provincial responsibilities.

Harper is not one to be willfully blind. The man has been focused on this forever and now sees his first opportunity to implement his dream.

Equalization “wasn't a power grab by the federal government. It was an attempt to provide a minimum level of standards and services to all Canadians wherever they live,” she said.

“That's why there are federal-provincial relations, that's why there are all these agreements to try to work this out. Provinces used to like this and many of them still do.”

Let us hope that in spite of this being a tricky subject, especially in Quebec where we now have by elections, some honesty will be spoken and more articles that actually explore the meaning of what is being said rather than just repeating how the Conservatives parse it, will be written.

Update - I just watched Harper speak. What a sham. Oddly in French he can pronounce Dion correctly. When he speaks English he loses that ability magically. Take note people, in English dee-yawn is all the rage.

Beyond that, when is the last time you saw a PM speak to party politics.? PM's are meant to speak to the country, not their party faithful.

Disgusting. This man is disgusting.

Update 2 - Andrew Cohen article