| Paul Martin’s life made a change for the better last week – as did the lives of all the Martin disciples who were elevated from back-bench obscurity to positions of power. The Martinets will share an extra cheery holiday season in 2003. Most Canadians, especially those who find life a daily struggle, did not notice any changes for the better.
Martin unveiled his agenda for change in November and stuck to that script when he announced his cabinet. The agenda, The Politics of Achievement, failed to even acknowledge, except in vague terms, the nagging social issues that Canadians expect governments to address – poverty, violence against women, abuse of vulnerable people such as seniors, racism, and the provision of a social safety net. Martin’s first cabinet is notable only in its lack of experience in dealing with these forgotten social issues.
According to the big spin, Martin will try to leave his budget-cutting finance minister stigma behind by focusing on social issues early in his mandate. Yet, the only social issues mentioned last week were education, health care and homelessness. The first two affect every Canadian except the richest elite, and while important, they are hardly the issues of social exclusion that a caring society seeks to conquer. The third is a valid social issue, but Martin proved its importance in his scheme by tacking it on to the ministry of labour. Work for shelter programs anyone?
Martin’s early days as prime minister reflect his political past and demonstrate we are not in for a time of transformational change (his puffed up and meaningless phrase), but continued uninspired government as the entrepreneur king panders to his upper- and middle-class constituents.
Paul and the Martinets may reform our parliamentary democracy and improve how the federal parliament works. Sharing some of the Prime Minister’s powers with parliamentary committees, however, will not make the federal government more relevant to Canadians. Neither will tinkering with tax policy and registered education savings plans so that folks with tax advisors can get help sending their kids to university.
In a way that Jean Chretien never could, Martin represents a dangerous mix of business and political power. Martin’s background as a successful entrepreneur in the cutthroat shipping business and close association with Canada’s biggest business names will ensure that the economy and business are at the front and centre of all decisions.
If you sensed a lack of direction in Canada’s economic policy while Martin was out of Cabinet, be assured the firm hand is back on the rudder. As it did during his finance minister days, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will be his guiding stars.
Check out the OECD’s latest report on Canada for a good insight into our future. Highlights include reducing limits on foreign ownership of Canadian business, reducing internal trade barriers, more free trade agreements and more electrical deregulation. Throw in some bank mergers, corporate tax breaks (to inspire innovation of course) and more debt-reducing budgets and you have a Paul and the Martinets economic policy.
As with the Chretien years, the federal government will lack direction in dealing with social issues. Instead, it will float along the stream of public opinion, reacting only when necessary and trying to gauge where to follow instead of where to lead. The patchwork of federal government programs and services that seems to ebb and flow with each budget will continue, and Canadians will remain bewildered as to what their federal government does.
There will be no one in the cabinet to challenge Martin’s commitment to business and wealth generation. This is a group of lawyers, business people, educators and communications and public relations types. They are as committed to making money from the race to the bottom of employment and business standards known as global competition as their fearless millionaire leader.
As a group, this cabinet represents a tiny range of Canadian society. A painful fact when you consider they are the leaders of Canada’s largest political party. If Paul Martin wanted to impress anybody with his parliamentary reforms, he would have reached outside his party and his admirers, even Parliament, to fill one or two of his cabinet posts. The opportunistic appointment of Scott Brison (recent loser in the race to lead the Progressive Conservatives) as parliamentary secretary for Canada-U.S. relations does not count. Brison is a recent convert to the Liberals after a lifetime in the Tory ranks, and his right-wing economic beliefs mirror those of the Prime Minister.
Those of you with enough money to invest in banks, do so now. Those of you without will have to hope that the Liberals’ rightward shift produces gains for the NDP and a subsequent course correction from the natural governing party of Canada.
www.cbc.ca/news/background/martin_paul/cabinet.html – profiles of the Martin cabinet.
www.paulmartintimes.ca – Martin’s website.
www.paulmartintimes.ca/the-campaign/politics-of-achievement_e.pdf – the agenda for change Martin produced before assuming office.
www.cbc.ca/disclosure/archives/030401_csl/main.html – CBC Disclosure’s "Anchors Away," a look at the employment and business practices of the Martin’s Canada Steamship Lines.
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/60/0/11156005.pdf - The OECD’s latest recommendations for Canada. |
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