It's bad but...

Stephen Harper, I am not a fan. Michael Ignatieff, I once was. His treaties on ethnic nationalism was written in a in simple style that made it easy for any student to read. But since he made the jump to politics, he has failed to impress that he can be more than a critic.

Take his rally-the-troops speech to the Liberal caucus:

But we have a secret weapon: Stephen Harper’s own record. The worst unemployment record in two decades; The worst deficit in our history; And last quarter, the worst performing economy in the G7.

Stephen Harper didn’t see a recession coming last fall. Now he’s missing something bigger: what we’re going through is more than a recession—it’s a fundamental restructuring of the global economy.

Stephen Harper doesn’t get that.

He doesn’t get that Canada’s in a race—that we’ve got to position our country to compete in the twenty-first century. We’ve got to make Canada a world leader again, and we’ve got to do it now.

Yes, Stephen Harper is bad. A majority of Canadians did not vote for the Conservatives less than 11-months ago. In that last election the opposition parties were banging the boards shouting that a recession was coming and Stephen Harper did not care. But more people voted for the Conservatives than any other party.

The Conservatives introduced a do-nothing “fiscal update” clearly failing to see the harsh economic environment. The Liberals were given the chance to form government and they walked.

Through out the winter and spring, the Liberals hummed and hawed, and eventually supported the budget that created that large deficit they are now complaining about. The Conservatives gave large hand outs to some large corporations with no guarantee on their return. Other corporations they were willing let die. Then the Conservatives gave up on economic stimulus, and focused on crime and punishment bills. Meanwhile the unemployment rate soared. The Liberals allowed it all to pass. When the Liberals finally decided to stand tough for the unemployed, they agreed to a blue-ribbon panel to discuss EI that would meet throughout the summer.

Throughout all of this, both parties remain mired in the polls.

Stephen Harper’s record is not a secret. The Liberals record of passivity is perhaps a little less well known.

Allan Blakeney has often preached that if a great policy does not pass muster with the public than it is not a good policy. This applies to the bad record of the Conservatives. Despite this government’s desire to prove government does not work, the Conservatives have not raised the ire of Canadians. At least, not enough to piss off enough voters.

By the same token, no opposition party has galvanized the imagination of Canadians to the point that the Conservatives may be defeated. Standing up against the Conservatives for what happens south of the border is not the call to arms that will galvanize Canadians:

Right now, while Americans are fighting for a public health care system, Stephen Harper has refused to utter a word in defence of our own.

Liberals proudly support public health care in this country—and, unlike the Conservatives, we’re not afraid to defend it.

Oh – and on a side note – all those cuts to the welfare state and downloading to the provinces in Paul Martin’s 1995 budget which was part of the huge healthcare problems of the late 1990s to this decade – that is not exactly defending healthcare.

As much as I want to see Stephen Harper out, I also want a government that works.