Politics: US right ebbs, will Canada follow?

As I sit here typing this, the Democrats have just captured a majority in Congress, securing both the House and Senate in the American mid-term elections.

It's about time.

Whether or not neo-conservatism ebbs in North America will largely depend on whether the the 110th American Congress can build enough national support for the Democratic party over the next year (and the following) to oust the Republican party from the White House.

This will largely depend on how the country perceives it's fortunes to be in 2008, and who is responsible for them. The Democrats must tread carefully here, for now that they effectively hold half the responsibility for what happens before the next presidential election, they are not absolved of the problems they now inherit. Come 2008, a strong Republican candidate (say, Sen. McCain) could use this election to their advantage.

At any rate, to the chagrin of many Canadians now, the spectre of neo-conservativism is currently haunting Ottawa as well. Despite a dip in public support for the Conservative party recently, they still narrowly lead in support against the centre-left Liberal party.

Here's an article that I wrote in mid-October for the Et Cetera during the final leadership debate for the Liberals, at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto:



GRITS JOUST EACH OTHER, JAW HARPER
by James Sturgeon 10/15/2006

TORONTO -- It was a raucous affair at Roy Thompson Hall Sunday afternoon, as the eight candidates for the federal Liberal leadership exchanged barbs in the final debate before the party elects a new leader six weeks from now in Montreal.

The format – eight randomly-drawn debates between the candidates – allowed the leadership hopefuls to lay down their positions on a range of topics, from Canada’s role in the NATO Afghanistan mission to domestic matters such as the need for greater participation by women in politics.

Although all the televised debates were lively as candidates fiercely jostled with each other, the biggest highlights undoubtedly came between front-runner Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae. The two butted heads on a range of issues, as they kneaded the weaknesses of each others arguments, most notably over Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan.

“Early on, you said you would vote against the extension of this [Afghan] mission, now you’re saying something different. I actually don’t know where you stand on this issue,” Ignatieff said. “You certainly do know. For a guy that’s changed his mind three times in a week with respect to the Middle East,” Rae shot back, referring to Igantieff’s flip-flopping stance on last July’s violent Israeli-Lebanese conflict.

After the debate, Ignatieff accused Rae of “stirring” things up between them, to which Rae said “well, this isn’t a tea party.”

While Ignatieff is still considered to be the front-runner, Rae has been gaining support as all three of the latest candidates to withdraw from the race have thrown their sides behind the former Premier of Ontario.

Rae is now expected to seriously challenge Ignatieff’s chances at the party’s so-called “Super Weekend” leadership vote on December 2nd.

Rae wasn’t alone in his open criticism of Ignatieff. Stephane Dion, the Chretien-era minister was vehement at times in his criticism of the Harvard academic-turned-politician. When Ignatieff stated that the Liberals could have done more for the environment in the previous administration, Dion shot back “It’s all very well to come forward with [Ignatieff’s proposed sustainability act] but you need to pay tribute to what the government was doing.” Dion continued “we will be back, and we will do the job,” to boisterous applause from the audience.


One area that did not elicit strong disagreement was opinion amongst the group toward Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative party agenda being pursued in Parliament.

All eight were resoundingly – almost personally - critical of the prime minister. Girard Kennedy said that Harper doesn’t have “five priorities, he has one, his reelection,” referring to the Conservative five-point platform from last January’s national election. Ken Dryden called him “the great divider.”

All said that the current climate in Ottawa is becoming increasingly divisive, and dangerously mirroring the American Republican party agenda in Washington, DC.

Rae called for a fresh “voice” of leadership, while accusing Harper's policies of being “an echo” of the developments south of the border.

During closing remarks, moderator Dominic LeBlanc asked the partisan audience for a “democratic renewal” for the Liberal party in the run-up to the next federal election. And in addressing the national television audience, asked for a similar renewal for the nation.



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"No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor." - Tacitus