Is Harper about to open up equalization again?
Hat tip to Bluegrit for pointing out this article, although he's a bit quicker to jump to the conclusion that the Liberal deals with NL is going to get tossed than I am.
If you remember, this was one of those deals early in Paul Martin's tenure as PM that got him nicknamed by The Economist as "Mr. Dithers", because he was preaching fiscal restraint but couldn't say "no" to anyone. It is true that his actions created a couple of levels of deals, and now there is no single formula anymore, rather a formula and a bunch of footnotes.
However, is this necessarily wrong?
If you remember, this was one of those deals early in Paul Martin's tenure as PM that got him nicknamed by The Economist as "Mr. Dithers", because he was preaching fiscal restraint but couldn't say "no" to anyone. It is true that his actions created a couple of levels of deals, and now there is no single formula anymore, rather a formula and a bunch of footnotes.
However, is this necessarily wrong?
The thing that caught my eye was the reference to the Atlantic Accord. As a general rule, when you see things like that mentioned in passing it's the set-up for more concrete action. I can't begin to imagine the uproar that will come from Harper's fucking around with this. On a similar vein, keep an eye on how Harper seems to be running the government. He's showing a pretty marked tendency towards rigidity and absolute control, a great dislike of bad news and a willingness to kill the bearers of same. From vast personal experience (military) I can say that this is almost always a sign of poor leadership skills and in all likelyhood a lack of confidence in his own abilities. Control freaks tend to be the most scared of being found out. At the level at which he's operating it can't help but cause problems and get noticed. And reported on, because he's already pissed off the press corps.
Posted by Anonymous | Sat Mar 11, 02:49:00 PM
Actually, he seems to be repeating the same mistake Joe Clark made in '79 - that of governing as though he has a majority.
Posted by Dan | Sat Mar 11, 04:38:00 PM
As for the Atlantic Accord - the Maple Leafs can come back down easily enough. Wouldn't put it past him however, the slogan for the next elections should be 'The Party that put the 'Bull' in 'Accountable''
Posted by Dan | Sat Mar 11, 04:39:00 PM
That's all DFO needs Dan - another minister!
Doug, you are 100% correct - Harper has the markings of a policy guy with absolutely now leadership abilities. One thing he seems to have though, is an ability to learn from his mistakes. Jeezus - he even learned how to smile, though granted it looked like something painted on a balloon, but he did learn.
I would not be too surprised if, he starts to take some real body blows in the polls that he might change his "style". Which right now is a sort of Moe Stooge/Benito Mussolini combination.
Posted by kevvyd | Sat Mar 11, 06:24:00 PM