Why doesn't PM work to bring about good legislation?

Editor:

Re Harper vows no election (Dec. 18, 2010). Although your story says Stephen Harper will not call or provoke an election in 2011, he clearly wants to set the stage to blame opposition parties for this kind of speculation as it said later on in your article.

This news story, however, caused me to pause and think: If Stephen Harper does not want an election, why doesn’t he work with the opposition parties to bring good legislation to Canadians?

Consider: although Harper has been Prime Minister for almost five years, he and his government have not accomplished a whole lot in that time. For example, they have brought approximately 60 bills into the House of Commons since it reconvened last March. But about half were leftovers from the previous session--they had to be brought up again because Harper prorogued parliament (for a second time!) in December 2009 to avoid the questions about Afghan detainees. According to the Québec newspaper, Le Devoir, of the 60, only 11 bills have been passed, which is why Le Devoir concluded that “2010 was a total waste on the legislative front.”

Looking deeper, if Harper wants to keep governing with a minority, why does he keep offending the opposition parties and the sensibilities of over 60% of Canadians? Canceling the long-form census? Closing prison farms? Abusing Veterans and only giving in when the Veterans take to the streets? Publishing a handbook for Conservatives to disrupt parliamentary committees? Continuously assaulting women’s rights? Canceling anti-smoking messages recommended by Health Canada? Bringing in an Omnibus budget bill with irrelevant, environment-threatening sections? Ignoring police advice on firearms? And this is a shortened list. Further, most of these actions have been taken without debate in Parliament. If he wants to continue it’s because he can continue to do things outside parliament especially now that he controls the Senate.

Harper is, according to a recent book about him (Harperland, by Lawrence Martin), the consummate political strategist whose choice is always to smash the opposition rather than bring good policy to Canadians. Let’s hope an election can rid Canada of this style of leadership!

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Mark Sandilands
NDP Candidate, Lethbridge Federal Riding