Back To Basics

The task of responsible government is to govern, well and wisely, not to amuse itself by belittling and beggaring the opposition. Canada's government must now settle down to do just that. Its citizens have reason to be hopeful that the chaotic upheaval that occurred in November when an ill-conceived coalition of three opposition parties schemed a back-room deal to unseat the legally constituted government, so recently re-elected to an increase minority position, will not soon be re-visited.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, not given to mea culpas, let alone the merest hint of humble contrition, has seen the error of his temporary madness, we hope. We hope, those of us who still have some faith in his abilities as a leader based on his past three years of steady and skilled management. Those diehard Conservative bashers who remain suspicious of his "hidden agenda" simply feel confirmed in their suspicions when he resorted to fairly low tactics when he should have been aiming at accommodation to enable him to govern the country in a balanced, responsible way.

Since prorogation, we've heard from a moderately chastened prime minister, one who newly pledges himself to co-operation with the Liberals, while ignoring the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois. Little wonder, he's had it with both parties, and so have most of the electorate. But we can afford to show our disaffection for these two opposition parties; we expect our prime minister to demonstrate his political skills of diplomacy as befitting a prime minister without a majority.

He has reached out to the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, initiating a conversational opening of attempted cordial collegiality. Met by the newly anointed Michael Ignatieff coolly measuring his impediment to a near-future position of prime minister himself, by expressing his willingness to yank the rug of complacency out from under Stephen Harper's confidence once again should the forthcoming budget not adequately reflect needs and values that he, personally, agrees with.

It shouldn't, one supposes, be entirely surprising that Mr. Ignatieff is presenting as a tough customer - conciliatory gestures be damned...demonstrate unequivocal acceptance of the oppositions' demands and then we'll determine the level of potential co-operation in Parliament - since this is precisely how the prime minister presents in relation to the opposition. But it is unseemingly arrogant, and quite unnecessary; repellent actually.

He needn't repeat, again, his willingness to consolidate the coalition and wield it as a death-prod, since we're rather sick of hearing about it. To the extent that fully two-thirds of Canadian voters anticipate and expect and will accept no less than to have Michael Ignatieff settle on a compromise position with the prime minister - to enable the government to get on with governing, not covering its rear in apprehension every time it sets out to initiate a new proceeding.

As for filling vacant Senate seats, that too, is the prerogative of the governing body. Since the Senate is already tipped heavily with Liberal appointments, it's simply just that those empty seats be handed over to Conservative appointees, for a modicum of balance - still leaving the scales tipped in favour of the Liberals. Fully 65% of Canadians insist that Mr. Ignatieff drop his pugnacious poses, to find a compromise position with the government.

Should anything occur within the next month and a half to incur the righteous wrath of the opposition, let it be for a very good reason, nothing trumped-up as an excuse to unseat the government. Mr. Ignatieff, head of a party in very ill health, one that has lost its popular appeal among the electorate - and for good reason - would do well to bide his time, pay his dues, learn on the job, and when the occasion arises, as it may, run to win. Should he choose to do so in the near future, by initiating an early election, he will be handing the Conservatives the majority win they so urgently wish to acquire.

Mr. Ignatieff's hectoring arrogance stands as a parody of what he and his party claim the prime minister exhibits in his own episodic resorting to nasty bantering. It ill behooves him to continue to condescend to those in his party and his party supporters who encourage juvenile ripostes to presumed provocations. This can promise to be an interesting forthcoming session of Parliament, the 41st, matching two individuals endowed with a formidable level of intelligence, each capable of rising to the promise of their mettle; each also capable of descending to disorder and childish manoeuvring.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, despite the initial suspicion with which the majority of the electorate viewed him, has acquitted himself very well indeed, despite his authoritarian streak, as a skilled political strategist, a man of integrity and vision, albeit underplaying his own potential. His thirteen years in politics have honed his talents as a politician, aiding him in making sensitive and sensible decisions on behalf of Canadians in many areas, albeit not in all areas of concern, such as the environment.

Mr. Ignatieff has enjoyed a scant several years in the political field, despite his otherwise-impressive resume, as a journalist, intellectual, writer, academic. He's said to be less of an ideologue than Stephen Harper, but he has submitted to the Liberal convention of "right to rule", and that should be left in the dumpheap of history. He must earn his political stripes, and in the process, begin to re-structure his ill party, re-build its flagging membership, its public trust, its critical fund-raising ability, and surround himself with capable people.

He has not, up to now, demonstrated too many virtues that might endear him to the general public. He has, though, descended to demonstrating that he is not immune to behaviour unbecoming a mature and sensible member of Parliament. In that way also he presents as a match to the incumbent in the position of prime minister. Canada does not really need two such inadequate primary lawmakers, and we're hoping they'll both get on with it, relinquishing self-absorption and pettiness to obscurity, never to be resurrected.

And just get on with the business of leading this country in the direction we need to go in, to survive an increasingly hostile world; financially, terrorism-destabilizing, environmentally.