Pre-pandemic politics roar back to life
The non-partisan political tone that enveloped the country as COVID-19 made its deadly entrance was a blessing. Realizing the gravity and tragedy of unfolding events, leaders understood that Canadians were in a life-and-death struggle.
Regular “breaking” political news gave way to stark numbers — the number of dead, the number of infected or the number on ventilators. Most humiliatingly, a recent report found that 81 per cent of pandemic deaths took place in our long-term-care homes, compared to a 42 per cent average in other OECD countries.
Partisan politics was shunted aside, as the prime minister, ministers and premiers worked with each other and with public health officials in an attempt to contain the situation. While each province will adapt to different infection rates, a framework of co-operation and pan-Canadian resolve must remain in place on the broad issue of public health and safety.
But as the months pass and as the pandemic tentatively pauses, it is naïve to expect the same level of common purpose to continue. After all, the federal government is in a minority situation; leadership changes lie in wait; Alberta is particularly restless; Canada’s role in the world is unclear and the economy must rebound, if not recover and renew.
In addition, the House of Commons as an institution did not fare well. There was clearly a lack of plan B when MPs could not physically meet. Once the political nerve centre of the country, the chamber began to resemble an intermittent call centre. Arguments about how and when to meet confounded political watchers.
Clearly, Canada’s massive geographic land mass demands better connectivity for all citizens, as MPs quickly discovered when they attempted to dial in.
While Parliament has officially suspended regular sittings until Sept. 21, serious policy issues of fiscal accountability, economic stability, foreign policy and climate change, combined with social issues of police violence, income inequality and systemic racism, demand our full attention. And with that attention comes political ideological fissures.
The Conservative Opposition, at first shocked with the pandemic, found their sea legs on legitimate questions of accountability. These questions will set the stage for a robust debate as the government gives a July 8 fiscal shortterm snapshot, just after Fitch Ratings downgraded Canada’s credit rating and the International Monetary Fund predicted a gloomy world economy. When the House of Commons did actually meet, albeit in an abbreviated form, tensions ran high and not just on procedural negotiations. The NDP, which had been a reasonably steady partner for the Liberals in this minority government, found the spotlight as Jagmeet Singh, Canada’s first racialized leader of a federal party, accused Bloc Québécois MP Alain Therrien of being a racist. The Bloc had refused unanimous consent recognizing systemic racism within the RCMP.
And then there are the two Canadian Michaels, who have been arbitrarily detained, imprisoned without due process for over 500 days, held under awful conditions and now charged with espionage by a repressive, authoritarian Chinese government that thinks nothing of imprisoning thousands of Uighurs. The arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou by Canadian authorities was obligatory given our extradition treaty with the United States. In spite of a well-intentioned but misguided attempt at pressure by respected Canadians who should have known better than to undermine a sitting prime minister, Justin Trudeau is holding firm and strong in the initial decision to allow the legal process work itself out first.
Meanwhile, as the Conservatives embroil themselves in a tawdry exercise to select a new leader in August, two former high-profile politicians have returned to politics, but each has changed parties.
Glen Murray, the former mayor of Winnipeg and former Ontario Liberal environment minister, has jumped into the Green party’s leadership race.
Jay Hill, a former Harper cabinet minister, has become interim leader of the fringe Wexit Party, which, chillingly, advocates for the secession of western Canada.
If there is a sign of a return to some type of normality, it is that the messy, infuriating democratic struggle that plays out in our country, endures. In a strange way, it is a relief.
Like it or not, politics is back. Penny Collenette is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Ottawa and was a senior director of the Prime Minister’s Office for Jean Chrétien. She is a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @penottawa