Heat on for federal Tories to wipe clean a nasty slate
With Parliament breaking for the summer after one of the ugliest sessions ever, do not be surprised if Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogues it altogether to distance the electorate’s memory from its uncouthness and inelegance.
Come back with a speech from the throne, a new look to his cabinet, and a humble admission he failed to focus enough on domestic issues, and Harper could wipe a dirtied slate clean.
No realist concerned about tax dollars could possibly look at NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and see him as prime minister, and no one other than the star-dazzled and under-informed would want Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau leading anything but a fan club. This remains a huge advantage for Harper. As for Toronto MP Bob Rae retiring from politics, all we can say is he has collected enough publicly funded pension money over the years, and did such a fine job running Ontario into the ground as its NDP premier, that finally seeing his back after so many years brings honour to his persistence but nothing to his legacy.
Suffice, we are not nearly as diplomatic as Conservative Heritage Minister James Moore who tweeted his best wishes to Rae, but then called him “one (of) Parliament’s most passionate and effective voices.” Moore may be half right. We wish the Matawa First Nations well. With Rae now their chief negotiator in talks over mining rights in the Ring of Fire area of northern Ontario, they’ll need as many smudging ceremonies as they can muster to cleanse his track record.
In the meantime, after weeks of acrimony, mudslinging, gratuitous questioning, childish comebacks and political nastiness over the Senate spending scandals, with notable side trips into Trudeau’s objectionable moonlighting in speaking engagements while in the taxpayers’ employ, the adjournment of the House of Commons a few days early was a gift to us all.
Canadians have grown tired of the same salt being pounded.
Later this month, members of the Conservative Party will converge on Calgary for their policy convention.
It had best be filled with the fresh air required for rejuvenation and refocusing.
Both are a must.