Federal election bankrupts democracy
Money does more than talk, it dictates. Many are under the impression that the status-quo minority Conservative government will return when Parliament resumes. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The clearest picture of the current political landscape was actually painted before the election. Conservative adviser Tom Flanagan wrote a Globe and Mail column early in the election campaign that will virtually dictate what will happen for the next year or two.
(Quick note: Credit for this blog entry goes entirely to a close friend who has been speaking about Flanagan’s column since he wrote it.)
Comparing the federal election to the Punic Wars, Flanagan writes that it took three battles before Rome totally defeated Carthage:
In the first Punic War, the Romans took Sicily from Carthage; in the second, they took the rest of the Carthaginian possessions in Europe; and in the third, they defeated Carthage totally, razed the city to the ground and sowed salt in the fields so nothing would ever grow there again. In the first Canadian Punic War, the Conservatives brought the Liberals down to a minority government; in the second, they pushed the Liberals out of government altogether, although they not did get their own majority. […] Destruction of the Liberals is not at hand; there will be further sequels to this movie. But if the Liberals are not careful, they, like the federal Progressive Conservatives of sainted memory, could be pushed into a financial pit they can never climb out of.
And here we are, as the dust settles over a third battle, and Liberal Carthage is alive but bleeding from a gaping financial wound.
The Liberal Party has an estimated debt of $2-million to $3-million, says Liberal Party president Doug Ferguson.
A party that formerly relied on major investors, the Liberals have not adapted to the new Federal Accountability Act that limits donations to $1,100.
The Liberals were also recently criticized for failing to come up with a national membership list, which the Conservatives and other national parties use to raise funds.
The once-mighty Liberal party has actually raised less money from fewer donors than the NDP.
They are at a historic low of 26.2 per cent of the popular vote, and deeply in dept. Ignatieff, gearing up for another leadership race, still owes some $60,000 from the last race.
There was even talk of relocating the Liberal leadership convention next year from Vancouver to somewhere more affordable and easy to access.
Signs of the Liberal financial woes are already apparent. Stéphane Dion has laid off 11 staff members in the opposition leader’s office.
Carthage has not fallen, but it’s badly battered and the financial crisis will certainly rub salt on the wound.
This was the plan all along when the Conservatives called an election. If Carthage could not be beaten, it would certainly be bled.
The Liberal financial situation has guaranteed an unimpeded reign in the House. Harper can dictate policy because the Liberals cannot financially afford to let Harper loose confidence of the House.
Money doesn’t talk, it dictates. Haper will talk about working together and conciliation during this afternoon’s throne speech, but he has essentially whipped the Liberals into financial submission. This isn’t democracy, it’s a stock market.
Four more years! Four more years is an understatement. Haper is at the helm, and no one can afford to grab the wheel as he charts a new course for Canada.
