WHAT DID THE CONSERVATIVES ACCOMPLISH? 2006-2008 IN REVIEW
On Jan. 23rd, 2006 Stephen Harper was elected Prime Minister of Canada and the Conservative Party formed a minority government ending almost 13 years of Liberal leadership in Canada under Jean Chretien and Paul Martin. Many argue that minority governments are unproductive because without a majority of seats it is difficult for a government to pass any legislation and must gain support of at least one other party in order to do so. Harper called an election a year early partially because of this very reason. It was becoming increasingly difficult to get things done in Ottawa because of the lack of support from the Liberals, NDP, the Bloc, and most importantly the Liberal-dominated Senate.
Yesterday, Oct. 14th, 2008, Harper has landed himself another minority government, albeit this one much stronger. But while many are contemplating what this new government will do let's ponder a moment at what the longest Conservative minority government in Canadian history was able to achieve.
The first order of business for the Harper government was the Federal Accountability Act, which oversees government spending. This was in response to the Liberal sponsorship scandal which led to Paul Martin's demise in 2006. This was supported by all parties, including the Liberals.
Harper put an end to the softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the US. This was a somewhat controversial move as some argued it wasn't the best deal in Canada's interests. I argue that while this may be true it was a lot better than the Liberals could achieve. While the Liberals were in power the softwood lumber debates continued with no end in sight. At least now we have a result and some direction.
One of the most underappreciated moves the Harper government made is regarding democratic reforms. The Conservative Party was partly founded on these democratic reforms and have been an advocate of many changes to our democratic process since it's creation. The NDP and the Bloc are in favour of these reforms as well which allowed the Conservatives, in a minority government, to proceed in their initiatives knowing that they had support in this area. There are a few different things the Conservatives are trying to do in regards to these issues.
The one that they have already been able to achieve is fixed election dates. The fixed election dates in Canada are every four years in October. This however, did not happen in the past election as Harper called an election one year early. How can he do that with fixed election dates? As part of the Canadian constitution the government must have the support of the House of Commons and if they do not have this support than an election must be called. Usually a confidence motion will be introduced and if the government is not supported Parliament is dissolved. This is how Martin's government was defeated in 2006. Harper technically did not lose the support of the House of Commons but the opposition parties were not supporting government motions while at the same time not defeating it. The next election date in Canada, if the government can keep the support of the House of Commons, will be on Monday, Oct. 15th, 2008. The reason why fixed election dates are important to have is so that governments can not call elections whenever they think it will be most advantageous to do so (eg. rise in polls) or so that they can not call an election in the middle of the summer or winter when many people will not vote.
Other democratic reforms the Conservatives are working on involve the Senate. Unlike the United States, where senators are elected and serve 4 year terms, Canadian senators are appointed by the prime minister until the age of 75. This is very undemocratic and has resulted in our current situation where the Liberals dominate the seats in the Senate while the Canadian support of Liberals is extremely low. The problem with having an elected Senate is that it would mean an amendment to the Canadian constitution which is very complicated and difficult for everyone to agree on. So until that is able to happen the Conservatives are working on two alternatives: fixed eight-year senate terms, and senate appointment consultation.
The Liberals are opposed to this move because they currently dominate the Senate and with current rules will continue to do so unless there is a long run of Conservative governments in the future. The Conservatives introduced these two motions during this past session of Parliament in which the Liberals eventually voted for these motions knowing that they would get log-jammed in the Senate and not actually become law. This motion died in the Senate when the election was called and will hopefully be reintroduced with this new government. While this has yet to become Canadian law, Harper still turned Senate appointments into a more democratic process by creating his own senate appointment consultations for the senators in which he was appointing while Prime Minister. He created a commission which consisted of MPs from all parties that would select a short list of possible candidates for senate appointment. Harper would then choose from this list. There are currently 16 vacant seats in the 89 seat Senate so hopefully Harper will continue this practice until actual democratic reforms can be made into law.
These are just a few of Harper's accomplishments as Prime Minister of Canada as there are many more. Now that he has been re-elected with a stronger minority he will continue to make further progress and able to run a functional and productive government with results.
- DCM
Yesterday, Oct. 14th, 2008, Harper has landed himself another minority government, albeit this one much stronger. But while many are contemplating what this new government will do let's ponder a moment at what the longest Conservative minority government in Canadian history was able to achieve.
The first order of business for the Harper government was the Federal Accountability Act, which oversees government spending. This was in response to the Liberal sponsorship scandal which led to Paul Martin's demise in 2006. This was supported by all parties, including the Liberals.
Harper put an end to the softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the US. This was a somewhat controversial move as some argued it wasn't the best deal in Canada's interests. I argue that while this may be true it was a lot better than the Liberals could achieve. While the Liberals were in power the softwood lumber debates continued with no end in sight. At least now we have a result and some direction.
One of the most underappreciated moves the Harper government made is regarding democratic reforms. The Conservative Party was partly founded on these democratic reforms and have been an advocate of many changes to our democratic process since it's creation. The NDP and the Bloc are in favour of these reforms as well which allowed the Conservatives, in a minority government, to proceed in their initiatives knowing that they had support in this area. There are a few different things the Conservatives are trying to do in regards to these issues.
The one that they have already been able to achieve is fixed election dates. The fixed election dates in Canada are every four years in October. This however, did not happen in the past election as Harper called an election one year early. How can he do that with fixed election dates? As part of the Canadian constitution the government must have the support of the House of Commons and if they do not have this support than an election must be called. Usually a confidence motion will be introduced and if the government is not supported Parliament is dissolved. This is how Martin's government was defeated in 2006. Harper technically did not lose the support of the House of Commons but the opposition parties were not supporting government motions while at the same time not defeating it. The next election date in Canada, if the government can keep the support of the House of Commons, will be on Monday, Oct. 15th, 2008. The reason why fixed election dates are important to have is so that governments can not call elections whenever they think it will be most advantageous to do so (eg. rise in polls) or so that they can not call an election in the middle of the summer or winter when many people will not vote.
Other democratic reforms the Conservatives are working on involve the Senate. Unlike the United States, where senators are elected and serve 4 year terms, Canadian senators are appointed by the prime minister until the age of 75. This is very undemocratic and has resulted in our current situation where the Liberals dominate the seats in the Senate while the Canadian support of Liberals is extremely low. The problem with having an elected Senate is that it would mean an amendment to the Canadian constitution which is very complicated and difficult for everyone to agree on. So until that is able to happen the Conservatives are working on two alternatives: fixed eight-year senate terms, and senate appointment consultation.
The Liberals are opposed to this move because they currently dominate the Senate and with current rules will continue to do so unless there is a long run of Conservative governments in the future. The Conservatives introduced these two motions during this past session of Parliament in which the Liberals eventually voted for these motions knowing that they would get log-jammed in the Senate and not actually become law. This motion died in the Senate when the election was called and will hopefully be reintroduced with this new government. While this has yet to become Canadian law, Harper still turned Senate appointments into a more democratic process by creating his own senate appointment consultations for the senators in which he was appointing while Prime Minister. He created a commission which consisted of MPs from all parties that would select a short list of possible candidates for senate appointment. Harper would then choose from this list. There are currently 16 vacant seats in the 89 seat Senate so hopefully Harper will continue this practice until actual democratic reforms can be made into law.
These are just a few of Harper's accomplishments as Prime Minister of Canada as there are many more. Now that he has been re-elected with a stronger minority he will continue to make further progress and able to run a functional and productive government with results.
- DCM
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