Platforms, Part 4: Liberal Party

The Liberal Party has been the incumbent since the early 1990's under former prime minister Jean Chretien and current prime minister Paul Martin. Paul Martin was the finance minister (effectively the #2 man in the administration) for most of Jean Chretien's terms in office.

The Liberal platform is 58 pages long. My analysis (if I may abuse that term for this occasion) will not run that long. I hope — if for no other reason that the polls open in less than 15 hours, and I'd like to have finished this little project before then.

Under the Heading "Changing the Way Government Works"

• "Restored Parliament to the centre of national debate and decision-making by implementing broad democratic reforms to give your MP a greater voice."
• "Most votes in the House of Commons are now free votes, in which MPs can represent the views of their constituents as they see fit. Since Paul Martin became Prime Minister, 72% of House votes have been free votes."
• "Parliamentarians now have the authority to review most senior government appointments, including those of heads of Crown Corporations."
• The government has committed that Parliament will play a role in reviewing Supreme Court appointments.

All three of these points seem to be attempting to directly answer the charges in the Conservative platform over the role of the elected member of parliament. If they can be taken at face value, then the Conservatives are asking for things that have already been put into place.

• "Created an independent Ethics Commissioner who reports to Parliament, not to the Prime Minister."

Again, this is another point raised by the Conservatives in their platform document. I think that it's an overdue appointment and I hope that the Liberals are being fully truthful about the independance of this officer.

• "Terminated the Sponsorship Program and comprehensively addressed the Auditor-General's criticisms of the program by:"
• "Establishing an Independent Commission of Inquiry, headed by Mr. Justice Gomery, to conduct a thorough investigation."
• "Appointing a Special Counsel to recover any misappropriated funds."
• "Charging the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament — which is chaired by a member of the Opposition — to investigate what happened. The committee held ten weeks of hearings, during which it heard testimony from key witnesses, including the Auditor-General."

All of these things, if taken at face value, can be considered to be responding to the charges outlined in the Conservative platform. The key question in the last sentence is "if taken at face value". Certainly the impression I got was that all of the right motions may have been made, but not with any speed or sense of urgency. Even if the right things are done, if they are not done in a timely fashion, a re-elected Liberal government can "sweep it under the carpet", to borrow one of Paul Martin's favourite phrases.

• "Introduced legislation to protect "whistle blowers" who come forward to report wrongdoing in government and Crown Corporations."

This would be a good thing, if implemented honestly and with full intent to perform according to the spirit of the measure. At risk of sounding like a broken record, if we can trust the Liberals to follow through on this promise.

• "Overhauled and dramatically tightened financial controls in government,"

It must be remembered that this is the same government that has been in power for the past decade. . .surely this is something that they could, and should, have done much earlier in their first mandate, perhaps?

• "Launched a permanent, ongoing Expenditure Review procedure to eliminate waste and ensure that government spending delivers maximum value to taxpayers."

Sounds good. Let's see it actually deliver.

• "Professionalized the appointments process for the Immigration and Refugee Board"

Which only raises the question "What in the hell was the appointment process like before this???"

• "Created a new agency to accelerate the process of continuous improvement in the nonpartisan public service."

Does this mean that they've added another bureaucracy to improve the existing bureaucracies? Riiiiiight.

• "Launched a new era of co-operation with other orders of government in Canada."

As exemplified by the friendly and collegial way the prime minister heckled and harrassed the premier of Alberta last week? That's new, is it?

Under the Heading "An Agenda for Governing"

• "The Liberal government has proposed a New Deal for Canada's cities and communities — a deal designed to give them a greater voice at the national table and the benefit of new funding sources. Long-term predictable funding will help accelerate infrastructure projects such as public transit, municipal roads and bridges, sewer and water treatment, among others."

I've already mentioned, in some of the earlier articles in this series, that I feel that one of the biggest problems we have with government is that it's becoming impossible to identify which level of government is actually responsible for anything. This is a good example of the federal government's over-involvement in things that constitutionally they are supposed to leave to lower levels of government. Fixing this will require a lot of pruning of existing inter-governmental entanglements and deconstruction of a lot of existing agencies, offices, and patronage jobs. I don't think most Canadians agree with me, but I still hope that some progress can be made in this area.

• "We have significantly improved access to post-secondary education — both colleges and universities — through a number of specific initiatives in the March budget."

And isn't education another provincial responsibility? Why are the feds inserting themselves even further into areas that properly belong to the provinces?

• "The government is continuing the strong record of Liberal support for research, committing $1.25 billion of new funding for innovation, with emphasis on commercialization — turning bright ideas into jobs and growth."

Yet another area that the feds are muscling in on provincial turf.

• "The March budget provided more than $1 billion to support public health, including the creation of a new Canada Public Health Agency, which will be comprised of centres of excellence located across the country. The agency will focus on the management of infectious diseases such as SARS and West Nile virus; emergency preparedness and response; and combating chronic diseases such as diabetes."

Public health is one of the few areas that the feds may be justified in having some presence, and the SARS outbreak should have been a huge wake-up call for them (and the respective provinces) in this area.

• "The government responded comprehensively to the extraordinary plight of Canada?s farmers by providing a special $1 billion assistance package to those who have been hard hit by drought and the BSE crisis. The government has also worked steadily to secure the re-opening of the U.S. and other markets to all Canadian beef. And we have worked with the BC poultry industry to help farmers and processors cope with the effects of avian influenza."

As Colby Cosh pointed out recently, one of the odd side-effects of increased testing for BSE is bound to be the discovery of more cases. This will paradoxically increase public concern by attempting to allay public concern. The only way to completely ensure that BSE is not entering the system is to test all beef before it is shipped to wholesale or retail outlets. . .the cost of which will be astronomical compared to the current allocation of funds for spot testing. Whether the cost is directly borne by farmers and meat packers (and therefore also directly by the consumer) or is covered by the government (and therefore also by not only the consumers of beef products, but also by those who choose not to consume beef), the cost must be met.

• "$4 billion over 10 years to accelerate the cleanup of contaminated sites across Canada, including the notorious tar ponds in Sydney, Nova Scotia."

I've already stated in earlier articles that I agree with the Greens that the polluter should pay for the cleanup of polluted waters, land, and air. The federal government should move to more directly tie the costs to those who caused the pollution in the first place.

• "$1 billion to be invested in environmental technologies over the next seven years, funded in part by proceeds from the intended sale of the remaining federal ownership stake in Petro Canada."

This sounds good (especially the sell-off of the remaining government holdings in Petro Canada), except that I suspect we differ in our interpretations of the word "invest"

• "The Liberal government is committed to closing the gap in social and economic conditions between aboriginal people — First Nations, Inuit and Métis " and other Canadians."

Much is said, little is accomplished in this area. Until aboriginal Canadians are able to have the same rights and privileges as non-aboriginal Canadians, their conditions will not measurably improve. Allowing aboriginals the right to own property is the first step to giving them the necessary tools to build free lives for themselves. More funding is not helping the individuals who need help.

• "On April 27, the government released Canada?s first-ever comprehensive statement of an integrated national security policy. This statement, entitled Securing an Open Society, addresses threats to Canadians whether from international terrorism, public health emergencies (such as the SARS outbreak) or other public emergencies such as last summer?s electricity blackout in Ontario."

I was expecting something different to appear in this heading. . .something, perhaps, about national security? Perhaps I'm being naive in thinking that national defence had something to do with it.

• "To provide the intellectual and policy underpinnings to bolster Canada's influence in the world, the government launched a comprehensive review of international policy that, for the first time, integrates diplomacy, development, defence and trade."

It's a bit disturbing to think that the government has not had such a broad policy guideline in place in the past. At least there is something in place now, we're told.

• "Committed to significant and accelerated equipment upgrades for the Canadian Forces, including search and rescue aircraft and new supply ships and armored vehicles — ensuring our military will have the modern tools to do the job for Canada. The government renewed its commitment of forces in Afghanistan and is participating in the United Nations multinational force in Haiti."

These would include the helicopters to replace the ancient Sky Kings, yes? The ones that the Liberals cancelled back in 1993? At a cancellation cost of over half a billion dollars in 1993 terms? I thought so.

• "The government is determined to forge a more sophisticated relationship with Canada?s closest friend, ally and economic partner."

I suspect that the sophistication mentioned here will not be helpful to Mr. Martin if he is returned as prime minister tonight. The number of times he used the Americans as rhetorical whipping boys during this campaign will undermine any attempt to forge stronger and more reciprocal bonds of friendship between the two countries. You can only point at someone and refer to them as a bogeyman so often before they start taking you at your word.

Under the Heading "Strengthening Our Social Foundations"

• "The National Waiting Times Reduction Strategy and The 'Five in Five' Plan. A Liberal government will take direct aim at waiting times for key medical procedures."

As anyone who's been in a Canadian hospital lately will tell you, long waiting times have become the common experience, almost regardless of the procedure you're waiting for. Reducing waiting times will be a popular item with most voters. Why it's a federal plank is perhaps a bit harder to justify. 'Five in Five' — a five-year plan — is just a bit Soviet-sounding to have been well-thought-out.

• "A Liberal government will work with the provinces and territories to overcome the shortage of medical providers that exists in too many parts of Canada — in part by increasing the number of medical spaces in universities and accelerating the qualification of new immigrants with medical credentials."

The Conservatives also mention easing the recognition of qualified immigrants to Canada. Clearly the two major parties are in agreement about this one...dare we hope it'll be done?

• "In addition, the government will work with the provinces and professional associations to determine an appropriately expanded role for nurse practitioners and other health care professionals to reduce the load on doctors in frontline care."

I'd toss this one to the provinces and move on, personally.

• "A Liberal government will also continue to financially support Canada Health Infoway?s development of a national electronic health record system. The e-record is an essential element of a safer and more efficient primary health care system."

This would get the tinfoil-hat brigade's collective knickers in a twist. The good news is that it's the government doing it, so the chances of it working are minimal.

• "A Liberal government will introduce a National Home Care Program, laying the foundations for full inclusion of appropriate home care services in our public health system."

Do you think the provinces are either incapable of setting these programs up, or do not agree that they are needed?

• "Working with the provinces and health care providers, we will design the right nationwide approach to provide all Canadians with a basic level of coverage, including catastrophic protection, and to contain pharmaceutical costs."

Next verse, same as the first: "Provincial Responsibility"!

• "The Canada Health Act, the act that governs medicare, remains a symbol of shared values for Canadians. The Act has five principles — public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability and accessibility. A Liberal government will enforce each of them."

Except in Quebec. And maybe Alberta.

Apologies to all, but I've long since run out of time to complete this article, so the rest of the Liberal platform will remain unread/uncritiqued and none of the NDP platform will appear here either. Unless we have another election in the near future, in which case I'll do my best to get this project started before polling day.