by Walter Onubogu

Created on: May 10, 2008

Stephen Harper's conservative government has been in power this long not because of an outstanding performance or excellent record, but rather because of the weakness of the Liberal and New Democratic (NDP)opposition to provide an alternative option to Canadians.

I think the Harper government is beset by major weaknesses.

1. Minority government: Now it is nothing new to Canadians to have a minority government. In the past they had a few Liberal ones under former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau which depended on the support of the New Democrats (Canada's Social Democratic Party) to pass legislation. As a minority government the Harper government is quite susceptible to a vote of confidence, that may be triggered by the opposition in order to bring down the government and force fresh general elections.

2.Performance:

On major policy issues the Conservatives have failed. In terms of economic growth they are living off the Liberals record, they haven't initiated any surge in Canadian productivity nor expanded Canada's trading relations with other countries. Moreover the Conservatives are not strengthening Canadian small and medium sized companies, but rather pandering to the big banks and big companies, that is just plain folly. Cutting the GST (goods and services tax) was a good idea for the consumer perhaps, but as we all know politicians never offer a "free" lunch to the nation's citizens. In one way or the other the funds will be clawed back from us, that is for sure. Its all about image and Harper knows that. In terms of defense spending and Canadian involvement in securing Afghanistan, the government has finally come to realize that Canadians don't want to continue footing the government 's bill or death toll of Canadian soldiers, so a withdrawal date has been set. Overall in terms of Canadian foreign and environment policy, it is very disappointing to see that the Harper government has been extremely eager to cozy up to George Bush's policies of imperialist aggression and environmental degradation. Canada under Harper has backed off from the Kyoto Protocol and like Bush been daydreaming about the generosity and benevolence of corporate fat cats to implement "voluntary" emission controls. This shows how far removed Prime Minister Harper is from the reality and the wishes of the Canadian public.

3.Lack of Vision: It is apparent that Harper doesn't offer any charismatic leadership,he is thus a very dour Conservative. Although using a technocratic approach may not necessarily be the worst thing, lacking a vision for Canada certainly is. What has happened to the idea that Canada should strive toward "social justice" ? Or why isn't there a wish to promote Canada's role abroad in a peaceful manner? You just need to access BBC. com to see how rarely Canada makes it onto their front pages. Canadians are fed up with Conservatives and Liberals failing to stand up for Canada in the world, rather than cozying up to reactionary Republicans down South.

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