Poor Paul. In many eastern papers other than the Sun, Paul Martin is being portrayed as a victim. In Canadian culture, popular heroes propagated by elites generally fall into the victim category. Paul Martin fits this criteria.
Poor Paul. Last week I wrote about the death of the Liberal Empire. But with the corrupt Liberals now in bed with the unprincipled NDP, prepare for a long, drawn out affair.
Interestingly, even though Martin is at the end of a very long rope of Liberal corruption, most papers west of the Manitoba line are giving Martin a comparatively easy ride. Very different from how they went after Stockwell Day or Brian Mulroney at the end of their tenure.
Couched in editorial blarney, Martin is a good man caught in a bad situation. Lurching and reeling like some status-quo-seeking Frankenstein monster not knowing where to turn, is a recent poll by the Strategic Counsel published over the weekend. But the real story is not the numbers—it’s the first two polling questions:
Question 1: “Liberals say Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have a hidden agenda. Do you find that claim believable?
Question 2: Do you still support Paul Martin and the Liberals since Gomery?
In polling circles, some might refer to these questions as a “push poll.” Accusing Conservatives of the good old “hidden agenda” makes for excellent fundraising fodder amongst the Liberals’ social-liberal base.
But this was not an internal Liberal poll looking to increase the Liberal party’s annual taxpayer allowance of $9 million bequeathed by Chretien before he left office—this was a professional poll commissioned by one of our country’s national newspapers.
Do you hear the train a’ comin’ chugging down the inevitable social-liberal-speak track: “hidden agenda, Hidden Agenda, HIDDEN AGENDA!”
Ironically, I debated the oncoming “hidden agenda” freight train with friends at the Civitas convention over the weekend, because I see abortion and health care as the obvious targets. To the social-liberal intellect, unmarked envelopes of Liberal protection money is not nearly as “scary” as having a so-called “hidden agenda” that can never be found.
The Liberals are brazen with the blase because Conservatives continue to cower in the corner when challenged on non-issues such as the use of the notwithstanding clause to protect the definition of traditional marriage, or rejecting the Liberals tried-in-other-countries-and-failed national day-care initiative.
The more the Conservative party clarifies its moderate intentions in the social arena, the less the “hidden agenda” can be used as a weapon. What would be a total unexpected surprise for poor Paul and gang would be an unapologetic conservative agenda.
Gerry Nicholls of the National Citizens Coalition (http://www.morefreedom.org )—which Harper used to head—has assembled an excellent “non-scary” conservative agenda. Important principles such as common sense health-care reform, less taxes for average people, increased military spending, restoring language rights to English-speaking Quebecers, allowing the auditor general to examine the books of Crown corporations and government foundations, and last but certainly not least—the privatization of the CBC.
Polls, schmolls. People are tired of the status quo. The Conservative party needs to quit being so agendaphobic.
Canada is looking for a party that is unafraid of representing Canadian values that are actually conservative in nature, rather than the status quo. Poor Paul.
Copyright ? 2005 Janet L. Jackson.
Columnist for the Calgary Sun, Janet L. Jackson is also Executive Director of the Canadian Conservative Union. Through her work with conservative political action committees, Jackson has been an effective and prominent voice for preserving traditional marriage, religious freedom and free speech.
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