the Walnut Diary

Rodcros here. First, a bit of background. Yes, I am or was a fifth generation Progressive Conservative until Mike Harris made a reluctant Liberal out of me. I deeply admired John Robarts, Bill Davis, John Crosbie, Joe Clark, and my personal favourite, Flora McDonald. John Matheson was the one Liberal in my early years who won and held my admiration. Frankly, I never thought much of the others, but there was nowhere else to turn when Harris and his acolytes took over in Ontario, and then remnants of his crew formed up around Harper in Ottawa. After Harris left to grow fat on Bay Street.

Why am I so angry at Stephen Harper? He’s a plagiarist, for starters. I learned early on in my career as an educator that a plagiarist must be stopped early and firmly, or he or she will come to no good. The culture of the Harper Government in fact has come to no good. The fundamental decencies which make up Western-style democracy don’t seem to mean anything to these guys. The PMO rules the country. Harper prorogues and leaves Dimitri Soudas in charge?

A prime minister should bring a people together, not split them into warring factions, but Harper has made a practice of this. I see the current neo-con government as a barbarian invasion, and all I want is for them to be gone, so that we can find our way back to some sort of balance in a civil parliamentary democracy. With a census. With signatures that mean something. With respect for one’s colleagues and one’s department, not contempt for underlings. Where blind loyalty is not the only admirable trait.

The Bev Oda situation was the last straw for me because it was so inelegant, so classless. This group of legislators write laws, but they lack the ability to follow them. This should not be. Where is the discussion of policy? In the last five years it’s all been political games and omnibus legislation rammed through without discussion.

This summer I interviewed Michael Ignatieff and he stuck me as a man I could live with as a leader. He’s not overly cunning. He shows a good reverence for Canadian democratic tradition. I wrote in my newspaper column at the time that he is a better conservative than Stephen Harper, and I’ll stand by that.

Thank your for your attention and consideration. Parliamentary democracy evolved at the same time as the watch: both depended upon the opposing spring principle. Balance and a certain delicacy are essential to the maintenance of both, and we need to work hard through vigorous and well-intended dialogue, to allow our Canadian democracy to flourish, rather than to dwindle and wilt under oppression.

Rod Croskery, M.Ed.