In the last year and a half you have knocked on thousands of doors and have probably patted half the dogs in Leeds-Grenville. What have you learned?
(Laughing) I have learned that if I let the dog lick my hand, it stops barking long enough for me to talk to the owner.
Although many people have lived in Leeds-Grenville for generations, others have moved to Leeds-Grenville because of our strong communities and the beauty and recreational opportunities. And because of the Internet, a surprising number work from their homes. One guy manages a 400-person network in all parts of the world from his home in North Grenville. A woman works full time for a Bay Street law firm from her home in Gananoque. A Delta woman works for IBM from her home.
What is the ballot question for this election?
This election is about two things: one is the Liberal vs Conservative choices on what to spend money on; the other is whether people approve of Mr. Harper’s style of government.
The Conservatives are keen on mega-prisons and corporate tax cuts and sloppy military procurements. They’re often not bothering to get tenders and in the case of the F-35 jets, are signing on for something not completely developed yet. And they are stubborn enough to stay committed to it even as other countries are backing away.
Most economists agree that corporate tax cuts are not the best way to create jobs. Analysts at the Department of Finance, Jim Flaherty’s own department, have placed corporate tax cuts at the bottom of the job-creation list, well below investments in education and families.
The reason investments in families create jobs is that families will spend the money immediately, multiplying the economic benefit, while corporations are already sitting on hordes of cash.
The Liberals want to invest in education as well as other measures to help families get over the hurdles of raising kids, saving for pensions, and looking after gravely ill family members. And we have specific programs to do all of those things.
What about Mr. Harper’s approach to government?
I find it secretive, deceitful, and wasteful.
The most recent examples are their refusal to provide parliament or the public with the costs of the proposed legislation, of the cost to the taxpayers. Siphoning fifty million dollars of money intended for the improvement of our border infrastructure into washrooms and gazebos scattered around the riding of the Minister of Industry. The wasteful G20 photo op and the fake lake. More recently spending millions of dollars on taxpayer-paid ads to announce stimulus programs that had already expired.
Perhaps the most troubling thing about the Conservatives’ approach was that they shut down debate and fired or silenced anyone who disagreed with them. The head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Agency and the Veteran’s Ombudsman are but two of many examples of principled individuals fired for doing their jobs.
Why should we care?
There are so many issues we need to come to grips with as a country: jobs, climate change, dealing with our aging population, Canada’s place in the world. If we don’t have honest and substantive debates about these issues, we won’t find the right solutions.
Do the Harper Conservatives have too much respect for the free market?
I think they don’t see a role for government, so they’re offloading all responsibility for our economic direction and job creation to the big corporations, leaving our future in the hands of those whose chief requirement is to maximize quarterly profit. We need to balance the short-term thinking of the corporations with long-term plans and investments in education, research and technology. That’s the government’s job.
What things do people bring up most?
People are embarrassed and angry about question period. Teachers in particular complain about this. Personally I think we should try taking the TV cameras out of the House of Commons.
Jobs and job security are both huge issues. People who work for companies going through corporate transitions are seriously worried about the future of their pension plans.
I see lots of potential for jobs here. People with skills want to live in our communities. So let’s make sure we are as attractive as possible to startup and growing small businesses. Green energy is already creating jobs, and can create more.
Can tourism in Leeds-Grenville survive a high dollar?
I think it can because we do have a first class product in our land, our people, and our history.
As a landscape painter I take great joy in the beauty of the Westport area. One great opportunity is to prepare a Michelin-type tourist guide for artist’s studios and galleries in Leeds-Grenville, integrating our tourism and artistic communities.
How are the late stages of the local campaign going?
Not that I notice, but in my neighbourhood we’re winning the sign war, 8 to 6 (laughing).
Quite a few people have told me they plan to cast a strategic Liberal vote this time. I tell them their votes are safe with me. I’m a fiscal conservative, a social progressive, and a dedicated environmentalist. So I encourage those fed up with Stephen Harper’s behaviour to band together and make me their MP.
Steve Pettibone has a fine profile of Marjory Loveys at http://www.recorder.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3091585
On federal politics: an interview with Marjory Loveys
August 14, 2009
Marjory Loveys worked for years in the Prime Minister’s Office. I leaped at the chance to talk to a woman who understands federal politics. Marjory is running for the Leeds and Grenville Liberal nomination.
Why is it important that the Liberal Party of Canada form the next government?
It’s worth looking at the current government and defining for ourselves what makes people so uncomfortable with Stephen Harper. For me there are two things: 1. he is mean and divisive, and I fear that over time Canada will become like him, meaner and more divided; 2. he seems to have very little ambition for Canada. I don’t see any big ideas coming from Stephen Harper; I don’t see big plans for progress for Canada. I don’t see him excited about new industries, new technologies, or major reforms of any kind. He likes the oil sands, law and order, and ethanol. That’s about it.
Yes, but he’s an oilman, from Calgary.
He’s no oilman. I worked with guys from the oil patch and they were builders. They wore iron rings and they built things. Stephen Harper is not a builder. He has plenty of ambition for himself, but not for Canada.
What’s Michael Ignatieff doing talking up the oil sands?
It’s a big industry and a big resource, and it has to learn to operate sustainably. In Calgary there are lots of iron rings and a can-do attitude. In terms of climate change if we had fewer economists and lawyers and more engineers, we could accomplish a whole lot. It’s like anything else. You don’t do it until you’re pushed, and the trick for government is that we will push them in a way that works for them.
Engineers are taught to solve problems, and that’s what politics needs: people to solve problems. That’s what I did for ten years in Mr. Chretien’s office: listen to all sides. Find an approach that is supportive, not destructive, that works for everybody.
One blogger suggested that Michael Ignatieff should stop trying to appear a statesman and speak to Canadians the way he would talk to members of a book club. Are there enough readers in Canada to make Michael Ignatieff our next Prime Minister?
I look at Mr. Ignateiff as someone who is learning very quickly in one of the toughest jobs in the country. He has a strong philosophical framework for the job. He has actually thought about the role of government. He is liberal in the finest sense of the word.
Mr. Harper is like Mike Harris: he doesn’t believe in the organization he is leading. He is there to weaken it, not to make it work well. He has instructed his MPs to make Commons committee work totally partisan and dysfunctional. If Conservative Party of Canada MPs don’t like where the committee is going, they often get up and leave.
Stephen Harper is caught up in an ideology of not believing in government. He does not believe in government as a force for good. By contrast Michael Ignatieff believes in a government which functions well and is doing the right thing.
George W. Bush’s ideology demanded that he cut taxes, deregulate, and wage war. He left the United States bankrupt. To what extent has this Republican trend influenced the Conservative Party of Canada?
One of the great myths is that Liberals are spendthrifts and Conservatives are good fiscal managers.
The Chretien Liberals inherited a huge deficit from Brian Mulroney. By the end of the Chretien years we had surpluses that were being used to pay down the nation’s mortgage. Stephen Harper increased spending and cut taxes to the point where the surplus was gone before the recession began. With no rainy day funds, the entire stimulus package was funded by going into debt. No prudent family would run their finances this way. We have seen this pattern in Saskatchewan, and in the United States in Republican years. The right wing ran up the debts and the left wing paid them off.
What local and national challenges will the next government face?
The big challenge for Canada over the next few years will be to recover from the recession. What I would push very hard for is more help for small business because they are spending lots of money on stimulus. If you are a car company it’s great, if you build infrastructure it is great, but the vast majority of enterprises in Leeds and Grenville are small businesses, and Ottawa hasn’t beefed up support for small business.
Your next hurdle is to gain the nomination. Why should members of the Leeds and Grenville Liberal association choose you as their candidate?
I know how government works and I know what it feels like to be in a small business and feel that you’re not being heard. I grew up in a village in Oxford County and I have seen a lack of understanding of rural and small communities in the federal government.
Mr. Ignatieff has made a commitment to use a rural lens on his policies. This is his way of recognizing that one size does not fit all and he is committing that all of his policies will work for small towns as well as for cities. I’m particularly interested in day care programs, for example. They will need to be designed quite differently in rural communities than in downtown Toronto.
the Walnut Diary 