TheStar.com - Canada would be a different nation

TheStar.com - Canada would be a different nation

Canada would be a different nation
Jan. 14, 2006. 09:22 AM

As Canadians prepare to go to the polls, many are pondering what Canada might look like if the Conservatives under Stephen Harper are elected.

While it is impossible to foresee all the issues a new Conservative government might face in the future, or predict how it might address them, we can look back in time at some of the significant national issues this country has faced in recent years, and we can say with some confidence how the Tories would have dealt with them.

It is instructive to recognize that Canada would be different today, had the Conservatives been in a position to act on their past campaign promises and platform. And that should come as no surprise.

Harper ran for the Tory leadership vowing to "create a country built on solid Conservative values, not on expensive Liberal promises, a country the Liberals wouldn't even recognize." And while his views on specific issues have evolved, "I don't think my fundamental beliefs have changed in a decade," he told reporters this week. Harper is a conviction politician, who truly does believe in changing the nation's course.

Tomorrow, the Star will focus on what Canada will be like if the Conservatives implement the campaign platform they unveiled yesterday. But today, we are focusing on what would have been.

Canada would take more cues from the United States.

Canadian troops would likely have joined the American war on Iraq, which was waged under false pretences, to eliminate weapons of mass destruction that did not exist. Harper felt we should be "shoulder to shoulder" with our closest ally.

Canada would not have signed the Kyoto accord to curb global warming.

And we would have joined the controversial U.S. missile defence system.

Parliament itself might look very different.

Harper would have changed the dynamic in Parliament by appointing senators only after they had been elected provincially. Over time, this would create two competing power centres in Parliament, with the House of Commons championing the national interest and a Senate with more political legitimacy pulling for the provinces.

Ultimately, parliamentary gridlock might be a real risk.

Ottawa would be less activist.

Conservatives believe as an article of faith in smaller, less activist federal government, and a looser federation. Unlike the Liberals, the Conservatives also would not have promoted a new national social program, such as the proposed child-care network.

Canada would be a less progressive society.

It is hard to imagine Harper would have named a progressive pioneer, such as Madam Justice Rosalie Abella, to the Supreme Court. And a Conservative government would not have passed a law allowing same-sex couples to marry in Canada.

Rather, many Conservatives would have pushed for a far more restrictive abortion law, and for tougher pornography laws.

Canada's rich-poor gap would be more pronounced.

In the 2004 election, the Conservatives vowed to give Canadians the lowest taxes in the world, lower even than in the United States, where there is a more pronounced rich-poor gap. The Tories believe lower taxes will attract business investment, but we firmly believe they would actually lead to more polarization of the rich and poor. Generally, the Conservative preference for cutting taxes over providing services has traditionally favoured the more affluent. Moreover, the poor in Canada, who rely more heavily on services for health, education, child care and shelter, get shortchanged. Ottawa would have had to pare support for services as federal revenues shrank.

Toronto would be worse off.

Harper showed no great enthusiasm for a "new deal" for Toronto, and other cities, that involved giving them a multi-billion-dollar package of gas tax revenues, a goods and services tax break and other assistance. Nor would funding for transit infrastructure have been a major priority.

Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats will disagree on whether Canada would have been better or worse off under these different policies that the Tories would have pursued. But there is no debating that the country would have looked different, had the Conservatives been in a position to champion their agenda.

Canada would have a more pro-American foreign policy today. In Parliament, national-provincial tensions would be more keenly felt. Ottawa would be less active providing national social programs. Society itself would be less progressive. The rich-poor gap would likely be wider. And cash-strapped major cities would be receiving less federal help.

Tomorrow we will look at the current Conservative platform, which was fully unveiled yesterday, and how it proposes to reshape the country.