-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.10/pageone.html <A HREF="http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.10/pageone.html">Laissez Faire City Times - Volume 3 Issue 10</A> The Laissez Faire City Times March 8, 1999 - Volume 3, Issue 10 Editor & Chief: Emile Zola ----- The New Canadian Militancy by Peter Topolewski Elected government in Canada rarely sees a true leader in its ranks. It rarely sees one with much vision, wisdom, or thought about where the nation should be going or how it might get there. But on election day voters suffer a mental shift that casts the newly elected in a dangerously estimable light. Simply by virtue of gathering the most votes, winning candidates move to a realm wholly detached from their mere mortal roots, one where they are seen to have the only answers to alleviate our daily woes. In time the luster unfailingly wears off every politician, mostly because they are thought to have run for self- serving reasons to begin with. But the process is a symptom of an underlying psychological problem: most in Canada do not see government as a mechanism that exists for and by the individual, but as one that works over and above all people. There are, however, signs that this might be changing. Canadians don’t actually think much of politicians themselves – of those admired for policies or honorable traits like integrity, not one comes to mind – but hold the leadership and rule of government to be an admirable thing. Government in Canada is like a father, one not looked to for especially creative solutions but one who will keep the roof over our heads, maintain what we have, and treat us all equally even if that means we’re all together treated unfairly. Government has the awesome power to tax, to take our wealth and dole it back to us piecemeal, to nurture us and supply us with basic necessities. Government is Poppa, and all we expect from it is to be treated like children. Preserve our health care system and hold our heads above water, and we’re happy. This is the crux of Canadian politics, and winning politicians of every stripe strive to fulfill these meager expectations in order to win re-election. The parliamentary system nearly grants the leader of the ruling party unlimited power to meet these obligations, the method usually determined by that party’s version of ideology and by those to whom they owe political favors. Voters exert their only control over this process at election time – no matter what injustices occurred in the interim – and tend to remove politicians from government only if they 1) failed to supply nurture and care via sufficient government programs; 2) if they became overzealous in repaying favors (that is, too lavishly corrupt); or 3) if in their effort to be Poppa Government they spent so radically they threatened to destroy the entire system that has sat on the brink of bankruptcy since the 1950s. Reason number three seems to occur cyclically on the provincial government level, where voters in several provinces tend to elect radical socialists after 15 or 20 years have intervened to erase memories of their last stint in power. With their "progressive" (read expensive and generally inefficient) programs, the socialists waste little time making those memories painfully real and putting voters vividly in touch with the reasons for tossing them out 20 years ago. And Canadians do toss out. While traditionally Canadians have little reaction to government policy, when it is election time governments that have not performed as a good Poppa face the prospect of extinction. Although elections often amount to choosing the least of a half dozen evils, voters have been unequivocal when expressing their disappointment in a negligent Poppa. Federal and provincial ruling parties have come out of elections without a single incumbent returned to office. This is the fate facing British Columbia’s current premier, Glen Clark of the New Democratic Party (NDP). Prior to their current reign, the NDP ruled BC in the early 70s. After their bizarre governance turned voters off the NDP philosophy, their erasure in the next election begot the nearly 20-year rule of the more conservative Social Credit Party. In the early 1990s Social Credit scandals of greed took that party off the radar screen and a voter memory lapse brought the NDP back to power. Their ascension to government came with the province enjoying what are now seen as halcyon days. BC’s economy was the envy of the country, and it seemed the wealth would go on forever. Today, BC is again a standout in the country, but unfortunately because the economy is shrinking while the rest of Canada enjoys a modest boom. The NDP’s popularity sits at a whopping 11 percent, an unprecedented low number achieved by overtly kowtowing to its union supporters, taxing like there’s no tomorrow, gutting the resource sectors, creating self-serving government mega-projects, and doing so with an air of disdain for the public, a disregard for truth, and an arrogance thought to have died with last century’s monarchs. The Natives Are Restless The NDP must call the next election sometime during the next two years, and while the leading contenders to succeed them are hardly crowd favorites, voters will without doubt make that election the beginning of the NDP’s next sabbatical. But are the voters content to wait? Most would have assumed so until a few weeks ago. Since then among the normally complacent voters – characteristically quiet during the NDP’s debauchery, despite the 11 percent approval rating – has arisen a grassroots movement that will topple the NDP government long before the next election. Through a piece of legislation introduced by the NDP in its first term in power, voters can recall elected representatives whom they feel have not fulfilled their duties and promises. With the support of 60 percent of registered voters in a given riding, a recall campaign can force a new election for that riding’s member of the legislative assembly. Recall has been attempted in two separate ridings, one inspired by an election-eve lie about a balanced budget, since proven to be in deficit by $90 million. Both campaigns failed, largely due to the significant union money thrown behind the politicians besieged by the recall efforts. Since then dismay and anger have steadily risen thanks to a $300 million bailout aimed to save union jobs at a non-competitive pulp mill, Soviet-style construction projects, and most recently what is growing into the worst government boondoggle in BC history a make work project aimed at restoring a long dead ship building industry. This one is so ridiculous it deserves some detail. In 1994 Glen Clark, then minister in charge of ferries for the NDP government, figured that the aging ferry fleet would best be upgraded if new "fast" ferries were built right in BC. So, months before the following election, the government-owned BC Ferries Corp created a subsidiary called Catamaran Ferries International (CFI) to build three aluminum-hulled catamaran ferries. The cost, Clark announced, would be $70 million-a-piece, an "all-in price, right down to the toilet paper." The delivery date was set for 1997. Today total cost estimates approach $400 million and not one ferry is operational. Only one even floats. In 1994 CFI was one of the first companies to attempt building a fast ferry. Since then six countries have completed faster and cheaper vessels. What went wrong? Well, from day one the project was Glen Clark’s political project. And his political time frame created a monster. A shipyard had to be built and a cadre of unionized aluminum welders trained, a process that took only 50 percent longer than anticipated. Construction began before a final plan for the vessel was created and before the budget and contracts were completed. In June of 1997 Clark demanded the first ferry be put in the water for christening. It was with his wife doing the duty on what has since been revealed to be nothing but a floating shell. Since then the first "fast ferry" has sat in the water, leaking and losing its paint, and once in a while undergoing sea-trials. The sea trials have proven that inexperienced welders caused the aluminum to buckle and necessitated re-enforcement, so the ferry is overweight and unable to achieve top speed. It reached top speed once, when empty, but at the cost of blowing the engines. The bow ramp door is too heavy, won’t close properly, and will not fit current ferry docks. It will travel near its projected speed if loaded with fewer cars than the old and slow ferries, and if its fuel tanks are only half filled, but this would require a new fueling station (which civic governments have rejected on their shores) and more frequent refueling stops that would negate time saved travelling faster. The CFI board of directors who questioned some of the policies and practices of planning and construction were forced to resign and replaced by a group, in Glen Clark’s words, more "geographically and ethnically diverse" – exactly what’s needed to oversee a complex maritime project. The politically correct board was of course placed in power because they were NDP supporters more sympathetic to Clark’s psychotic plans and less interested in the details. Now that the problems with the ferries and the overruns of the cost-plus project are public information, Clark blames and fires everyone in sight while maintaining his ignorance. No matter how assuredly he denies responsibility, BC taxpayers know they can thank him and his board for a $400 million heap of aluminum destined for the junkyard. And some of those taxpayers are planning to thank him most generously with a new recall campaign, one which aims at every one of his elected representatives, a recall dubbed Total Recall. Clark’s NDP has a 5 seat majority in the legislative assembly. By targeting all members of his government, organizers guarantee to spread union financial and logistical support too thin to make a difference. The Total Recall campaign will focus the public’s anger on Clark while attacking NDP representatives in every riding. When enough pissed-off citizens in five or more ridings sign the local recall petition, Clark and the NDP in BC are finished. It is a new Canadian militancy, long overdue, and Clark’s defense is limited. He could beat Total Recall to the punch and call an election. He would surely lose, but inevitably insist he went down with some pride. Or Clark could repeal the recall legislation all together, the legislation that his very own party created. This would simply delay his demise, but such a crass act, while almost expected of him, would create outrage. Perhaps it would inspire protests, the burning of effigies, demands for resignation, and downright revolt. Clark’s rule should have inspired these long ago. The new Canadian militancy, while slow in coming, could just catch on like wild fire. -30- from The Laissez Faire City Times, Vol 3, No 10, March 8, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Published by Laissez Faire City Netcasting Group, Inc. Copyright 1998 - Trademark Registered with LFC Public Registrar All Rights Reserved Disclaimer The Laissez Faire City Times is a private newspaper. 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