I had planned to write a piece about the Conservative leadership convention, making the point that a pandemic is not the perfect environment for large political gatherings, that the normal traffic of large meetings and public debates that is the business of those seeking leadership does not harmonize with lockdowns and stay-at-home advisories. Moreover, though it may be discomfiting to hear, we have done without effective Conservative leadership for a while now and could probably survive waiting an extra month or two before bringing a fresh instalment on stage. Thus, the idea of continuing the campaign during a public health crisis is very simply a bad one. If the Olympics can be postponed, Canada can suffer the delay of a Tory leadership contest.
In this context, Conservative leadership candidate Peter MacKay’s call for the vote to be held sooner, rather than delaying it, is simply bizarre. Let us wait till the situation is under control enough to allow some normalcy to return and then, with full and unrestrained public participation in the process, may the Conservatives look to see who best may lead them. That was the column I intended (and more or less have delivered anyway).
But it is small potatoes (petites pommes de terre) compared to the outrage and absurdity of what, I gather for a brief while, was being contemplated from the brain trust gathered at the top of the Liberal government: granting unfettered authority to Finance Minister Bill Morneau and the Liberal cabinet to have complete control over taxation and spending, without Parliamentary approval, until Dec. 31, 2021.
From what dim pit did that idea emerge? What was the “thinking” (the word is far too kind) from which it emanated? Has this minority government been so super-competent, so alert and agile in all its responses to this crisis, that there is a hidden clamour to denature Parliament and hand all power and authority to the troika of unquestionable sages (Morneau, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland) of the minority government? If so, I have missed the acclaim.
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See Also:
(1) Outrage as snowbirds flock across the border, shop and refuse to self-isolate
(3) As the world burns, Canada should learn from others on how to fight the coronavirus fire
