Earlier this week, Stephen Harper basically tried to make Senate Reform in Canada the province's problem to sort out. More or less, he said that he wasn't going to appoint any more senators until the provinces come up with a plan to reform or abolish the Senate.
Harper has finally figured out one thing - namely that Senate reform cannot be done by legislative fiat, nor can he simply bully his way through. Any meaningful reform has to have actual leadership to drive it. Harper doesn't want to lead, he wants to dictate.
Basically, what Harper did was a "Halt or the dummy gets it" hostage taking approach. This is not the approach of a leader, but rather that of a manipulator who doesn't understand how to build consensus. Consensus among the provinces is not easy to build. It will take being open to negotiation and careful consideration.
Harper has had the last decade to build consensus between the provinces and get the reform process rolling along. Instead, he has treated the provincial premiers like dirt, tried to play them off against each other and generally has acted as a force of division. On the Senate file, he stuffed it full of cronies and bag men, it blew up in his face. Then he tried to "reform" it by proposing to do so through legislative fiat rather than through the Constitution's amending formula. When the Supreme Court pointed out how every one of his proposals was unconstitutional, he gave up and went into a sulk.
Now, after watching Mulcair rise far above his expectations in the polls, Harper comes out with a passive-aggressive "it's not me, it's you" approach to the Senate file. This is not leadership, it is a gross failure to lead.
Harper has finally figured out one thing - namely that Senate reform cannot be done by legislative fiat, nor can he simply bully his way through. Any meaningful reform has to have actual leadership to drive it. Harper doesn't want to lead, he wants to dictate.
Basically, what Harper did was a "Halt or the dummy gets it" hostage taking approach. This is not the approach of a leader, but rather that of a manipulator who doesn't understand how to build consensus. Consensus among the provinces is not easy to build. It will take being open to negotiation and careful consideration.
Harper has had the last decade to build consensus between the provinces and get the reform process rolling along. Instead, he has treated the provincial premiers like dirt, tried to play them off against each other and generally has acted as a force of division. On the Senate file, he stuffed it full of cronies and bag men, it blew up in his face. Then he tried to "reform" it by proposing to do so through legislative fiat rather than through the Constitution's amending formula. When the Supreme Court pointed out how every one of his proposals was unconstitutional, he gave up and went into a sulk.
Now, after watching Mulcair rise far above his expectations in the polls, Harper comes out with a passive-aggressive "it's not me, it's you" approach to the Senate file. This is not leadership, it is a gross failure to lead.
No comments:
Post a Comment