WHOSE NEXT ??
And believe me...there will be more to follow.
This type of crisis did occur once before in relative recent history. It was known as the Bomarc Missile Crisis of 1963 and led directly to the defeat of then Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's Government. As with today, there were two prominent Ministers involved ...George Hees, Minister of Trade and Commerce and Defence Minister Doug Harkness and as is the case today both resigned on a matter of conscience.
So it is not totally unknown in Canadian Political History for key Ministers to resign on matters of principle. Sadly, there have not been enough.
So where does Young Trudeau go from here assuming he doesn't just resign...from my perspective he has but 2 options: either he tears up the rule-book (no pun intended) and starts afresh or he hunkers down and simply keeps on doing what he has been doing. Both have pros and cons attached to them which I am about to get into.
But first, he will likely await the results of the Butts' and Wernick testimonies before the House Justice Committee tomorrow. That said, between you and me, nothing positive for the Government will come out of their testimony...only more trouble. In addition, Trudeau would be wise to fire Wernick before tomorrow...Wernick is a dead man walking so why not get it over before the Clerk of the PCO can do more damage to his brand.
So now back to the only 2 viable options the P.M. has before him - do nothing or start over.
Realizing whichever he chooses, he and his Party are now toast come the October General Election ...a repeat of the Diefenbaker Electoral Loss in 1963
And realizing that whatever option He picks, his immediate future - i.e. whether he even makes it to the Fall Election depends on two things ...whether or not Caucus will continue to support him and more to the point, whether the polls continue in decline.
Option #1. Do Nothing ...Stay the Course
Con- he will continue to incur bad press and voter contempt.
Pro - it will likely work since for caucus their political futures depend on Young Trudeau pulling off a miracle at the polls. So expect more talk about saving SNC Lavelin jobs etc as he attempts to woo the woo-able Quebec.
Option #2. Start Over
Con - as mentioned above, it is too late to influence the outcome of the General Election ...they are destined to defeat.
Pro - At least He will gain respect - albeit grudgingly, for finally doing what is right - starting with the firing of those left who share responsibility for this fiasco including Wernick, the Finance Minister and his Chief of Staff, All PMO Staff from Katie Telford right on down (isn't it ironic that Telford and Butts came to help destroy Trudeau's administration having done the very same thing for the hapless Ontario Premier McGuinty). And I am not by any means finished: make it publicly known that any legal loopholes for SNC are forever closed; get on with the pipelines on an urgent basis; drop the nonsense about the carbon tax; and start to seriously address the Debt / Deficit.
Which option will he choose - you dear reader decide.
Finally, the question arises on how we ever got into this predicament and I blame the assault on democracy. Simply stated, we do not have much Democracy left. Over time...since Pierre Elliott, power has been consolidated in the Prime Ministers Office, since the Charter, power has been hijacked by the Courts, Human Rights Tribunals do not protect individual rights and freedom of speech, Vocal Interest Groups have seized the agenda, the Local Member of Parliament no longer speaks for her or his Constituents, Voter Participation understandably is in steep decline. I could go on and on and most certainly will deal with this topic again in a future blog since I fervently believe this is where Canada has gone off the rails and sadly it may be too late to do much if anything about it.
As I See It...
K.D. Bell
