Man, I don't like what I see

I don’t like what I see on the political scene. Like you, I fear some sort of election on the horizon and the prospect scares the daylights out of me.

The provincial Tories have stumbled from one disaster to the next to this point in their tenure, and then they get kicked in the teeth by Prime Minister Stephen Harper when he all but rescinds the Atlantic Accord.

That put Premier Rodney MacDonald in the uneviable position of having to step up, something he clearly has been reluctant to do thus far.

In fact, this one’s a no-brainer, but he hasn’t exactly been eating thunder and crapping lightning over the matter. His approach has been to walk softly and brandish a stick, although I daresay it has been perceived as little more than a twig so far.

It’s not enough to say that what Harper did was unfair. To my mind, the Premier has to get riled up, borrow some of that Pictou County chutzpah from his predecessor John Hamm and get properly fiesty.

If he doesn’t get on the ball soon, he’ll lose what little public confidence he has and you know where that’ll end up. Sooner or later MLAs will get the message from their constituents that the jig is up and before you can say Bob’s your uncle, we’ll be at the polls.

Federally, Harper did all he could in the recent budget to massage his personal profile, providing plenty of cash to nearly all sectors except the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He looks good – moderate, in fact – but I don’t think it’ll wash for too long, and certainly not in these parts.

One commentator said once upon a time that Harper is living on borrowed time in that he and his government has not yet felt the taint of scandal. The implication was that no one is aware (yet) of any missteps, but the longer the Conservatives stay in power the more likely a whiff of scandal will emerge. Such is the nature of the political game.

And although Harper did all he could to reinforce support in Quebec with cash via the budget, the changing political landscape there doesn’t auger well for future gain.

Indeed, with the emergence of Mario Dumont and a Tory minority government, the landscape has changed dramatically and minimized Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe’s trump card in Ottawa.

Should Duceppe take a long, hard look at where he stands politically within this mosaic, I think he’ll realize that to avoid being the forgotten man he’ll have to call Harper on one issue or another to bring his agenda to the fore, and boom! We’re in the glue.

Add to this scenario nomination meetings all over the place that suggest political parties are getting their ducks in a row and you have to wonder how long it’ll be before a writ is dropped.

Spring’s a good time to go to the polls, they say, and any politician worth his weight knows post-budget, before the bloom is off the rose, makes for a great campaign.

What’s your take? Will there be an election soon? Drop me a line at fsgambati@kentvilleadvertiser.ca.