There’s a virus sleeping in
the heads of most recognizable politicians on this continent. It makes them try
to get away, if only once, with what I’ve dubbed: A Winston Churchill Moment.
They want to show courage and conspicuous intellectual integrity.
Stephane Dion in Canada and
Paul Ryan in the US Congress are ideal examples. They broke the strict rules of
our bland politics to stand apart — from their peers and from their own unappealing
images. They were convinced that "bold" fiscal and environment policies would
enhance their stature — and fill gaps in their formal education.
Rather than stand with
Churchill in history, they joined the swelling crowd around that literary
invention: Don Quixote. And, certainly, the WCM virus is dangerously active in
the Ontario election’s temporary front-runner, Conservative Tim Hudak.
Before elaborating, please
accept that I’m out to protect us, not discourage policy-driven campaigns. The failure
of “chivalrous” gestures does not reflect poorly on our maturity. Not being
easily led near a cliff is nothing to be embarrassed about. History’s folly is
fueled by the bad ideas we buy, not the ones we reject.
Tim Hudak expressed
his Winston Churchill Moment in the carefully chiseled and widely quoted
cornerstone policy:
“If I have to trade off 100,000 jobs in the
bureaucracy for one million new jobs
in the private sector creating wealth, that’s a tradeoff I would do any second,” he told a town hall meeting in
Barrie.
The best that has been said
about this statement is that it’s “radical.” Nevertheless, it distorts both
conservative economics and any common-sense conservative way to appeal for votes.
In placing his cuts right up against
a million new jobs, it’s entirely reasonable to presume that he’s asking voters
to endorse the layoff of 100,000 Ontario workers. Also, in placing his payroll savings
against eliminating the provincial deficit in the next two fiscal years, he’s
left little room for unfilled vacancies, retirements, and the private sector
contracting out to significantly reduce the number of actual layoffs.
The hurried nature of his
bloody prophesy certainly separates Hudak from his smarmy Keynesian pump-priming
opponents. However, as stated starkly above, it also separates him from the
economics of the only Conservative prime minister since the Great Depression
that is better trusted in managing the economy than Liberals.
Harper’s federal deficit-reduction targets respect provincial spending cost pressures, aren’t leading to
provincial job cuts, and are being absorbed by a Canada-wide economic recovery
that is in far better shape than Ontario’s.
Harper isn’t terribly popular
and it’s forgivable not to drop his name gratuitously. Still, on managing the economy
back to sustainable growth, he still beats the competition — and did nothing in
the last two restraint budgets to panic Liberals and New Democrats into uniting
to defeat him at the polls.
Asking for a mandate to fire tens
of thousands of people is as stupid for a conservative as asking for a mandate
to raise middle class taxes by the left.
Voters rightfully suspect it’s
not in their interest to help their leaders do the nasty things they must do
sparingly.
These "courageous" gestures
are common currency amongst retired public administrators and tenured academics.
Only when struck by the WCM virus should a sane politician be excused for
taking one up.
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