Playing nice in the political sandbox

I didn't blog last weekend, opting instead to enjoy three full days off thanks to Labour Day. In my mind, I saw it as an expression of solidarity, since writing is my 'labour,' of sorts. More to the point, if you were staring at the gruelling week I was about to launch into, you too would have opted to stay in bed all day Monday. Starting Tuesday and ending Friday, each day was filled with a lot of hot air from well-meaning but ineffectual bureaucrats in the UNDP Executive Board.

It seems the United Nations doesn't have a monopoly on hot air, though. Canadian politicians are doing a commendable job generating their own brand of greenhouse gasses and I have to say, it's doing nothing to help Canadians or the political landscape in this country.

The news that Micheal Ignatieff is no longer going to prop up the Harper Conservatives comes as no surprise. Ignatieff's accusations of Harper's lack of cooperation, his disingenuous approach, his mean-spirited ideology, and his underhanded tactics are all true. We've seen it in the policy that has come out of Ottawa, we've seen it in the Government's contempt for Canadian institutions and traditions, and we've seen it in the Conservative quest to make Canada something it must never be – a 'mini-me' of America.

Perhaps not in recent memory, but Canada used to be a place where a plurality of voices was welcomed and differing opinions could be openly expressed without fear of retribution or ridicule. In my opinion, this trait has been a critical part of setting ourselves apart on the North American continent. But our leaders – political, business, academic – also had a lot to do with it, establishing a level of maturity and security where all could speak, but where consensus would ultimately rule, with an eye to achieving the most good for the most people. That's what makes a society fair and just.

Harper, as we have seen, cannot be trusted to promote such an environment – his team is, at best, unaccountable and petty. But the next question that comes to mind is, can Ignatieff and his team handle the task any better?

I have doubts, which were very quickly confirmed late last week, when the Liberal leader decided to announce to all Canadians he would never form a coalition government with socialists (NDP) and separatists (Bloc Quebecois). I'm wondering if any of the geniuses advising him thought about the irony in making such an announcement. I've played the scenario over and over in my head: Ignatieff, insisting that the Harper Government is unwilling to cooperate with others in the House of Commons and therefore justifying a unilateral decision to defeat the Government at the earliest opportunity, has essentially taken the same arrogant, inflexible, acrimonious approach to wrestle power and govern the country. But how, if not without the help of the other two parties?

He's either a hard-core gambling man – gambling with his career and the fortunes of the Liberal Party – or he's banking on some kind of miracle to secure him a majority. But either way, it's a zero sum game. By taking Canada into a rather bitter, some might even say wasteful, election, he risks antagonizing a large number of Canadians of all political stripes. Conversely, there's no majority in sight for any party.

And so Iggy's rather foolish announcement of not willing to work with others seriously handicaps his attempts to form a "compassionate, moderate government of the centre." Let's face it, even if you don't want to play in the sandbox with the other kids, throwing sand is more likely to get you a spanking than a lollipop. It's a rookie mistake in the typical cut-and-thrust of politics, and you can be assured a seasoned veteran like Bloc Quebecois leader, Gilles Duceppe, will have a field day with it.

I'm worried. At the end of yet another election, we will end up with the same political gridlock in Ottawa – possibly with a different grey-haired white man leading – only with a more fatigued, disenchanted, disinterested and distant Canadian electorate. Worse, the dishonest breath of Canadian politicians is likely to add tons more hot air into the atmosphere. Sadly, I don't think I'm wrong in saying that, unlike the collection of bureaucrats with whom I spent the week, there's not much good intention coming out of the jokers in Ottawa.