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Why the Canadian Liberals elected Stéphane Dion as new leader
Former federal cabinet minister Stéphane Dion was elected leader of the Liberal Party, the Official Opposition in Canada’s parliament, at last weekend’s Liberal leadership convention.
On the convention’s fourth ballot, Dion scored a decisive 55 to 45 percent victory over Michael Ignatieff, a writer and academic who is one of the most internationally-prominent liberal apologists for the Bush administration’s illegal invasion of Iraq and its suppression of democratic rights at home.
Canada’s intergovernmental affairs minister from 1996 to 2004, Dion made his political name by spearheading the drive that Canada’s ruling elite mounted in the aftermath of the 1995 Quebec referendum to develop a hard-line, antidemocratic strategy—dubbed Plan B—to deal with any future secession crisis.
Like many of the Liberal leadership candidates, Dion denounced the current minority Conservative government for toeing the line of the Bush administration in world affairs and for implementing “ungenerous” socio-economic policies that punish the most vulnerable sections of society.
Ignored in all this is that the current Conservative government is only continuing on the right-wing course blazed by the Liberal governments of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, in which Dion loyally served. During their twelve years in office (1993-2006), the Liberals imposed the biggest social spending cuts in Canadian history, stripped the majority of the unemployed of any entitlement to jobless benefits, implemented massive tax cuts skewed to benefit big business and the well-to-do, joined in US-led wars against Yugoslavia and Afghanistan, and passed draconian anti-terrorism laws that give the state the power to detain people indefinitely without charge.
More
http://wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/dion-d05.shtml
Canada’s intergovernmental affairs minister from 1996 to 2004, Dion made his political name by spearheading the drive that Canada’s ruling elite mounted in the aftermath of the 1995 Quebec referendum to develop a hard-line, antidemocratic strategy—dubbed Plan B—to deal with any future secession crisis.
Like many of the Liberal leadership candidates, Dion denounced the current minority Conservative government for toeing the line of the Bush administration in world affairs and for implementing “ungenerous” socio-economic policies that punish the most vulnerable sections of society.
Ignored in all this is that the current Conservative government is only continuing on the right-wing course blazed by the Liberal governments of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, in which Dion loyally served. During their twelve years in office (1993-2006), the Liberals imposed the biggest social spending cuts in Canadian history, stripped the majority of the unemployed of any entitlement to jobless benefits, implemented massive tax cuts skewed to benefit big business and the well-to-do, joined in US-led wars against Yugoslavia and Afghanistan, and passed draconian anti-terrorism laws that give the state the power to detain people indefinitely without charge.
More
http://wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/dion-d05.shtml
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Calling the Clarity Act "undemocratic" demonstrates a shocking lack of knowledge of Canadian politics. The question put to Quebecers on succession during the 1995 referendum was considered extremely unclear and left some voters with the impression they were being asked whether the Quebec government had the right to negotiate a new deal with Ottawa (see text of question below). It was not clear whether Quebec would immediately separate in the wake of a yes vote, although separatists appeared to suggest that this would be the result. The Clarity Act was the government's response to the Supreme Court decision on succession, which argued that the country could only be broken up in the wake of a clear majority vote (presumably more than 50% +1) responding to a clear question.
It seems to me that requiring the ruling elite to ask a clear question in a referendum before changing the very nature of the relationship between the state and the citizen is more democratic not less.
The Question of the 1995 referendum on Quebec succession:
"Do you agree that Quebec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Quebec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995, Yes or No?"
It seems to me that requiring the ruling elite to ask a clear question in a referendum before changing the very nature of the relationship between the state and the citizen is more democratic not less.
The Question of the 1995 referendum on Quebec succession:
"Do you agree that Quebec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Quebec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995, Yes or No?"
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