"Mute Martin"

July 30, 2003

I actually found myself agreeing with Sheila Copps this week.  

You can imagine this is a rare and startling occurrence.  Normally, Ms. Copps and I couldn’t have more divergent opinions.  Ms. Copps wants to freely spend tax dollars on, among other things, costly programs to socially “engineer” our country into something that better suits her own preferences. My opposition to such wasteful and misguided policies remains as strong today as it was when I first entered politics.

Yet, disagree as I do with her Liberal leadership campaign promises, Ms. Copps deserves credit because at least she has a policy platform that she is ready to have judged by Canadians.  And I believe she was justified in expressing her frustration this week that Paul Martin has refused to do the same.  She’s right in advocating that Liberal party members should be demanding some answers from Mr. Martin before he takes the helm of their party this fall. 

In fact, because it’s a virtual certainty he’ll be the next Prime Minister of Canada by the early weeks of next year, each and every Canadian should be asking Mr. Martin to clearly state his policies and present his platform for leading this country.  It’s our right - it’s our democratic responsibility - to question his plans to govern Canada. 

Mr. Martin has other ideas.  His campaign team readily admits Mr. Martin has no intention of issuing his own set of campaign promises.  Mr. Martin himself said last week, “If what you’re going to do is to ask me a series of questions about what would I do if I (were prime minister), I’ve made it very clear … I am not going to answer hypothetical questions (about) if I become prime minister in a couple of months.” 

It’s hard to believe the same man in 1990 said,  “One has the right to ask of somebody who wants to become leader of a party and a country if they have any firm views on the crucial subjects of the hour.”  I couldn’t have said it better myself, but now that Mr. Martin is poised to become PM, he ends media interviews early should the reporter dare to query him on the critical issues facing the country today – the beef ban, foreign affairs, trade, terrorism, or transportation. 

For a man who has made a great display of lamenting Canada’s “democratic deficit”, this is a particularly undemocratic act.  It’s not as though his current refusal to talk has been preceded by clarity. In recent months, he has even gone so far as to regularly skip important votes in the House of Commons for fear his vote might indicate he has an opinion on an issue.  

A future Prime Minister’s refusal to present his views to the nation is ludicrous.  This country needs a leader, not someone whose primary focus is to be all things to all people.  A politician is almost guaranteed to offend someone somewhere any time they state their views.  Canadians deserve a Prime Minister with a vision, and the courage to express it.