With the beginning of a new year it is a good time to reflect on the past year and tally up the major events. Important as the past year has been in Canadian politics, there is a focal point and recurring characters: The 2011 Federal Election acts as a great focal point in Canadian Politics, and Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party having won the election, have been of indisputable importance since the election.
This election was laced through and through with a distinct theme of “change”.Whether it was the price of post secondary education, the assistance offered to our elderly or the effectiveness of our justice system, each party insisted something had to change.On election night there was a disturbingly low voter turnout, and a Harper Majority was the result.
So what has happened on The Hill since this majority took charge?Since his victory Harper has been barreling ahead with several new policies intended to do a variety of things for a variety of Canadians.
Harper got to work right away sending a strong message to Canadians and to the world about what his conservative nation was going to be about.A list of 1800 persons was drawn up, and these persons were notified that because their citizenship was believed to be attained in fraudulent ways, it would be revoked.Then, almost like a prelude to the promises to strengthen Canada’s military, the renaming of our navy and air forces was announced. They are now called the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy.This move was said to be made as recognition of our long standing connection to the Queen of England, our heritage.
It was also around this time that Canada mourned the loss of a great political figure, New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader, Jack Layton. It is notable that he was given a much deserved state funeral and for a number of weeks, orange flowers, crush soda cans and other memorial bobbles lined the lawns of Parliament.Canada was given some inspiration from this event in the form of Jack Layton’s Last Letter to Canadians. Written when he knew the battle was over, it urges the nation to continue with love and passion in the wake of his absence. The death of their inspirational leader hampered the NDP’s ability to hound the Conservatives. Although their party remains stuck to its values they are somewhat distracted with the decision of who will lead them now.
As September dawned a major Conservative promise was acted upon: a crackdown on crime.Much controversy surrounded the so called “Safe Streets and Communities Act”, also known as the Omnibus Crime bill. There is concern about the style in which this act bundles together a number of initiatives, as well as concerns, as always, about cost.
There are a number of ways in which the act purports to make Canada a safer place, the combined gist being longer sentences and smaller chances of parole for ‘big crimes’ and tougher sentencing for ‘small crimes’.
It came out in November that the Conservative party would pay a $52,000 fine for breaking election laws.While this was publicized it went over with relative quietness, likely because the Conservatives already had so many initiatives happening in Parliament and regardless of how they got there, by the rules or not, they’re there now for three and a half more years.
Just in this past December talks of a Canada-US border deal have been brought to light.Different details are being discussed, including systems for keeping track of travelers.All in all it seems both governments are looking to get things totally refreshed, for better or for worse.
Also in December, with the clock ticking down to the New Year, it was announced that Canada would be “invoking our legal right” to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.This announcement can’t help but remind us of the protests happening on both sides of the border regarding the Alberta-Washington Oil Pipeline.Canada has no plans to rejoin the world in a second phase of Kyoto, when one is proposed, and has no plans to install any significant environmental legislature of our own.
The Conservative party seems to be going strong and has been dominating media with their every move. It isn’t to be forgotten though, that we have other political parties in this country.The Liberal and the NDP, of course, are always to be watched.
The NDP have had an interesting year in that they are, for the first time, the official opposition party as of the May 2nd election. This is a significant change of pattern for Canadian Parliament, having once been consistently red and blue with the occasional change of proportions between colors.It is unfortunate that they have been challenged so in their first run as opposition by the already mentioned death of their leader.
The Liberals to have had some rebuilding to do since the election in May. Following major blows to their presence on the Hill, Michael Ignatieff resigned as leader in the hopes that the party would find a fresh face and move as quickly as possible towards rebuilding and future successes. The party has taken this mandate seriously and talks of process and leadership races are occurring.
