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On February 6, 2006, Stephen Harper was sworn in as Canadaís twenty-second Prime Minister, succeeding Liberal Party leader Paul Martin. An admitted "policy specialist," Harper rose from the ranks of conservative political party staffers. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, he sat as a Member of Parliament, including as Leader of the Opposition since 2002 when he became head of the western-based Canadian Alliance. He was elected the first leader of the Conservative Party of Canada when it was created in 2003 through the merger of Canadian Alliance and Peter MacKayís Progressive Conservative Party. The January 23, 2006 election victory by the Conservative Party ended twelve years of Liberal Party rule that, in the end, was tainted by corruption and ethics concerns, despite the economic progress Canada achieved while the Liberals were in power. In the January 2006 elections, the Conservatives made unexpected gains in Quebec, winning ten seats. Many observers have noted how a reinvigorated Conservative option in Quebec represents a boost for national unity. Harperís government is in a minority position in the House of Commons, however, and has a slimmer minority than was enjoyed by the preceding Liberal government. The Conservatives now hold 125 seats and the Liberals 102. The separatist Bloc Quebecois (BQ) has a majority (51) of Quebecís 75 seats (the BQ offers candidates only in Quebec). The left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) increased its seat count to 29, but fell short of the number that would have guaranteed it the power broker role it played in the previous Liberal minority government. Prime Minister Harperís Conservatives began the 39 th Parliament in the spring of 2006 with several objectives that were featured during the election campaign: accountability and ethics in government; cutting the federal value-added sales tax; measures to fight crime and urban violence; reducing wait times for medical procedures in Canadaís national health system; and providing a tax credit to parents for young childrenís day care. Harperís Cabinet choices on February 6 included his Quebec advisor and campaign co-chair Michael Fortier, who was appointed to the Senate and given the portfolio for the Department of Public Works and Government Services, and former Liberal Industry Minister David Emerson, who crossed the floor immediately after the election to become the Conservative Governmentís Minister of International Trade. Former Deputy Opposition leader Peter MacKay was named Foreign Minister. In Canada's political system, a key challenge for any federal government is balancing the conflicting interests of Canadaís 10 provinces and 3 territories. Recognizing the advantages of a coordinated approach in dealing with the federal government, the provinces and territories created a Council of the Federation in 2003, with their leaders (Canadaís premiers) meeting regularly in that forum to develop common positions. Quebec, which represents 23% of the national population (and has a similar proportion of seats in the House of Commons), seeks to preserve its distinctive francophone nature, and is perceived by the less-populous western provinces as wielding undue influence on the Federal Government. At least until January 2006ís election of Albertan Stephen Harper as Prime Minister, the western provinces had sometimes expressed concern that their interests were not fully attended to by Ottawa. Ontario, for its part, believes that it pays out significantly more to the Federal Government than it gets back in revenues; and the Atlantic provinces seek to assert greater control over fishing and mineral rights off their shores. The Federal Government, which had been led by the Liberal Party from 1993 until February 2006, has ceded some power in a few areas of provincial jurisdiction, while seeking to strengthen the federal role in many other areas such as inter-provincial trade and the regulation of securities. Former Prime Minister Martinís minority government made significant concessions to the provinces, including a revenue sharing agreement with the Atlantic provinces over offshore energy earnings, and a revenue transfer agreement with Ontario. In the September 2004 First Ministerís conference, Martin made a CN$41 billion (approximately U.S. $37 billion) health care transfer deal to the provinces. This included a separate deal for Quebec that came to be seen as reinforcing "asymmetric federalism," a view that accepts that not all provinces must be treated the same by the Federal Government to be treated equitably. Prior to the health agreement, reduced federal support to the provinces for health care services had been a major point of contention between provincial leaders and the previous Liberal governments, as it was perceived to have contributed to sustained fiscal deficits in many provinces while the Federal Government ran sustained surpluses (the so-called "vertical fiscal imbalance"). |
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The election in April 2003 of Premier Jean Charest and the Liberal Party of Quebec to govern Canadaís second most populous province was a significant victory for the federal government, which over the years has struggled, under the threat of secession, to accommodate the aspirations of the French-speaking province. Though for now most Quebec voters seem to appreciate the economic benefits of remaining in the confederation and prefer seeking to advance their separate francophone identity within that confederation, a sizeable, fluctuating number of Quebec voters still identify themselves as desiring "sovereignty," although the precise meaning of the term in a Quebec context remains ambiguous. That number can fluctuate anywhere from 45%-51%, and it is largely event-driven. For example, anger over the "sponsorship" program reignited talk of sovereignty in 2005, while Prime Minister Harperís talk of ìopen federalismî has brought the numbers back down. |
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