Surprised? Yes. Shocked? Not at all. The much-anticipated Conservative Party majority is here, and it’s here to stay for at least four years, barring some unforeseen change in federal politics.
The Tories have a lot of competing expectations to try to please, are they up to the task? The Tory base grew significantly on May 2, swallowed up big chunks of Toronto, and increased the party’s share of the vote across the country, except in Quebec. The party will have to balance ferociously competing interests to maintain its base, expand support, and to have any chance at re-election four years down the road.
Voters wanted to see change, and that is at least part of the reason why they went with a Harper majority over another minority government. But whether the change will be enough for Conservative faithfuls, or whether the pressure of running a majority government will strengthen or crack the conservative’s coalition, will be told by the test of time.
Here’s what the government should consider doing in the next 12 months to firm up support:
Abolish the vote-based subsidy to political parties. This extravagant subsidy has been keeping parties that do not care to raise partisan war chests by themselves alive and kicking, when in the natural order of things they might just fall over like a card house and make room for new and more inventive politics in Canada. Eliminating the subsidy would not only be the right thing to do, it could be a fatal blow to the broken Liberal Party, which make voters’ choices more decisive with a two-party system where the NDP quasi-socialist option versus Conservative umbrella tete-a-tete washes out the wishy-washy politics of the middle of the road party.
Confirm the F-35 Lightning II jet fleet purchase. If Canada does not replace its current fleet of CF-18 Hornets by 2020, Canada will have no fighter jets and no way to defend its airspace, which would put the country in peril.
Kill the GST. Wouldn’t it be a great circle of life to have the remnants of the party that introduced that plague on consumers be part of the party to also get rid of it? The Tories should be applauded for reducing the GST from seven to five per cent with the minority government, but hey, if they’ve got the power to do it, getting rid of the GST could explode the party’s popularity through the roof. This would be a great move in 2014.
Cut the bureaucracy down to size. Another common sense suggestion and part of the government’s platform. It’s a good way to save money and please the base, so I don’t think it will be long before seeing action on this front.
And here's a few more suggestions I don't think will happen but that should be seriously considered: a stupid tax to be collected from people being stupid. Hard to enforce, but has the potential to replace lost revenue from cancelling the GST.
Move the capital to Calgary. Ottawa has had its time in the sun. We've got a Western based government, let's reflect that by permanently moving Canada's political headquarters to the land of the free, Alberta. There might be a few whiners on this one, but naysayers will be dazzled by the fiscal responsibility and political transparency of a country led by the West.
Finally, cut gas taxes. Never going to happen, but worth suggesting anyway.
