My colleague Rosemary Thompson, travelling with the NDP campaign this week, reported last night that Jack Layton stepped up his attacks on Conservative leader Stephen Harper in some unscripted remarks to reporters at the back of the plane.
“The Conservatives want to dismantle the Canadian state — so does the Bloc,” Layton said. He then went on to discuss the dangers of the Conservatives working with the Bloc Quebecois to write a budget. “It would mean a massive transfer of tax points to Quebec.” Picking up on that theme, Layton went on to say, “[Bloc leader Gilles] Duceppe would be carried over the border and into Quebec like a hero.”
This was new for Layton. When I was travelling with his campaign before Christmas, we asked him more than once about how he would conduct his political affairs if there was a Liberal minority government or a Conservative minority government. He would always answer that while he was working hard to elect as many NDP members of Parliament as possible, he believed all parties had a duty to make government work, that MPs have a duty to respect the wishes of Canadians to do that.
So this new twist — in which he casts doubt on the wisdom of a Conservative government — was seen in the context of some very tough fights the NDP is having in Saskatchewan and in British Columbia where, in many ridings in those provinces, the real contest is between candidates from those two parties only. The NDP, in fact, could very easily pick off a few sitting Tory MPs in both those provinces.
As Layton’s comments were made late yesterday, we never got a chance to run them by Harper. This morning, though, we did, and here’s his responses. (The transcription of his remarks is mine. I have paraphrased the questions. In other words, the question is not an exact transcript. Harper’s remarks, however, are pretty close to word-for-word. I have lightly edited them to remove ums and ahs)
QUESTION: The NDP is suggesting that if you formed a minority government, you would keep your government afloat by dealing with the Bloc, stripping away federal powers and giving them to the provinces. What do you think of that?
HARPER: [Listen to this response] We intend to respect the jurisidiction of the provinces. That is a very different philosophy than simply handing all kinds of powers to the provinces. There’s a big difference between someone who believes in a genuine federation where power is split between two levels of government versus those who believe in separation and that all powers should be with the provinces. I want to work with — and my emphasis will be to work with — the federalist premier of Quebec, Mr. Charest. I’ve made very clear that I find some of his ideas for the improving of the functioning of Canadian federalism very attractive. Mr. Charest is not proposing some kind of massive devolution of federal powers and that’s who I want to work with. That’s the opportunity we have. I don’t believe for a second — I’m not naive — I don’t believe for a second that any amount of change that I would make to the Canadian federation would satisfy the Bloc Quebecois. They’re not going to be satisfied. Our goal is not to satisfy the Bloc. Our goal is to create an honest federal government that respects Quebec and respects the provinces and attracts more Quebeckers to the federalist position. And I would urge Mr. Layton and the Liberal Party — if we are so fortunate as to defeat them — I would urge them to work with us to make this federal government more attractive to Quebeckers.
QUESTION: Could you point to a specific example where you could work with the NDP?
HARPER: [Listen to this response] Well I would hope with the NDP in particular that they would have some interest in working with us on various changes we’re going to make to the operation of the federal government, to improve accountability and improve ethics and honesty. THe federal NDP, regardless of the philosophical differences I have with them on a range of issues, has long been concerned with ethics and accountability in government and integrity in politics. Mr. [Ed] Broadbent, in particular, has been very eloquent and very knowledgeable on these matters so there’s an example where I would hope to work with them. I would also really hope to urge the NDP to really understand that notwithstanding their views which may be very different than mine on economic and social matters, make them understand that Canada is a federation and to understand that to truly represent and truly understand this country – in particular deal with the concerns and aspirations of Quebeckers — we must embrace the federal philosophy, the philosophy that not all wisdom is in Ottawa, that not all wisdom is with the biggest, most central government possible, that we have to work with lower levels of government in a collaborative manner.
While the NDP doesn’t always seem to grasp that idea, I don’t believe their philosophy means they are incapable of grasping that idea so I would hope they would work with us. They saw the wisdom of defeating the present government we have today so I would hope they would see the wisdom of making the next federal government work better.