How different are the ways of the Republican and Democratic parties and their political counterparts here in Canada?
In the United States, both parties are following the lead of their new president, Barack Obama, to work together and tackle the enormous problems facing their nation. In Canada, however, our four political parties still seem focused on trying to determine who will be leading the country after Jan. 27.
Our provincial leaders seem more in tune to working with the current federal government than the three Opposition parties in the House of Commons. Our federal politicians are out threatening each other.
Obama’s first piece of legislation—to assist banks—was produced with bipartisan support. It is clear that U.S. politicians got the message that “old-time politics” was not going to be tolerated by the electorate.
Our government is made up of 308 MPs. They all share the responsibility to look after the needs of Canadians and to govern accordingly. The last thing we need is another political crisis.
As more Canadians are laid off in mining, forestry, manufacturing, banking, and other industries, it is becoming clearer we are falling victims to the recession gripping the world. No nation today is immune from the financial downturn.
Homeowners in major cities throughout North America, Europe, and Australia are finding their homes valued at less than what they paid for them in the last five years. Collectively, governments around the world are reducing interest rates, bailing out banks, and assisting car manufacturers.
Retail sales have plummeted and those reduced sales are causing unemployment problems in China, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. And those lost sales have caused oil prices to drop, steel prices to fall, and mineral prices to plunge—putting Canadians out of work.
We have watched as our stock market has marched in step to the U.S. one.
Yet for all the money that has been spent, the grip of the recession is not lessening. No nation in the world will be collecting more revenues than it will be spending in 2009. All are financing their stimulus programs to boost their economies on borrowed money.
The last thing Canadians need is a defeat of the government and political jockeying to see who will form the next government, putting all of Canada into a state of limbo and having any economic stimulus programs postponed.
Why is it that four people can’t work together in the interests of average Canadians?
In the background, we have both the New Democrats and Liberals huffing and puffing to change the government. Hopefully, the Conservatives have learned from the scare in early December that they can’t lead without the support of the other parties.
All the parties have been meeting and consulting with constituents, governments, businesses, educators, and industries for the past six weeks seeking guidance on the forms of stimulus needed.
FDR, first elected in November, 1932, began spending the U.S. out of the Great Depression, though history now shows that in 1939, U.S. unemployment was higher in that year than when he was elected in 1932. In fact, it wasn’t until the huge spending of the Second World War that the nation emerged from the Depression.
History tells us that even all of the “New Deal” projects across the U.S. did not pull the it nor North America out of the Depression. It is becoming apparent that Barack Obama is preparing to spend trillions to stimulate the U.S. economy and his inaugural address yesterday laid out his plans.
Obama has learned from history.
Yet he also has let everyone know that as president, he can’t do it alone. He has asked Americans to share in the burden to restore economic confidence in the United States.
In this period of world financial crisis, as Canadians, we need our politicians to work together, and to develop the best programs to help us. As Canadians, we can follow Obama’s ideals and share the burden with our governments to restore economic confidence in Canada.
