Harper government: 1 year later...

The Harper Government celebrated its first anniversary on Wednesday May, 2.   I would give them a C+ on the first year; there were successes, and plenty of scandal.  There are definitely lots of ways to improve.

I am mostly satisfied with the job Stephen Harper is doing as Prime Minister. Harper is still the steady hand on the tiller.  He is going for a balanced economic course; there are plenty of free-trade deals at various stages of negotiation.  The way his government has handled the two major labour disputes (Canada Post, and Air Canada) was probably the highlight of the year.  He fulfilled the promise to end Canadian combat operations in July of last year by bringing the troops home- another highlight, because a politician that keeps his promise is a rare thing indeed.  The foreign policy of this government concerning Afghanistan, and Syria has continued creating what I would say is a uniquely Canadian identity on the world stage.

Where he could have raised his grade was the budget.  He really should've take a look at the bigger picture before raising the age from 65-67 on Old Age Security (O.A.S.).  The bigger picture is that there are many people my age, who are having trouble finding a job, and the move with O.A.S. only makes it that much tougher.  There should've been some balance applied; raise the age on O.A.S., and find a way to help private industry create more jobs for younger people.

There are a couple of other places the Harper government falls down.  We all remember Bill C-30 that gave birth to the twitter hash tag #TellVicEverything.  There were clear flaws in that legislation; if people had read and studied that bill perhaps the whole controversy could have been avoided.  Another is again the budget specifically the Environmental measures that would see the Assessment process shortened for resource projects.  I would mention it in the budget, and then create a separate piece of legislation for it, and look at reforming the whole process instead of the relative piecemeal way it was done.  Also there really should be more discussion on the consequences of these actions.

Then there are the scandals.  Peter MacKay and his chopper rescue, Bev Oda and her 5 star London hotel at our expense; and that's just the higher profile ones I know I'm forgetting a few.  The ministers in question haven't paid any consequences for their follies, and this is a second offense for  Oda.  We still haven't gotten to the bottom of both the F-35 debacle, and the Robo-Call scandals.  I wonder if these scandals are the reason right now they trail the N.D.P. by 10 points.

Whether the Harper government learns from the mistakes of its first year remains to be seen. I hope they can, because the scandals and lack of focus on the larger picture make them seem like a tired government.  One that in my books will stay at its C+ grade.