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A gift from Stephen Harper
Lisa Wichmann
Stephen Harper has ridden in on his white horse. The problem is it’s looking decidedly Trojan. And now that he’s inside the city gates, all manner of surprises are pouring out of his hollow wooden offering.
We’ve got an unelected businessman holding the government purse strings and a senate position, a cabinet minister just elected as a Liberal, and if that isn’t enough to scare us, three throw-backs from Mike Harris’s Ontario conservative party.
Regardless of whether or not you voted Conservative, you probably found something to like about Harper—his benevolent smile, his calm demeanor, the fact that he’s a family man with two young children. And when the morning after the election dawned, we were all ready to give him a shot. We were all ready for a federal house-cleaning and a fresh start. We were optimistic.
On Harper’s desk sat the final Gomery report, outlining how the government could clean up its act and become more accountable. We had a new government and a clean slate, with clear direction on how to meddle-proof procurement.
But what does Harper do? He appoints Michael Fortier, who holds no elected office, as Minister of Public Works. This is the ministry that issues billions of dollars in government contracts every year. It’s the ministry most related to and affected by Gomery’s recommendations. It’s the front line of federal procurement—and it will be led by a man we did not elect. He may do the job well, or he may bungle it. That really isn’t the point.
What Canadians and the procurement profession needed to see was an upholding of faith, a clear signal that the electoral process is intact, and the new government setting out with a clear mandate from voters. In this ministry, above all other ministries, we needed an elected leader.
Harper is also choosing to completely ignore the good elements of the Liberal government, such as a daycare program, which took years to negotiate with the provinces. Instead of giving each province money to create more daycare spaces, Harper prefers to send a cheque to parents, letting them decide what arrangements to make. But like any purchaser knows, you can have all the money in the world, but if there isn’t anything to buy, the cash will do you no good.
Plus, the decision to fold the program reeks of the partisan spite we witnessed when Jean Chrétien, as the newly-minted prime minister in 1993, canceled a multi-billion deal to buy new helicopters to replace the aging fleet of Sea Kings. The move cost Canadian taxpayers $500 million in penalties, and the Sea Kings now spend much of their time sinking, crashing and catching on fire.
Why was the deal canceled? Partly because it was the rival party that came up with it. That isn’t leadership—it’s retaliation. And it’s disappointing to see Harper behaving in the same vein.
The silver lining in this whole escapade is Harper holds a minority government. Let’s hope there’s some method to his madness, and no more scary surprises from his horse.
Lisa Wichmann
Editor
Lisa Wichmann, editor of Purchasing b2b, may be reached at lisa.wichmann@pb2b.rogers.com
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