Life in the Middle Lane

So, Stephen Harper has been in India and is soon to visit other parts of Asia.  As well he should; his neglect of the eastern part of the world until now has had economic consequences. His Asian counterparts cast a wary eye at him, however, when he boasts of Canada finally entering into a dynamic new age of cooperation.  They know well enough that such partisan slants are what have characterized Canadian politics for the last number of years and so they wait to see if the proof will be in the pudding.  It was only a few years ago that Jean Chretien led Team Canada to China and other Asian nations, effectively opening up new markets for Canadian goods.  And it was a mere five years ago that India’s leaders met with then PM Paul Martin to sign deals of economic cooperation.  They wonder if the new Canadian PM isn’t a bit behind the times.I wonder if there’s any observer of the present political scene left who doubts our Prime Minister loves power.  The same can be said for Chretien and Martin as well.  Effective “insiders,” the latter two very much represented the Canadian establishment.Stephen Harper was different, or at least appeared to be.  He spoke about power’s abuses, its dangers, its ability to trap politicians and social engineers within its clutches.  And now he enjoys the embrace.  He maybe railed again the bulge – the Canadian centre – and all its preoccupations, yet his flirtations with such entitlements have now become a core of his national policy because he now comprehends – democratically at least – that this bulge is where the power is.Canada marginalizes its extremes. While it boasts of its tolerance, this country nevertheless keeps safely to the middle lane, carefully passing the dinosaurs on the right while permitting the over-eager to blur past on the left.  This is vintage Canadiana; we’ve always known it and take a kind of smug pride in it.Alas, Stephen Harper has moved to the centre lane.  His earlier rants about the size of Canadian government bureaucracy have given way to a mushrooming of the size of government itself.  His characterization of the Canadian media establishment as being “liberal” seems kind of comical now that he’s taken to tickling the ivories while singing an old Beatles’ song for the media.  In true uberian fashion, he boasted of Canada’s military expansion but now is looking for a way out of Afghanistan and a scaling back of our more aggressive involvement in the world.  To capture power, he spoke of accountability and the need to be open and transparent, but is now choking the Parliamentary Budget Officer, raised the ire of former justice Gomery for failure to implement corrective measures within governmental checks and balances, and at present is blurring the official lines of party and government.  His earlier ramblings about climate change theory being a left wing conspiracy theory are now eclipsed by his public utterances about working with President Obama on cooperatively cutting carbon emissions.This transformation has taken place because this is where the bulk of Canadians live and think – and more to his liking, vote.  The great economic reformer has now become the most expensive PM in history, leaving his next three successors to pay off his deficit.Stephen Harper is now on cruise control in the middle lane.  While Liberals attempt to get wind back in their sails, he can breathe for a time.  He may still have a right wing agenda, but for now he’s enjoying the amenities of power and he’ll stick to that lane for the sheer enjoyment of it.  There’s nothing wrong with any of this.  Every Canadian PM enjoyed the luxury of the middle.  It’s just that Stephen Harper swore, repeatedly and heatedly, that he would never do it. It appears the political middle isn't so bad after all.