The media is making much now of Thomas Mulcair as Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. Summer is over and the House of Commons is back in session. And Thomas Mulcair is proving just how inadequate he is to take on Stephen Harper.
The Opposition Leader’s first question in the much anticipated question period was on the economy and it rolled off Harper’s back like a light summer rain. Harper ignored the inadequate question and turned it back to attack the NDP leader’s policies.
It is easy to see and understand Mulcair’s frustration and anger at the attacks the Conservatives have been directing at him. They are the same kind of personal attacks that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff never seemed able to handle. To simply call the attacks lies though is not going to work.
Too bad Mulcair is not under the tutelage of Liberal interim leader Bob Rae. Now there is a guy who has been attacked on so many fronts for so many years that he practically has to wear a suit of armour to walk the dog. Rae’s only problem is that he did so many things wrong as NDP Premier of Ontario in the 1990s, Harper’s people had a surfeit of real things to accuse him of and he just laughs all of them off.
As a politician of some experience, it comes as a surprise that Mulcair seems to have no idea of what is called ‘coffee money.’ This is the method used by smart politicians to address serious economic issues. Millions and billions of dollars are lost on just about all of us. We hardly think in those terms in our daily lives. That is why politicians try not to waste their time arguing over those millions and billions.
But politicians know that everyone understands when you deal with economic issues in terms of the cost of a cup of coffee at Tim’s. For example, what Canadian does not feel abused by the oil companies charging more than $1.30 for a litre of gasoline? And what enrages them is that the price is set not by the greed of our Alberta oil sheiks but the American refineries in Texas.
Mulcair obviously has much to learn. He also needs to see what is happening with what he thinks is the third party. The Liberals in parliament have more important things to do these days than posture for the media in the House of Commons. They have a very serious leadership race coming up and we have to recognize that it will set the course for Canadian politics for many years to come. We need to do it right.
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Copyright 2012 © Peter Lowry
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