National Affairs
Election fight good news for Harper
Claire Hoy
The pols, it seems, are getting restless. All three federal opposition leaders, believing that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Tories have failed to capture the voting public's imagination, recently issued threats about bringing down the minority government.

They also agree on what they see as the two most vulnerable issues for Harper: the Afghanistan war and the Kyoto Accord.

Harper should be so lucky.

If Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP Leader Jack Layton really think they're on the side of the angels on these two issues - and they say they do - then Harper should seek divine intervention during his nightly prayers seeking help in convincing his three opponents to pull the plug on his government and set off a fall election.

It was former U.S. president Ronald Reagan who once put the practice of politics into proper perspective when he quipped, "It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."

Which brings us to Dion.

After both Layton and Duceppe crassly used the occasion of the deaths of more Canadian troops in Afghanistan to demand immediate withdrawals - although Duceppe accused Layton of "exploiting the emotions of Quebecers" on the issue before he did the same thing by threatening to vote against the Tories on it - Dion got onto his high horse and tut-tutted both men.

"I don't play politics on the backs of the tragedies and the victims," he snorted. Here, here. Good for him.

Except, alas, he went on to do just that, suggesting that if Harper's next Throne Speech this fall doesn't contain a troop pull-out guarantee - a guarantee which would no doubt thrill the evil Taliban - he would spark a non-confidence motion against them.

If that isn't playing politics on the backs of our brave soldiers, then what, pray tell, is it?

If these leaders really believe that Canada should not be in Afghanistan then why not quit playing their stupid games? Just bring the government down and go to the electorate.

The answer, of course, is that despite the best efforts of the anti-war crowd - and their myriad of boosters in the mass media - public opinion polls have consistently demonstrated strong support for the mission among the general public.

Many Canadians, unlike the politicos, understand that Canada has a duty as a member of NATO and the United Nations - both of which sanction this war - to contribute.

They also understand that in order to complete the humanitarian side of the mission, such as building schools, roads and the rest of the necessary infrastructure, the troops have to be there to clean out the murderous Taliban.

When Canadians are asked strictly about the war effort, they are pretty evenly split - which still would work well for Harper - but when pollsters point out the extraordinary progress on the social front - and heave knows why Harper doesn't stress these impressive gains more often - there is overwhelming support for the mission.

The same thing could be said about Kyoto, an environmental agreement which has been so roundly discredited - even among many who consider themselves environmentalists - that the opposition would be crazy to turn the slavish adherance to its unrealistic targets a major election issue.

It is particularly galling - and hypocritical - for Dion, the former Liberal environment minister who was instrumental in the Liberals singing on to Kyoto only to do absolutely nothing about it - to demand that the Tories now do what the Liberals wouldn't and do it in much less time than even the dreamers who thought up Kyoto b believed it would take.

It is almost laughable to read Dion's letter to Harper in which he calls for "an end to the partisan politiciking" around Kyoto, a plea which he followed up on by telling reporters he was ready to bring down the government if they didn't implement the Liberal plan right away.

Even by political standards - such as they are - that's rich.

For a time, of course, the environmental alarmists seemed to be winning the public debate, but as time has gone on, and people have begun to realize the implications of shutting down considerable hunks of our economy just to meet an arbitrary goal, support for Kyoto has seriously waned.

Once again, it's an issue which, overall, would benefit the Tories more than it would hurt them.

All of which brings us back to the main premise which, to quote a recent National Post editorial on the subject, if you're Harper and the opposition really wants an election fought over Kyoto and Afghanistan, the only sensible comment is: " Bring it on."