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Contrasting Leaders
Innisfil Enterprise
March 7, 2007
By Peter Van Loan, MP, York-Simcoe
In the House of Commons, I sit directly
behind the Prime Minister. I am in
that spot as Leader of the Government in the
House of Commons, quarterbacking our team in
Question Period, and guiding the
Government's Legislative agenda.
But it is an ideal position from which to
watch, up close, two very different leaders
in action - Prime Minister Stephen Harper,
and across the aisle, Stephane Dion, the
Liberal leader. Since the House
resumed in January, the contrast has been
easy to see.
Stephane Dion has oddly posed questions
primarily on subject areas where his
previous Liberal Government failed to get
things done. Foremost among these
subjects is the environment, where Dion's
record as a Minister was one of allowing
Greenhouse gas emissions to rise to 35%
above the level he claimed to be trying to
achieve.
In contrast, Stephen Harper gets to respond
clearly how we have made the environment a
priority, and are taking action in a number
of ways - from a public transit tax credit
to our proposed Clean Air Act which replaces
voluntary pollution guidelines with
mandatory rules.
Recently, our resolution to extend the
public security provisions of the
Anti-Terrorism Act (which needed to be
renewed by the House) started as a consensus
measure, following the recommendations of
Liberal dominated House and Senate
Committees. However, Stephane Dion
astonished us, divided his own party, and
flip-flopped under pressure from extreme
elements in the Liberal Party - to oppose
the measure, and defeat it in the Minority
Commons. In the House, Liberal Caucus
MP's visibly slumped, discouraged at the
reversal in policy direction being defended
by Dion, as he attempted to justify this
sudden and serious policy reversal.
In contrast, Stephen Harper made clear his
focus on keeping Canadians safe, standing by
his principles. In the process he
united his caucus, and a broad range of
Canadians, from the law enforcement
community to the families of the Air India
victims. In the House, one saw a Prime
Minister showing national leadership,
contrasted with an opposition leader paying
off delegate debts from a leadership
convention - and in the process playing with
the safety and security of Canadians.
The same type of contrast exists on issues
like Afghanistan (where Dion has had four
different contradictory positions so far)
and anti-replacement worker's legislation
(at least a couple of positions so far). I
could go on.
It's not surprising, if you sit where I sit,
that Canadians have told pollsters that they
think Stephen Harper is a strong leader who
gets things done, while Stephane Dion is a
weak leader, who couldn't get the job done.
Leadership is a very genuine and real
quality. Not everybody has it.
Every day in the House of Commons, I'm
reminded of this reality.
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