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Pique n' your interest

Refried Reform

So far the biggest challenge of the Alliance Party is to convince voters in the liberal East that party members are more than a bunch of intolerant crackers – that they are sensitive, intelligent, and have more on their minds than lowering taxes and repealing laws that require Canadians to register their firearms.

For the first little while they succeeded. In the last federal election, they literally swept the West while making impressive gains in the Eastern Canada. They were young and energetic, thanks to their decision to elect Stockwell Day leader – a good looking guy equally at home on a jetski or in a suit and tie.

Despite the fact that a resurgent Progressive Conservative party split the starboard vote in some ridings, the Reform Party slipped into the role of the official opposition like Cinderella into that glass slipper.

The honeymoon was over almost immediately and in the last few months Day has found himself in the centre of a full-scale mutiny. Members of his caucus have openly criticized his leadership, and 13 members (as of earlier this week) have jumped ship and are talking about forming their own official opposition party.

The party executive itself is calling for Day’s resignation, and in the last week he reportedly reached a deal whereby he would voluntarily take a leave of absence until the next Alliance leadership.

On Monday, after some critics suggested this goodwill overture wasn’t good enough, he withdrew his offer and pledged to keep on keepin’ on until the next party vote in April of 2002. He claimed grass roots support, that the voters were behind him even if the party wasn’t – this despite the fact that his party’s approval rating has been fluctuating between the low teens and an all-time low of 6 per cent.

His decision prompted Alliance co-president Ken Kalopsis and co-chair of the Alliance fund Peter White to quit their executive positions within the party. Although the Alliance is in line for a $6 million tax return, the party will be close to $2 million in debt. Of course they’re blaming Day for poor contributions, and the political uncertainty of the party for making it impossible for the party to get a bank loan.

This much I know because I read the papers and watch the news. What nobody can tell me is what this is all about, and why it couldn’t wait until the next election. What did Day do? What did Day say? What could a man who openly admitted that he believes the Earth is 7,000 years old and early man and dinosaurs walked the planet together BEFORE he was elected possibly do to arouse such wholesale contempt?

From the very beginning his leadership, i.e. people skills, were in question. Then there was the $800,000 that Alberta taxpayers paid to settle a defamation lawsuit filed against Day. Then there were rumours that Day hired a private detective to dig up dirt on prominent Liberal party members.

In April of 2001, less than five months after the federal election, party members started to resign.

Now the party has broken into two camps, those that support Day and those who want to see him broken. Some Day supporters have gone so far as to suggest that the disharmony was engineered by pro-Preston Manning forces within the party to bring Manning back into the fold at an upcoming by-election.

I don’t envy Alliance MP John Reynolds’s position as the party whip right now. I don’t envy Day, who appears to be trying to find a way out of this that allows him to keep his dignity. And I certainly don’t envy the majority of westerners who squandered their votes on the so-called "Alliance."

With the 53 remaining Alliance members divided on the Day question, what kind of voice does the West have in Parliament?

If members had discussed the matter behind closed doors without going public at every opportunity, the official opposition might still have some credibility left.

The role of the official opposition is to keep the ruling party honest; to question laws, debate in the House, and bring alternative viewpoints to the table in the interest of creating more equitable legislation. They are a check and a balance, even as a minority in Parliament.

But are they even paying attention to what’s going on in Parliament anymore, what with all the internal strife? When was the last time they released an official position on anything that wasn’t Day related? What value do they represent to voters?

A growing number of political pundits are calling for a Referendum-Recall Act, whereby the electorate would be able to ask for a referendum or recall a politician whenever there is enough public support for this kind of action. Referendums were also part of the Alliance Party’s platform, with Day suggesting that a petition signed by 3 per cent of the population should be grounds for a referendum – that backfired slightly when This Hour Has 22 Minutes got close to 2 million names on a petition to get Day to change his first name to Doris.

These days, a recall act makes a lot of sense. Based on what we’re seeing in Ottawa, it’s time to bring these intolerant Alliance crackers home. They’re just too embarrassing.

— Andrew Mitchell