Paul Martin and the Liberals have been immersed in one of the worst political scandals in Canadian history during the past two months and while it has uncovered several major flaws in the "Liberal" way of doing things, it has also exposed the Conservative Party.
It seems almost unbelievable that after a scandal of this magnitude the Conservatives are yet to offer the public a legitimate second option – because they’re still leaderless.
Everyday the public can refer to a million different views on what it takes to win an election, but regardless of how and why a political party might decide to move, the first thing they must do is react.
In other words: To make an impact in any race you must be in the race, and while there’s no doubt the Conservatives will get to the right starting line, by then Martin might have already convinced the average voter that there was really never any need to worry.
But the facts speak for themselves.
The Liberals are in the midst of an advertising scandal involving between $100 and $250 million of taxpayer’s money, which, according to Auditor General Sheila Fraser, was siphoned to Liberal-friendly advertising firms in Quebec.
The staggering aspect about this is that the only face the average Canadian has seen addressing the issue is Paul Martin.
Canadians have a long and distinguished tradition of remaining calm and collected in the face of political upheaval but the deafening silence at a time like this from a party considered the best "other" option is simply ridiculous.
Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia Donald Blake said NDP leader Jack Layton was the only political leader making the appropriate amount of noise about the scandal.
The problem with this situation is that Layton is not yet a member of Parliament and therefore does not have access to a lot of sensitive information.
"Jack Layton has been doing a lot but he’s got a long way to go before he’s really recognized," Professor Blake said. "I mean, there’s been a few articles about him but there’s a lot of people who wouldn’t have a clue who he is."
Professor Blake agreed the Conservative’s leadership race had hindered their ability to highlight this advertising scandal.
"(Stephen) Harper hasn’t said a lot now and I think that’s because he’s been preoccupied with this leadership race, but also because, I guess, he thinks he doesn’t have to because there’s going to be a judicial inquiry into the matter later on."
The other disadvantage the Conservatives have in launching any sort of sustained attack on the Liberals is that Harper is the leadership candidate who is a serving MP.
Professor Blake said many Conservative Party members would have preferred to have a longer debate about their leadership.
"They’re obviously racing against the clock to find a leader and get everything ready for an April election," he said.
Conservatives will argue that the process of finding the right leader is an essential one, but at a time such as this, surely, any leader would be a good leader.
Consider the numbers: the Conservatives gained almost 10 percentage points in the polls last month; the NDP remained about the same, while the Liberals lost a whopping 13 per cent.
According to an Ipsos-Reid poll, as repored by the Globe and Mail, the newly united Conservatives were sitting just eight points behind the Liberals, which is striking distance.
This enormous advertising gaff has also made a telling impact on the poles at a provincial level, particularly for the NDP, which has made huge gains in B.C.
The race for the federal Conservative leadership is between Harper, Tony Clement and Belinda Stronach and all three candidates have extensive leadership experience.
Harper is the former leader of the Alliance Party and the official opposition leader. He is the member for Calgary Southwest and on Oct. 15, 2003 Harper allowed for the creation of a united Conservative Party when he signed an agreement with Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay.
Stronach is the mother of two children and the President of Magma International Inc, which is one of Canada’s biggest and most successful firms.
Stronach’s Web site says her leadership philosophy is decentralized, based on a belief that the best decisions are made by those most directly responsible.
Under her leadership, Magna International’s share prices rose more than 50 per cent and had record sales of almost $20 billion.
In 2002 and 2003 Stronach was ranked number two by Fortune magazine in its list of the world’s most powerful women in international business.
Clement has been the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care in Ontario and was accountable for a budget of $27 billion, which is the largest single ministry budget in Canada.
Prior to his appointment as Minister of Health Clement was the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Transportation.
Clement was also the founding President of the Canadian Alliance and is currently counsel with Bennett Jones LLP in Toronto.
Imagine the gains the Conservative Party could be making if they had anyone of the aforementioned people outlining the facts about this advertising debacle to the public.
The Conservatives needed to react two months ago by streamlining their leadership race so Canadians could have a real alternative in the face of a major bungle.
A party can always elect a new leader – but it’s not every day the government "misplaces" $200 million.
Fortunately, there will be a judicial inquiry, so let’s hope the opposition has its act together by then because if the Conservatives fail to respond in earnest to this advertising scandal then it will be a blight on Canada’s system of federal governance.
The first Conservative Party debate featuring the three leadership candidates was held in Ottawa on Sunday, Feb. 22 nd .
The second debate was on March 7 in Montreal and the Conservative Party is scheduled to nominate a new leader on March 20.
