Commentary
The “Debate” on the Canadian Economy
Prime
Minister Stephen Harper has objected to the format of the upcoming leaders’
debate on the basis that it does not place enough emphasis on the economy.
Harper claims that the issue of the economy has become more urgent in the past
few days due to the financial meltdown in the U.S. and the rejection by the
House of Representatives of Bush’s bailout package. At the same time he insists
that the Canadian economy is extremely healthy and will not be significantly
affected by the problems south of the border, despite the opinions of many
prominent economists to the contrary.
The
U.S. economy was already on the ropes when Harper called the current election.
In fact, that was cited by political commentators as one of the main reasons he
called the election now instead of next year. So why the sudden need for more
debate on the economy?
Does
Harper intend to tell Canadians that he has reconsidered the policies of his
government promoting the deep integration of the Canadian and U.S. economies
given the obvious weaknesses of the American economy? Will he present a new
platform with measures to build a self-reliant and independent Canadian economy
which will be far less sensitive to the bursting speculative bubbles of our
southern neighbour? Does he intend to admit to
Canadians that capitalism has failed them and that it is time to begin
discussing alternatives?
Neither
Harper nor any of the other political leaders has any intention of discussing
such matters. All of them, including Jack Layton, will be arguing that
Canadians should continue to place their trust in the rapidly decaying
capitalist system and that each of them is better qualified than his or her
opponents to manage the capitalist system through its looming crisis. Harper
will argue that the policies of free trade and deeper integration into the U.S.
markets will bring Canadians security and prosperity, despite all of the
evidence to the contrary. Dion and Elizabeth May will argue that taxing
polluters will solve all of the economic problems Canada is facing. Layton will
argue that a return to some form of Keynesian economics will save the day,
although if the NDP somehow manages to form the official opposition after
October 14 he will no doubt quickly abandon those positions and adopt the
“Third Way” neo-liberalism of Tony Blair as the best way to prove to the
capitalist elite that he is fit to lead the country.
Since
all of the political leaders will be presenting one or another variation of the
status quo, they might as well debate the weather for all the good it will do. A
debate on the Canadian economy is meaningless unless it examines how the
economy is organized, who benefits and loses from that form of organization and
what alternative forms of organization exist. There is no evidence that any of
the parties contesting this election are interested in that debate.