Harper Tries to Savage NDP, but Left Biting Hot Air

Awww...isn't this cute. In today's Globe and Mail Stephen Harper is quoted doing his darndest to attack the NDP by trotting out a number of tired old cliches used as traditional attacks against the left. I'll summarize each point with some commentary:

• The NDP are anti-free enterprise: Well depending on your definition of free enterprise this has some truth. If you think free enterprise means allowing corporations to run roughshod over the environment and happily avoid their tax responsibilities, then yes the NDP would require corporate "citizens" to be more responsible. But a more apt definition would be anti-rapacious enterprise. I would, however, like to see the NDP's full platform on this point (which apparently comes out next week). While I think repealing some of the recent Martin corporate tax cuts is a good idea, I think they should be replaced by progressive taxation in the form of pollution tax credits and outright grants for green industries, while polluters get taxed at a rate that takes the damage they do to the environment into consideration. I think there is a lot of economic potential in fostering green technology and innovation.



• The NDP are against free trade: Well free trade over the past 16 years has proven to have been a mixed bag. One very apparent free trade trend is the movement of jobs to cheaper labour markets. The Americans are currently hand wringing over the amount of white collar jobs being outsourced to India. In reality free trade has proven to be more about the freedom for corporations to exploit cheap resources and labour, thus reducing opportunities in the areas they sell their products. In addition, with the Wal-Mart-ization of North America in particular, we actually have less choice, as large conglomerates force smaller business out through predatory pricing which results in a corporation getting to decide what products we're allowed to buy.


It's a vicious circle, first reduce the public's available income by moving jobs to cheaper markets. That lack of income forces the public to search for ever cheaper goods. Offer the public cheaper goods produced through exploited resources and labour in areas with lenvironmentalnal and labour laws. Sell those goods in direct competition with smaller retailers in order to drive them out of business, and cement yourself in a monopoly position where you can then dictate product availability and price. Rinse and repeat.

Free trade as an idea is old and has proven to be flawed. It has only brought great wealth to a few, while the standard of living for many has declined. Fair trade as an alternative concept is gaining strength, because it focuses on a negotiation where the goal is to find the cheapest fair price. Fair in this case being a price where the producer can turn a modest profit, and not be forced into selling product below the cost of production.


• The NDP are against balanced budgets: This is a laughable accusation given the history of right-wing governments in Canada and the US. Layton rightly points out the kind of deficits right-wing governments in BC, Ontario, and the US are willing to wrack up. Given recent history, we have far more to fear from a Conservative agenda that would slash taxes in favour of corporate profiteering, plunging Canada into an ever deepening spiral of crumbling infrastructure and social services. The resulting poor quality of those services would provide the pretext for the privatization of not just health care, but of all traditional public services; leaving only the protection of private property as the domain of the government. In other words the government would only have to worry about the police and the military....a police state. Balanced budgets are simply about not spending more than you're taking in. The NDP are unproven at the federal level on this point, but there is no evidence that they would do anything other than balance the budget.
  

These attacks by Harper are likely part of his strategy to appear more prime ministerial in the lead-up to the leadership vote on the weekend. I also think they are motivated in part by, as the Globe article suggests, a response to the bandied about idea of a Liberal minority government. But I think there is some legitimate concern on the part of Conservative party members in losing swing and undecided voters, particularly in the west, to the NDP. BC voters in particular have a habit of swinging wildly in their voting habits, as ideology historically isn't their primary concern.

Given that the Martin crew are really just right-wing ideologues in red colours, the traditional right-wing crowd will likely stick to Martin. The exception being alienated and upset western voters in Alberta (as always).

What will make this coming election interesting is how well Layton can sell the NDP, and tar the other parties. With Harper as leader, the Conservatives can easily be targeted with the social conservative baggage of the Alliance. That will scare away a lot of voters east of Alberta, which should split the right-wing vote in the rest of the country between the Liberals and the Conservatives. That leaves a sizable chunk of voters with the only hesitations to voting NDP being "will a vote for the NDP be a wasted vote?", and the propagandized fear of a left-wing party's mythical "fiscal foolishness".