Mr. Dithers gets his day
Will today’s Liberals learn from the legacy of Paul Martin?
By David Akin, Parliamentary Bureau Chief
First posted: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 06:06 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 06:47 PM EDT
OTTAWA - Mr. Dithers got his day Wednesday on Parliament Hill.
He is formally known as The Right Honourable Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, P.C., C.C., 21st Prime Minister of Canada.
But during his final months of his 786 days in office, Martin was mocked by his opponents — inside and outside his party — as “Mr. Dithers,” a nickname hung on him by the European newsmagazine The Economist for what it perceived as his inability to make a decision.
Historians may be less withering but they are likely to judge his time as the leader of his party and his country as a disappointment, a time of expectations unfulfilled.
Nonetheless, Liberals past and present packed into a Parliament Hill committee room Wednesday to wish Martin well at the unveiling of his official portrait. It will hang next to Jean Chretien’s in Parliament’s Centre Block where portraits of almost all our prime ministers are displayed.
At the ceremony, there were speeches praising his work as prime minister but truth be told, it was a thin legacy. Most notable: Making same-sex marriage legal — a bold move at the time though one that seems less controversial nowadays.
But just as notable: The sponsorship scandal and the subsequent Gomery Inquiry which turned out to give the opposition the ammunition that would help end the long Liberal reign.
He became leader in a relatively unseemly way, using backroom tactics to push Chretien out.
Heralded as a can’t-lose juggernaut, Martin then lamely led his party into two general elections where his record was one minority win and one loss.
But if Martin’s legacy as leader and prime minister is wanting, his legacy as Chretien’s finance minister is the opposite. He is in the front rank on that score and the nation owes him gratitude and thanks.
“We must consider his role as one of the most outstanding financial stewards Canada has ever seen,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the unveiling ceremony. And he is quite right.
When Martin took control of the country’s books in 1993, they were in arguably the worst shape in our country’s history.
“As minister of finance, (Martin) confronted a fiscal crisis in this country, one that was on the verge of crippling our economy. His bold choices were right for the time and ended up paying dividends that we still see to this day,” Trudeau said.
Martin, with Chretien backing him, mercilessly cut government spending.
Provincial premiers howled as their transfers were trimmed but it had to be done. Martin, as finance minister, was unmoved by the wailing and preached the value of fiscal probity.
Seeing Martin and Trudeau side by side on stage, one could not help but be struck by their different fiscal attitudes.
Martin as finance minister inherited a monstrous deficit, struggled to balance the budget and then delivered five surpluses in a row. Trudeau inherited a balanced budget, immediately went $30 billion into deficit, and offered Canadians at least five more years of deficits and no plan to return to balanced budgets.
In his 1994 budget speech, Martin railed against deficits particularly at a time when, like now, the economy is growing: “What right do we have to steal opportunity away from our children, to demand that they solve problems that we are too timid to face?”
Today’s Liberal MPs, walking by Martin’s portrait every day on their way into the House of Commons, may wish to reflect on those words from one of the country’s great finance ministers.
Former prime minister Paul Martin gestures to his official portrait as he speaks following its unveiling during a ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Wednesday May 11, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Mr. Dithers gets his day | Akin | Canada | News | Toronto Sun
Will today’s Liberals learn from the legacy of Paul Martin?
By David Akin, Parliamentary Bureau Chief
First posted: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 06:06 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 06:47 PM EDT
OTTAWA - Mr. Dithers got his day Wednesday on Parliament Hill.
He is formally known as The Right Honourable Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, P.C., C.C., 21st Prime Minister of Canada.
But during his final months of his 786 days in office, Martin was mocked by his opponents — inside and outside his party — as “Mr. Dithers,” a nickname hung on him by the European newsmagazine The Economist for what it perceived as his inability to make a decision.
Historians may be less withering but they are likely to judge his time as the leader of his party and his country as a disappointment, a time of expectations unfulfilled.
Nonetheless, Liberals past and present packed into a Parliament Hill committee room Wednesday to wish Martin well at the unveiling of his official portrait. It will hang next to Jean Chretien’s in Parliament’s Centre Block where portraits of almost all our prime ministers are displayed.
At the ceremony, there were speeches praising his work as prime minister but truth be told, it was a thin legacy. Most notable: Making same-sex marriage legal — a bold move at the time though one that seems less controversial nowadays.
But just as notable: The sponsorship scandal and the subsequent Gomery Inquiry which turned out to give the opposition the ammunition that would help end the long Liberal reign.
He became leader in a relatively unseemly way, using backroom tactics to push Chretien out.
Heralded as a can’t-lose juggernaut, Martin then lamely led his party into two general elections where his record was one minority win and one loss.
But if Martin’s legacy as leader and prime minister is wanting, his legacy as Chretien’s finance minister is the opposite. He is in the front rank on that score and the nation owes him gratitude and thanks.
“We must consider his role as one of the most outstanding financial stewards Canada has ever seen,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the unveiling ceremony. And he is quite right.
When Martin took control of the country’s books in 1993, they were in arguably the worst shape in our country’s history.
“As minister of finance, (Martin) confronted a fiscal crisis in this country, one that was on the verge of crippling our economy. His bold choices were right for the time and ended up paying dividends that we still see to this day,” Trudeau said.
Martin, with Chretien backing him, mercilessly cut government spending.
Provincial premiers howled as their transfers were trimmed but it had to be done. Martin, as finance minister, was unmoved by the wailing and preached the value of fiscal probity.
Seeing Martin and Trudeau side by side on stage, one could not help but be struck by their different fiscal attitudes.
Martin as finance minister inherited a monstrous deficit, struggled to balance the budget and then delivered five surpluses in a row. Trudeau inherited a balanced budget, immediately went $30 billion into deficit, and offered Canadians at least five more years of deficits and no plan to return to balanced budgets.
In his 1994 budget speech, Martin railed against deficits particularly at a time when, like now, the economy is growing: “What right do we have to steal opportunity away from our children, to demand that they solve problems that we are too timid to face?”
Today’s Liberal MPs, walking by Martin’s portrait every day on their way into the House of Commons, may wish to reflect on those words from one of the country’s great finance ministers.
Former prime minister Paul Martin gestures to his official portrait as he speaks following its unveiling during a ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Wednesday May 11, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Mr. Dithers gets his day | Akin | Canada | News | Toronto Sun
