April 21, 2005
Martin's "Magna Budget"
Remember the so-called Magna Budget? The government of then-Ontario Premier Ernie Eves decided to present its annual Budget speech at auto parts manufacturer Magna instead of in front of Parliamentarians as had been done previously. Simply, Eves Government transformed a government function into a partisan political event and was pilloried for it.
Today, Prime Minister Paul Martin will do the same to the National Prime Ministerial Address. Winston Churchill used such speeches to update Britons about a war that was on their doorstep. William Lyon Mackenzie King used his addresses to speak to Canadians about a war in which their fathers, brothers and sons were dying. Pierre Trudeau used his single national address to explain the crisis that precipitated his government's implementation of price and wage controls. Brian Mulroney addressed Canadians as we faced two Constitutional crises. Jean Chrétien addressed than nation on the eve of the eve of the 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty when the outcome was not at all clear. All of these addresses have one thing in common - they served a national purpose.
None of these speeches was partisan in nature, instead they were designed to inform and galvanize the public in the face of some national crisis.
For Prime Minister Martin there is no such national purpose. It is not the country that is facing a crisis, but the Liberal Party of Canada that is in crisis. Mr. Martin's speech will be about saving is political skin, not the nation.
It's the Magna Budget all over again. Just as the Eves Government abused the Budget speech for partisan purposes, Mr. Martin is doing the same with his national address tonight. Canadians should not let him off the hook.
Further Reading:
Martin to appeal directly to Canadians (CBC)
Prime Minister Martin to address nation tonight (CTV News)
The Speech: Battered PM's new gambit: live TV (Globe and Mail)
The Strategy: Battered PM's new gambit: live TV (Globe and Mail)
Martin takes message to airwaves (Toronto Star)
Posted by maxthecat at April 21, 2005 08:10 AM
http://www.maxsmewsings.com/mt/archives/2005/04/martins_magna_budget.php