It was clear during the past few years that Paul Martin would do anything to become Prime Minister. Hustling the loon Chretien out the door, demonizing his opponents, fibbing up a storm to the Canadian electorate was all in a day's work for the ambitious plutocrat.
But having achieved office only through minority status, he now finds he must conjur up daily miracles merely to stay in one place (i.e., 24 Sussex Drive). How to satisfy greedy provincial leaders in front of the television cameras and fulfill his pledge to "fix Medicare for a generation"? It appears that the usual Liberal trick of throwing billions of their subjects' dollars at a problem was not going to suffice this time. Oh, make no mistake, billions WOULD be spent but that was not enough -- each province (i.e., Quebec) would be allowed to cut a separate deal. Grateful for this example of "asymmetrical federalism", Jean Charest announced that the megabucks he got from Ottawa would not necessarily be spent on health care but would help reduce taxes in Quebec.
Separatists instantly saw the the logical consequences of Martin's fecklessness. As the Montreal Gazette reports:
“Premier Jean Charest got a pat on the back from an unexpected source yesterday for his performance at this week's federal-provincial first ministers conference.
Former premier and arch-separatist Jacques Parizeau praised his federalist successor for getting a deal at the conference that gives Quebec special status in the Canadian health-care system.
"Jean Charest did a good job at this conference," Parizeau told reporters at a sovereignist meeting where he promoted his new plan for moving Quebec toward independence without first holding a referendum on the issue.
Parizeau said the new deal Charest struck on health care is in line with initiatives by previous Quebec governments to dissociate Quebec from shared federal-provincial programs.
"I think he's been efficient in developing something that has existed for 40 years, since (former premier) Jean Lesage," Parizeau said. "Jean Lesage, of course, went very far. He removed Quebec from 29 shared- cost programs in one shot."
At the time, Parizeau was a senior bureaucratic adviser to the Lesage government and a leading architect of such initiatives as the establishment of Quebec's provincial pension plan, separate from the Canada Pension Plan.
Parizeau said the trend has been maintained by subsequent Quebec governments, citing the special deal Quebec reached years ago for a measure of control over immigration and over control of labour training programs.
"It's an old behaviour for Quebec governments," Parizeau said. "All Quebec governments have little by little, program by program, differentiated Quebec from the rest of Canada . This time it was the turn of a certain number of health services, and Mr. Charest did good work."
He suggested instead that without perhaps intending to, Charest advanced the cause of Quebec separation from Canada.
"Everything that allows Quebec to differentiate itself from the rest of Canada is in the right direction," he said. "I hope this continues until finally the ultimate objective that I, like many others, pursue."
Posted by Dexter at September 17, 2004 03:28 PM