Grudging Credit
I have to admit that Paul did a fairly good job at the inquiry today. I wasn’t wowed by his performance like I was by Chretien on Tuesday (everyone I’ve talked to, even people who hate Chretien, agree the golf ball stunt was one of the all-time great performances of political theater) but he’s coming from the much more difficult position of needing to get re-elected. He was relatively clear and consistent, and distanced himself from the program as much as he could. All in all, a solid performance – I’d been expecting a lot worse. And that is one thing Paul Martin has going for him now, I think. Last year, the expectations were so high that he inevitably fell short. After seeing him as Prime Minister for over a year, I think it’s safe to say that Canadians now have very low expectations for him so he can only exceed them.
And I’ll say that the other favourite target of this blog, Ralph Klein, came out with a fairly solid State of the Province. His support for post-secondary education and an increased minimum wage is long overdue. His post-secondary support does not come even remotely close to the Liberal platform promises but it’s a start.