As They Say on TV, 'Paul, You're Fired.'

Watching Paul Martin address the nation last night, I couldn't help thinking of all the times he and his predecessor didn't speak to Canadians directly.

Not after 9/11, even though 24 of our countrymen were murdered by terrorists. Not when we joined the war in Afghanistan. Not when we declined to back the U.S. in Iraq; not when we naively rejected the U.S. missile defence program.

Not when the government refused to compensate thousands of victims of the tainted blood scandal, many of whom are dying as they continue to await justice today (despite a hasty Liberal flip-flop on the issue Wednesday night, which will change little). Not even when the government decided to redefine the institution of marriage.

No, none of those things were deemed important enough for the Liberal prime minister to address the nation.

But hey, through all of those events, the Liberals were doing fine in the polls.

Now, of course, thanks to AdScam and evidence at the resulting Gomery inquiry of corruption too repugnant to ignore, the Liberals have fallen behind the Conservatives for the first time since the late 1980s. So naturally, it's a national crisis!

Liberals have long confused their interests with those of the country -- just as, if even a fraction of the AdScam allegations prove true, they clearly confused their own pockets with those of average Canadians. But this is just too much.

Think about what Martin asked of us last night: He wants us to let ethically compromised Liberals continue to spend our money for almost a year, until the ongoing inquiry into how they stole our money is complete.

After more than a year in office in which his main accomplishments were (a) calling an inquiry into the scandal his party created and (b) becoming known as a ditherer on every other issue, he wants us to believe he has work to do that's far too important to be derailed by an election.

The Liberals have spent all week announcing this "work" -- which the rest of us would describe as "pre-election goodies." There's the latest bid to improve a perennially messed-up immigration system. There's the foreign policy and defence review that's been languishing a mere seven years or so. (It goes well with that national daycare program promised, oh, 12 years ago in the Red Book that Martin wrote.)

Why, on Tuesday the Liberals even had an epiphany on helping crime victims and war veterans! They must be desperate. Next they'll be telling us they're finally going to scrap the GST -- if we just give them a little more time.

Last night, with a straight face, Martin lamented that "partisan jousting" over the scandal is paralyzing Parliament. This, from the guy who a week ago was screaming non-sequiturs in the House about the Conservatives' "hidden agenda" to destroy health care, rather than answer a simple question about his own Gomery testimony.

He wants us to believe it would be bad for the country to have an election before Gomery's final report on AdScam comes out -- some eight months from now. This, from the guy who called the last election before any of the really damning facts were known. (He said he had to do it so he could fix health care "for a generation," remember? Great job he did, eh?)

For all its urgency, there was nothing new in Martin's message, or his absurd "commitment" to call an election precisely when it will be most convenient for the Grits. Except that it was the most blatant, manipulative, power-grabbing ploy they've come up with yet.

An address to the nation? Martin's brazen, grasping TV performance was more in keeping with that other Thursday night prime-time show, The Apprentice, where contestants argue desperately for their jobs.

All that was missing was for Conservative Leader Stephen Harper -- whose response was strong and sensible -- to come out and say, "Paul, you're a disaster. It's over. You're fired."

Heres more.

B. general anti-Conservative, pro-Liberal spin ** If the Liberals lose an election to the Cons, the Cons will form only a minority government with no Quebec support. The PQ will win the next provincial election in Quebec, and will agitate for separation. The only voice speaking for Canada in this crucial situation will be a weak, regional, unstable, Franco-hating federal Conservative government. This must be avoided at all costs by returning a Liberal majority government. Only the Liberal Party, Canada's Party, can keep Canada together; only the Liberal Party is the party of national unity and Canadian values.

** Canada's greatest treasure and possession is the Charter of Rights, which was given to the country by the great Pierre Trudeau and his Liberal Government. The Cons want to rip the Charter apart and trample on Canadians' rights and freedoms. The Cons don't care about minority rights.

** The Cons are anti-immigration and don't like new Canadians; the Cons are afraid of the world and want a small, parochial Canada. The Liberal Party wants to embrace the world, and wants a big, welcoming, tolerant Canada. Liberals love new Canadians, and Liberals want to share our country's good fortune with others. The Cons will shut down immigration and make it difficult for new Canadians to re-unite with their families. The Cons will try to take rights away from new Canadians.

** The Cons oppose clean air for Canadians because they oppose the Kyoto Accord. The Liberals want clean air for Canadians, and their children and children's children. The Cons are anti-environment; the Liberals are pro- environment and want a sustainable future for all Canadians.

** The Cons are opposed to international treaties because, like George Bush and his Republicans, they hate the UN and the countries of the world community. The Liberals want to make the world better by working with the international community as a respected, proud, strong nation.

** The Cons want to take away a woman's right to choose what's best for her own body. The Cons are anti-women. The Liberals are pro-women and unequivocally support women's rights and equality.

** The Cons thinks gays are second-class citizens; who's the Conservative Party's next target of intolerance and hate?

** The Cons want to take away Canadians' right to free and accessible health care. They want health care only for the rich.

** Ralph Klein and Preston Manning, and probably the whole western firewall crowd, have proved that the Cons have a secret agenda on destroying the public health system, and on giving tax breaks for the rich. (cf. recent report of Manning and Harris for the Fraser Institute)

** The Cons are against equalization payments from well-off provinces to those provinces that need a help up. The Cons are greedy and don't want to share Canada's wealth; the Cons want to keep the average Canadian down.

** The Cons have killed the Liberal budget that promised equity to the Atlantic provinces; now Nova Scotia and Newfoundland will suffer without their rightful resource payments. The Cons think Atlantic Canadians have a defeatist attitude, and a Conservative government would keep the region down. Liberals want to help Atlantic Canadians, as they proved in the Liberal budget the Conservatives killed.

** The Conservatives have plunged the country into an unwanted election during a perilous time for unity. Canadians voted for the progressive Liberal agenda of the Paul Martin Liberals, and the Cons have spat in Canadians' faces by ripping up the people's agenda the Martin government was delivering on

** The Cons have killed the Liberal budget that promised a national day-care program for hard-working Canadian parents. The Cons don't want to help hard- working Canadians who can't afford exorbitant day-care costs for their children. The Liberals want to help Canadian children get the best care for their development; they're the future, and the Liberal Party is the party of Canada's future. The Cons are the party of the distant past

** Liberals want to help Canada's aboriginals; the Cons want to keep aboriginals in poverty and ignorance.

** The Cons have a secret agenda so scary and creepy, they are afraid and ashamed to make it clear to Canadians what they really stand for. The Liberal Party has a transparent agenda that makes Canada stronger and unified, and enhances Canadian values and freedoms and equality.

** the Liberals inherited a financial mess from the Conservatives, and it was Paul Martin who cleaned up Canada's finances, balanced the budget, and has paid down the debt. Martin and the Liberals are the party of financial prudence and responsibility.

** the Liberals are the party of Canadian values; the Cons are non-mainstream and extreme. The Cons represent divisive, bigoted, xenophobic, Canada-haters. If the Cons come to power, they would break up Canada by allowing Quebec to separate, by stacking the judicial benches with their like-minded ilk who hate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and by stepping on average Canadians by giving money to their rich friends.

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