CANADIAN POLITICIANS: IT IS TIME TO FOCUS ON THE ECONOMY, COMMON MAN AND COUNTRY’S OVERALL WELL BEING

The Canadian economy is passing through a very critical phase wherein:

-      Canadian economy is looking up but still hobbling a bit moving forward with some unsteady steps: disinflation, less than expected increase in exports, and tardy rate of full time job creation being some of the issues staring in the face;

-      The global economic recovery is fragile, unpredictable;

-      Chinese economy is not going to be the locomotive of world economic rejuvenation;

-      US economy is just turning the corner but remains unpredictable due to political circus in Washington DC and gradual withdrawal of artificial respiration, i.e., Quantitative Easing;

-      European economy is far from having come out of the after effects of bail-out support provided to some its members to prevent them from sinking;

-      Emerging economies have their own woes to deal with and are clearly struggling;

-      International political scenarios are not providing any sense of calmness settling in.

At such a juncture, what is expected of the people who practice politics at federal and provincial level, i.e., politicians? Answer is simple: They need to focus on working together to strategize how to reinvigorate the Canadian economy, put it back on a firm footing, and in the process ensure continuation of a prosperous, happy, less stressful existence of the people.

If the country’s economy does not get the proper focused direction, guidance and support what could be the potential consequences? There could be:

-      Cuts in Federal and Provincial budgets for the various services Canadians have been benefitting from for many decades;

-      Cuts in Federal and Provincial budgets for many important sectors, like, education, health care, senior citizen care, child support, R&D and many more;

-      Deterioration of overall quality of life of Canadians which is matter of envy world over;

-      Delayed retirement of thousands of people;

-      Nucleation/initiation of social discontent/tension which may simmer and eventually stress the very fabric of social integration and diversity;

-      Cut in funding for international causes for which Canada has been a beacon of inspiration and support.

So, at such a crucial phase of country’s journey in this and future decades, the Federal and Provincial politicians’ paramount objective should be to close ranks and focus on the solutions, planning and implementation of strategies instead of diverting attention on issues which are:

-      Either nor germane to the above mentioned scenario – in other words, they are secondary; or,

-      Solvable in parallel while working on the PRIMARY issue of the nation, i.e., economy of today and future.

At the moment, the Federal parties seem to be spending their intellectual resources more on the secondary issues, like, mis-appropriation of Senate funds. There is another issue which can potentially divert the energy and focus of the Federal parities for next several months, and that is: Electoral Reform. This is an important issue, and some opposition parties may want more debate and analysis of the pros and cons but if all the energy of the policy makers gets diverted to this one – there may be some other issues too that may be thrown out there before the next Federal election in 2015 – it could herald serious harm because the policy makers would not be able to focus on the PRIMARY issue facing the country: economy.

Issues like electoral reform (and others which may be raising the passions of the political parties of different stripes) should be dealt with in parallel with the focus on the PRIMARY issue. While discussing the PRIMARY issue (economy), the parties need to close ranks and contribute all the wisdom they can marshal for getting the most effective strategy detailed out and implemented.

Canada does not have the luxury of time – the folks at Federal and Provincial level got to act fast. Whether it calls for laying out new policies, making decisions on critical matters, removing road blocks, facilitating coordinated action within and outside Canada, whatever they may be, they got to be done fast. There is no time to lose.

If the folks at Federal and Provincial level spend their time and energy on inter-party shenanigans, the ultimate losers would be Canadians of the present and the ones to come in future. Time and tide waits for nobody – if the politicians of today fail to see the need to act on the PRIMAY issue, there won’t be any point in ruing in future and wringing hands in despair and muttering “Alas, we had acted unitedly then for the sake of the country instead of frittering away precious time on secondary issues.” There is an old saying: God helps them who help themselves, hope politicians of today would realize this!!