Climate change central for Dion

In the dozen or so years he has worked from Ottawa, Stephane Dion went from carting around some sort of sporty synthetic backpack to what I understand is now something made of leather. But there are more material changes to notice about him, principally arising from the documents that backpack carried around.

The studious, consummate, underestimated academic has built his political vision based on detailed policy understanding, not on the point-form single-page briefings that tug at the heart. He finds himself having to face a critical question as he settles into Stornoway: Are Canadians ready for a prime minister who uses his rational, intellectual side more than his emotional, intuitional side to run the country?
In some ways it’s been Stephen Harper’s stewardship dilemma, too, and the results are mixed when your leader uses his head and not as much of his soul in directing the affairs of the state. There is a good side: We are a country that countenances and tolerates greater exploration of issues and doesn’t reduce complexities to sound bites and negative ads during election campaigns. But there is also a downside: Without firebrand speeches from the top, the motivational excitement of conventional politics is harder to draw out.
The next election will be decisively low voltage. It will feel more like the university debating club than the barroom brawl. It will be a real test of respect for the audience, because neither main leader is capable of the political low blow.

But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe earnest is going to be good. Maybe one of the reasons our political system has felt dysfunctional in recent years has been its deteriorating quality of discussion. We know that mock outrage in the House of Commons is only superficially real, like professional wrestling, and we want something more substantial in hand-to-hand combat. Maybe that’s one of the keys for younger Canadians. They have great meters to detect phoniness. The suits in Ottawa are off the scale. Maybe Dion and Harper will, in their own comparably plodding ways, restore something akin to actual point-counterpoint dynamics.

Now, for that to happen, a couple of obstacles need to be overcome. Dion’s English has to sharpen. He seems to know the right words, but his emphasis is on the wrong syllable. And Harper has to ease off the intellectual-certainty gas pedal a bit so he can seem like he’s listening. At some point we need to feel like we’re not being lectured. But that could be a pretty great debate, less about partisanship than about principles.

For the attraction of younger people, in particular, Dion oozes concern about global climate change — even though the Liberal record on the environment is hardly pristine. His two best words in English appear to be “sustainable economy,” but he’s tapping into an emerging worry about the effects of trapped greenhouse gases on the planet.

And Harper really wants to taper government to let people do more for themselves — even though the Conservative record on re-engineering government is hardly the stuff of history. He is tapping into an emerging worry that we’re not capitalizing on our advantages as a country in the world economy.

The two leaders’ social agendas are great battlegrounds of discussion. Their views on the Charter are terrific polarities. Their views on Quebec nationalism, on justice, and on the environment will be great to hear in the months ahead. And, even though Harper feels like he’s been around for a long time, he and Dion will feel fresh up against each other.

Let the campaign begin, soon. The minority government isn’t the much-achieving entity many of us expected. The Liberals defeated themselves last time. It’s unlikely the Conservatives will defeat themselves this time. No, this will be an election to be won, not lost.