CANADA: RULING CONSERVATIVES SURVIVE 2009 IN COMFORT

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000954 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON CA SUBJECT: CANADA: RULING CONSERVATIVES SURVIVE 2009 IN COMFORT REF: OTTAWA 940; OTTAWA 795; OTTAWA 766; OTTAWA 735; OTTAWA 876 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Early in the fall, the ruling Conservatives sidestepped the threat of an election, seized control of the parliamentary agenda, and moved forward on a twin-track of economic and justice issues, largely unhampered by their minority status. By the close of the fall parliamentary session on December 10, they had added two seats to their ranks, pulled clearly ahead in the polls, and retained the political initiative. The economy and justice issues remain key priorities. Climate change and especially a controversy over Afghan detainees are still challenges, however. With an election off the table at least until spring 2010, if not later, the Conservatives again have an opportunity to add to their record of results in office, while also needing to keep the Parliamentary debates focused to their advantage in order to keep their eyes on the next political prize: a majority in the next election. End summary. ¶2. (U) Only a few months ago, the momentum toward a fall election seemed all but inevitable, with Official Opposition Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff vowing to bring down the government: "Your time is up" (refs b-d). Only the surprise support for the government by the New Democratic Party - which previously had boasted of voting against the government on more than 70 consecutive votes and ridiculed the Liberals for failing to act like a genuine opposition party - in order to secure the passage of two bills on Employment Insurance (one of which remains in the Senate, while the other has become law already) staved off the prospects of the second election in two years. The House of Commons adjourned for the Christmas recess on December 10, and will not resume until January 25. The Senate continues to sit, perhaps until December 18. CONSERVATIVES IN COMFORTABLE LEAD ¶3. (SBU) The Conservatives remain by far the best funded of all the political parties, and ahead in the polls, at approximately 36% support. They have preserved an almost double-digit lead in voting intentions since September, when they pulled away after months of being locked in a dead heat with the Liberals. Polling indicates the Conservatives continue to make inroads in ethnic communities, and even to close the gender gap with female voters, previously a perennial Achilles heel for the party. In a new Angus Reid poll, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's approval rating - at 32% -- was more than double Ignatieff's - at 15%. (Even NDP leader Jack Layton had a 29 % approval rating.) On November 9, the Conservatives won two of four seats in federal by-election races (ref e),including an upset win in Quebec. In contrast, the Liberal Party is hovering at near historic lows of popular support. Several senior Liberal MPs and officials have acknowledged privately to PolMinCouns that the government conceivably could last well into 2010, either with continued support from the NDP or with ad hoc support from the Liberals, who are not yet ready to bring the government down -- for the foreseeable future -- "period." STAYING THE COURSE ON THE ECONOMY ¶4. (U) Improving the economy remains the government's chief focus. On December 2, PM Harper presented the final 2009 quarterly economic report card (required by the Liberals in exchange for passing the federal budget in March). PM Harper reiterated that the economy "continues to be our number one priority, and that will not change until the global recession is truly behind us." He announced that the government had committed 97% of this year's economic stimulus spending, with an estimated 8,000 of 12,000 approved projects underway. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty separately said the government would refrain from any new major spending programs, would allow the committed stimulus to work through the economy, and would "stay the course" with its flagship Economic Action Plan. Opposition parties have criticized the government for failing to specify how many jobs have been created, for allegedly channeling a disproportionate number of projects to government-held ridings, and for allowing Conservative MPs to take the lion's share of the credit for government spending through E presentation of giant prop checks with party logos. CRACKING DOWN ON CRIME ¶5. (U) The Conservatives have also moved ahead on their justice agenda, long a hallmark of the party. The government currently has 15 justice bills in progress before Parliament, including bills to end conditional sentences for property and serious crime, stiffen sentences for auto theft and trafficking in property obtained from crime, eliminate two-for-one credit for time served in pre-trial custody, and repeal the "faint hope" clause for first and second degree murder. In December, the Liberal-dominated Senate weakened the provisions of C-15 -- a bill to impose mandatory minimum sentences for production, possession, and trafficking of illegal drugs -- by exempting aboriginal offenders as well as growers of between 5 and 200 marijuana plants from the mandatory provisions (although these would still apply if there were aggravating factors). The amended bill will have to return to the House of Commons for approval or rejection of the amendments in the winter 2010 session. LIMITED PROGRESS ON NATIONAL SECURITY ¶6. (U) The government made no progress on C-19, amendments to the Anti-terrorism Bill (to restore lapsed powers to hold investigative hearings, and impose recognizance with conditions.) The Conservatives had re-introduced the bill in March (it had passed the Senate in the previous Parliament but had not made it through the House before dissolution of the previous Parliament in 2008), briefly debated it in June, but has not yet brought it to a vote. On a separate issue, the government on November 27 introduced Bill C-60, a bill to implement a Canada-U.S. framework agreement for integrated cross-border maritime law enforcement operations (Shiprider). ¶7. (U) On December 13, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan confirmed that the government had launched a review of the decades-old immigration security certificate law, under which foreign nationals deemed a threat to national security may be detained or deported. Minister Van Loan stated that the government was "working on it actively, very actively," adding that he will review whether the certificates remain "an appropriate instrument" as the government tries to "work our way through what the implications of the court decisions are and how we can balance that with our ability to assure the national security of Canadians." On October 14, the Federal Court quashed a certificate against Adil Charkaoui, and, on December 14, separately announced its decision imminently to quash a certificate against Hassan Almrei. Three security certificate cases remain before the courts. PARLIAMENT VERSUS THE GOVERNMENT ¶8. (U) Since mid-November, the government has sought to contain a controversy over the transfer by Canadian Forces of detainees in Afghanistan to situations where they may face abuse from Afghan authorities (ref.a). On December 10, the opposition parties narrowly passed a motion (145:143) ordering the government to disclose unredacted confidential documents on detainees captured in Afghanistan. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and International Trade Minister Stockwell Day (Chair of the cabinet's Committee on Afghanistan) underscored on December 11 that the government would not comply. The motion now pits Parliament's constitutional -- but rarely used and largely untested -- privilege to compel the production of documents against the government's legal responsibility to shield information under national security legislation. Minister Day stated that members of the Special Committee on Canada's Mission in Afghanistan (AFGH) would receive "legally available" documents. However, he added that MPs were "naive to the extreme" to expect the release of uncensored documents. ¶9. (U) The AFGH (in which the three opposition parties have a majority) may continue to hold hearings through the Christmas recess, and Liberal MPs have insisted that they will continue to press their case when the House of Commons resumes in January. If the government continues to ignore the parliamentary order for documents, the opposition could vote to find the government "in contempt" of Parliament, or even theoretically press the case in the courts. However, Parliament has rarely proceeded to a contempt finding, and has never applied a penalty. According to constitutional experts, Canadian courts would likely be loath to rule on the limits of parliamentary privilege. ¶10. (SBU) Comment: The Conservatives have remained in the political driver's seat through the fall, largely unhampered by their minority status, and moving methodically to implement a focused economic and justice agenda. The opposition parties, especially the Liberals, struggled to gain traction - further hampered by a series of high profile personnel departures, including a chief of staff and their second national director in one year. Climate change and a revitalized Afghan detainee controversy still present some opportunities for the Liberals to rebound in 2010, although the lack of public interest in the latter issue is a major constraint. The opposition parties have nonetheless fastened on the detainee controversy as a wedge issue to undermine the Conservatives' credibility, largely in the absence of broader policy ideas of their own. Although the opposition is unlikely to escalate the fight to a political stand-off, the long-running controversy has previously demonstrated its potential to distract, overshadow, and knock the Conservatives' agenda off course. The parliamentary break affords the Conservatives a chance to refocus and change the channel. For the Liberals, the greater challenge will be less to sustain the detainee controversy than to rebuild morale, organization, and competitiveness in Ignatieff's second year as party leader. With the polls still heavily in their favor, the Conservatives will be vigorously looking for an opportunity - probably in 2010 - to win their long-awaited political prize: an actual majority in the House of Commons from a new federal election. JACOBSON