The Politburo on Parliament Hill

A shiny new nickel for anyone who can spot the difference between Canada's two main parties.

Given the perpetual minority machine that is Canadian politics these days, Stephen Harper often finds it expedient to raise the spectre of a Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition. But given their nearly identical stances on a range of policy issues, some observers wonder if we’re not living in a single-party state.

You’d need a magnifying glass to find major differences between the Liberals and Conservatives, says the Ottawa Citizen’s Susan Riley. Both parties supported a massive government stimulus to jump-start the economy, both are opposed to tax cuts to pay for it. Much ado was made over Michael Ignatieff’s declaration this week that he would cancel Stephen Harper’s deal to buy $16-billion worth of fighter planes, but all Ignatieff wants to do is find other companies to bid on the single-source contract, and “doesn't seem averse to spending the same staggering amount.” On the environment “it is a contest between Harper and Ignatieff over who loves the oilsands more. On human rights, both men deplore China's freedom-hating regime and both are willing to smooth over differences in the interests of trade.” On Israel, Iran, and Omar Khadr, Liberal and Conservative talking points are virtually the same. “Given the daily shouting, hissing and harrumphing” on Parliament Hill, writes Riley, “there must be profound disagreements between our two major parties.” Just what they are remains anyone’s guess, however.

If you don’t believe Riley, the National Post’s John Baglow urges you to consider Wednesday’s vote on a bill to create ethical guidelines for Canadian mining companies operating abroad. Harper condemned the bill, and although many Liberals voted for it Ignatieff absented himself along with 12 of his MPs. The bill was subsequently defeated. According to Baglow, the Liberals and Conservatives are just the Red and Blue Wings of a “Librocon Coaltion” that acted in unity to kill this bill, which would have helped stopped human rights abuses at the expense of corporate profits. “Bankers and the mining industry cried bloody murder, of course,” fumes Baglow, “and their Librocon shills dutifully fell into line.”