The Public Character of an "Amigo"

Last weekend's Three Amigos summit once again showed Stephen Harper's troubling tendency to place blame everywhere but with himself.

I know nothing of the private character of Stephen Harper. He has a sullen sharp-eyed look as he faces the Liberal opposition, and we all have opinions as to "what he is really like.” But none of us know the answer, so all we have to go on is politics.

It is of the public character that I speak. Last weekend's Three Amigos summit in Mexico gives us some insight. Harper blames "the refugee system" for the clumsily handled decision to force all Mexican visitors to Canada to apply for visas. He's been prime minister for nearly four years. He's introduced major changes to Canada's immigration laws, but never proposed any changes to the refugee system. He inherited a refugee board that had no backlog. He won't accept responsibility, so he blames others. He would rather diss his own country than admit a mistake.

Then we hear that in private meetings Harper blames the opposition for delays in changes to the Criminal Code. But it's his government that delayed bringing in legislation.

I smell a pattern here. A second grade report card would read, "Stephen has difficulty taking responsibility for his actions and blames others for his mistakes."

I've seen him apologize once – when he attacked Michael Ignatieff for saying something he didn't say – it was a short, curt event, no questions, no explanations. When he was caught giving a speech that Australian Prime Minister John Howard gave two days before, a junior speechwriter was fired. When a young staffer made a mistake and misplaced a tape recorder, she was fired.

So blame is carefully allocated everywhere else.

Harper's avoidance of responsibility even extends to health care. He tells American reporters that the federal government has nothing to do with the issue – it's all up to the provinces. Canada Health Act, anyone?

The issue that is always close to the heart of every public debate in Canada is a million miles away from what Stephen Harper cares about.