January 9, 2008

An act of parliament can no more prevent accidents at
Canada's aging nuclear reactors than ignoring the problems
of global warming will make them go away.

Yet Prime Minister Harper seems to think that he can control
nuclear reactors by political will. His government passed
emergency legislation to override the safety inspectors'
decision to shut down a nuclear reactor at Chalk River,
Ontario. That shut-down threw the medical world in a tizzy
as they scrambled to find other sources of the radioactive
isotopes necessary for diagnosis.

It's all a Liberal plot to discredit the reputation of his
government, Harper claimed. He surprised parliament by
saying that a "Liberal-appointed" safety commission had
ordered the shut-down and put lives at risk by depriving the
world of the isotopes.

The head of that safety commission said that emergency
backup power was required for pumps in aging tanks that hold
Uranium-235. In the event of a power failure, the tanks
could reach a critical stage and blow up.

Liberal plots aside, it was the prime minister who placed
his hand-picked Conservative supporter Michael C. Burns as
head of the board that regulates Chalk River. It was Burns
who failed to install the safety measures required by the
safety commission.

The failure of Canada to supply the world's medical isotopes
may be an embarrassment but what in the world will they
think when they learn that our prime minister has declared a
reactor safe contrary to the experts who regulate the
industry?

What next? If Harper thinks he can control nuclear reactors
by decree, will he command the waters of the Rideau Canal in
Ottawa to part, reminiscent of Moses, so that his followers
can walk on dry ground to his promised land of majority
government?

Harper faced another embarrassment in Bali as his
environment minister was missing in action. Minister Baird
said that he was in Bali to "form a bridge" between the
Europeans and the U.S.

Some bridge. When the going got tough, Baird was nowhere to
be found. Representatives from a dozen countries worked
though the night to find concessions to keep the Bali
conference from being a complete failure but Baird couldn't
be bothered to attend.

Even the U.S. delegates were there although they were shamed
into compromise by the representative from Papua New Guinea:
"If you are not willing to lead, please get out of the way."

Baird, who apparently has no shame, was awarded "fossil of
the day" for his failure to take part in negotiations. A
spokesman for a coalition of 400 environmental groups put it
ironically: "Mr. Baird is apparently so busy at the
climate-change negotiations that he has no time for climate
change negotiations."

It's all so strange. Why does the prime minister continue to
ignore what Canadians care most about; the environment,
health care, and poverty while focusing on what we care
least; terrorism, tax cuts, and crime.

Harper must know something that we don't. He must have a
plan so substantial that it can withstand the blustery
storms of popular opinion. Such a plan must be deeply
ingrained, planted by his mentor and professor at the
University of Calgary, Tom Flanagan.

In turn, Flanagan learned about the teachings of the father
of U.S. neoconservatism, Leo Strauss, at Duke University in
Durham, North Carolina.

Strauss believed that Western liberal democracies had
degenerated into an aimlessness and hedonistic "permissive
egalitarianism." Strauss's plan would save us from our
decadent ways though strict measures and restoration of
discipline to public life. The plan required a small circle
of political philosophers to implement it.

It was Flanagan who rejected the messy populism that Earnest
Manning brought to the Reform Party. Flanagan helped steer
the party away from the grassroots to the political science
of Strauss.

In Harper, Flanagan finally had his dream candidate to carry
the neo-conservative torch: an alter ego whose benign boyish
good looks belied the radical agenda they shared.

Time will tell whether Harper can successfully implement
Strauss's plan to redeem Canada of its decadent liberal
ways.

But when will Harper realize that politics is more of an art
than a science?

Perhaps a light will dawn on the prime minister and he will
learn from his apprenticeship as prime minister what he
could never learn in school.

I can only hope the glowing light he sees is not the nuclear
meltdown at Chalk River.
 

David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca

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