MP Martin's tight rope

PM Martin is walking a fine line. On Ballistic Missile Defense (or as I call it Escalation of the Constellations) he pretends that the Canadian government is still investigating the issue, meanwhile we have already agreed to include it as part of NORAD and to allow the USA to use our airspace to shoot down incoming Nuclear Missiles. The only thing we have not agreed to (yet) is putting anti-missile missiles in the Canadian Artic.

Also, as of this week, we have signaled to the world, through the UN, that Canada is willing to take a stronger position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and begin voting on resolutions instead of abstaining. Finally, PM Martin has promoted drastic changes to the UN, the development of an L20 group of leaders and the ignoring of sovereignty to protect to citizens of nations with despotic governments (i.e. Sudan).

At first glance it appears that the Prime Minister is carving out the Blue Grit position that many suspected he would. In a minority government situation this is dangerous to say the least. As time goes on in Parliament PM Martin is increasingly alienating the NDP, BQ and the Red Grits in his own party. In fact, as MP Harper moves the Conservatives further left to attempt gains in Quebec and PM Martin moves the government right, the only coalition to be had is a Liberal-Conservative one.

So the natural question is where is PM Martin going with all of this? Surely he runs the risk of having prominent Chretienites flipping to the NDP in a future election and further jeopardizing his chance at a majority government. Or maybe not.

PM Martin surely sees the writing on the wall at the UN. The UN Oil-for-Food program scandal has been bubbling under the radar for months and could boil over any day. By distancing himself from the UN and promoting the L20 he anesthetizes his party against the position that former PM Chretien took in Iraq. If the UN were to be proven to be in the bag for Saddam Hussein any high road that PM Chretien may have taken would collapse from under him and the Conservatives could have made great political gain in a subsequent campaign. Team Martin will be able to avoid such a charge, if only he can keep is ever loosening coalition of Red and Blue Liberals in tact.