Critique the critic

Denis Coderre has been named the new Liberal Defence Critic. A bold move by Stephane Dion, replacing one woefully unqualified critic with another equally unprepared. Unfortunately, when it comes to talent on the Defence file, the Liberals have very little bench strength at all.

As I believe a strong and principled opposition is important in Canadian democracy, following are a few broad tips for Mr. Coderre as he races to get up to speed on a complex and highly visible area of responsibility.

• Avoid the temptation to score cheap political points with vehement and cleverly worded soundbites on an important topic like Defence. I know all the parties do it when they're in Opposition. Quite frankly, that's no excuse. There is a qualitative difference between being seen as nothing more than an opportunistic Opposition and being seen as a government in waiting. I'd suggest aiming for the latter in both tone and content.


• Ancillary to the first point, develop some coherent positions. For example, if the C-17 purchase is a bad idea, tell us how you propose to deal with Canada's military strat-lift needs and why that's a better idea than buying the Globemasters. If you agree with the purchase but disagree with the method being used, then make that clear. But sniping from the sidelines without presenting realistic alternatives is just base politicking.


• Afghanistan is the single biggest issue on the Defence file right now, so figure out your party's position and then present and defend it. I'd suggest it should be pretty damned close to the Conservatives' position, but then again, I'm not a Liberal. One thing is for sure: your party's split personality on this central issue of Canadian foreign and defence policy is completely unproductive. Fix it.

As I see it, Mr. Coderre's biggest handicap will be his own inexperience with this extremely specialized area of government. But his second biggest - and not second by much - will be the fact that many of the most difficult problems facing the Department of National Defence were created or perpetuated by previous Liberal governments: recruiting and retention of personnel, playing catch-up on capital acquisition, the Afghan mission, chronic budget underfunding, etc.

Accordingly, my expectations for Mr. Coderre are disappointingly low. That Her Majesty's Official Opposition should be so shockingly unprepared to do its job on National Defence is a travesty.