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Mr. Dithers comes to Ottawa

© David Russell

Okay. He was already there. Technically, Prime Minister Martin has had the people's mandate - not all that many of them, mind you - since last June.

But in this, the final week of February, Mr. Martin finally made his presence known: he showed up.

February had its share of ups and downs for the federal Liberals, more of the latter than the former.

In its nearly one hundred thirty-eight year history, no sitting Canadian prime minister has ever been called to testify before a judicial inquiry. It's not the kind of record a governing leader wants to break but Mr. Martin found himself in front of Justice John Gomery's sponsorship commission explaining his role - or according to the Prime Minister, the lack thereof - in the swindling of millions of taxpayer dollars [http://www.gomery.ca/en/index.asp ] . Coming on the heels of his predecessor's appearance [http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/groupa... ] , inexplicably described by political observers as a bravura performance, Martin almost looked statesman-like and forthright as he deflected any semblance of responsibility for arguably and hopefully the single greatest loss of taxpayer dollars in Canadian history that occurred on his finance ministerial watch [http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/groupa... ] . It's difficult to imagine which is worse: that our current prime minister was involved in wide scale corruption during the sponsorship scandal or that millions of dollars were disappearing under his nose on his watch. Neither scenario fills me with a great deal of confidence in his fiscal leadership abilities.

But at least Martin avoided the dramatics and antics of former Prime Minister Chretien, who in his theatrics showed the type of disdain for accountability and general arrogance that may well have helped push him out the door in the first place.

It was also this month that saw renowned British newsmagazine, The Economist [http://www.economist.com/printedition/di... ], penned the latest prime ministerial nickname to stick: Mr. Dithers. It was in comparison to Mr. Martin's begrudgingly admitted backbone shown on the stand at the Gomery inquiry that The Economist's writers coined the unflattering sobriquet, noting that in this as well as many other issues, Mr. Martin has been, shall we say, less than decisive in his approach to governance.

Opposition parties, never ones to look a publicity gift horse in the mouth, were quick to adopt the new moniker, abundantly applying the appellation in taunts across the floor of the House of Commons and in interviews with home town gazettes (as though the vast majority of members actually read the magazine and didn't have party researchers point out to them that the magazine had suggested the term). Never ones to be 'out-immatured' by the opposition, federal Liberals were quick to announce promises to shout back across the House "Mr. Delivers" whenever the untoward handle was attached to their boss.

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