Prime Minister Stephen Harper risks losing control of his caucus amid reaction to possible federal money for a new Québec City hockey arena and signs that his government appears to be "scrambling" from one crisis to another, says one of his former top advisers.
Tom Flanagan, the University of Calgary political scientist who may know Prime Minister Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) better than anyone outside his family, said the coast-to-coast uproar over potential funding for a $400-million NHL arena in Québec City, an idea now killed by Mr. Harper, did not incite a full-blown rebellion among backbenchers in western Canada and elsewhere, but it might have come close.
Prof. Flanagan told The Hill Times the unexpected chain of events Prime Minister Harper sparked when he first raised the surprise funding possibility earlier this month, then backed down only to have at least one of his Quebec Cabinet ministers raise hopes again the very next day, is just the latest event in a series of stumbles that suggest the PM's famous grip on his caucus may be threatened. For the first time in five years of iron-discipline Conservative rule, Prime Minister Harper's MPs showed signs of rebellion, however deep behind party curtains.
Source: The Hill Times
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