LARRY'S CORNER- Hamilton's Former Mayor Speaks

New Year's Resolutions for Local and World Leaders

By Larry Di Ianni
(posted December 30, 2008)

The year of Our Lord, 2008 has been a brutal one for leaders near and far. Scandals, wrong-headed policy decisions, natural disasters, economic woes, wars, political chicanery and petty peculiarities have taken their toll on those entrusted with the most important decisions affecting us individually and collectively. As we look at 2009, many of these same leaders, still in power, are just too busy, or are taken up with their own self-importance to consider making resolutions for the betterment of all. In the absence of their doing it, I will suggest, with the utmost of presumptuous humility, some 'promises' that leaders of one stripe or another, at this or that level of government, in this community or not, might want to consider in order to benefit themselves and their constituencies.

Stephen Harper:

The Canadian PM is being criticized for not playing nice with the opposition parties at a time when cooperation and 'working across the aisle' are the political orders of the day. Resolution for Mr. Harper: Read A Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The Lincolnesque approach to governing seems to be garnering kudos for President-elect Barack Obama. The book describes how Lincoln successfully included three bitter rivals in his cabinet. Who better for Harper to consider in his next shuffle than Ignatieff, Layton and Duceppe? Well, even if this notion is far-fetched, the PM will benefit by the book's wisdom of actually working with your political enemies rather than just wanting to bash their political heads in.

Dalton McGuinty:

The Premier has been weighed down by the collapse of the manufacturing sector in our province. This has meant unprecedented job-losses for citizens, revenue reductions for the government, deficit projections for our budget and the declaration of Ontario as a 'have-not' province. The ignominy of it all isn't wasted on any of us. The Premier needs some help. Resolution for Dalton McGuinty: Follow the lead of Mr. Obama and invest heavily in infrastructure by taking advantage of Federal programs wrestled from Flaherty by the coalition trio in Ottawa, and partnering with municipalities across the province. Invest in alternative energy development and continue building a public transit network in major centers, including cities like Hamilton. These moves will generate jobs and spur further investment in communities for the short and long term. These expenditures will increase the size of provincial deficits in the near term, but the outcome will be worth it.
How does the Premier convince his cabinet that this expenditure is worthwhile? Lots of good Ontario wine at the Cabinet meeting should do it.

John Tory:

The leader of the Ontario PC party is still without a seat and the Prime Minister, in making Senate appointments, did not follow my advice and offer a post to a sitting Provincial MPP member to create an opening for Mr. Tory. This being the case, Mr. Tory's resolution is as follows: Make the rounds of sitting MPP's once again to see if a safe seat can be found. If so, great; if not? Take a long walk in the snow as others in impossible situations have done. Call a news conference and announce your resignation. Allow the party to renew itself from within by selecting a leader who has earned the right to sit in the legislature. This would be tough for a good man like Mr. Tory to do, but it would be the right thing for the sake of parliamentary democracy and his party's future.

Michael Ignatieff:

Mr. Ignatieff has become the leader of the Liberal party without having had to give one speech or face the opposition of any of his current rivals for the job. His fortuitous circumstance has served him well personally, as well as the party by avoiding further divisions, and it has benefited the country by offering a palatable alternative to Mr. Harper's divisive leadership. It has also, however, not allowed the grassroots within the party and Canadians in general the time to get to know Mr. Ignatieff. I have counted the number of times already the word 'patrician' has been spoken in reference to Michael's background and demeanour.

Resolution for Michael Ignatieff: Go on a speaking tour of every riding in the Country. Allow the local associations to organize a 'get-to-know-Michael' session. Work up a stump speech that also includes the particular idiosyncrasy of the riding you are in. Be introduced before you speak by a local person and either Mr. Rae or Mr. Leblanc. This will go a long way to assuring the masses of your smarts and grass-roots appeal.

Jack Layton:

Mr. Layton isn't without charm. He is well-educated and progressive in his ideas. He speaks well in both official languages and he can connect with his audience. He, however, can't seem to get away from the sanctimony that often afflicts his party; nor does he have the sincerity of delivery that Ed Broadbent possesses. He comes across more as a slick 'used-car-salesman' than an earnest politician. Resolution for Mr. Layton: first start by getting rid of the moustache; then follow this up by admitting that the NDP does not alone have a corner on integrity, decency and the Canadian way!

Fred Eisenberger:

Despite good intentions, Mayor Fred hasn't been very successful in winning important votes at Council of late. He has lost votes on such important items as the re-cladding of city hall, the selection of a new city manager, the Flamborough slots debate, the development of lands around the airport, the two-bag limit on garbage collection, and could not even get someone to second his motion on the naturalization of some medians next to our city's roads, to name just a few glaring lost opportunities. In fact some critics might unfairly indicate that he hasn't won a vote since he beat me by a whisker in the 2006 Mayoralty contest. If that is true, how do you think that makes ME feel? I know Fred doesn't want to go down in history as Hamilton's Mayor who couldn't deliver. He is too proud for that moniker. And the rest of us 'former' mayors don't want to see the office diminished. So, some suggestions are in order.

Resolution for Mayor Fred: Decide which votes are important for you and the city you are leading. Use the time before the vote to canvass Council to assess their feelings on the issue (and here is the important part): be ready to compromise before the vote in order to secure the win for your idea. Compromise is as important a characteristic in municipal politics as it is at any other level of government. My sources tell me that Fred isn't willing to bend, even if the compromise is needed to forge a political victory.

George W. Bush:

Much has been written about this embattled President as he is set to leave office. Never in my decades of political observation have I ever seen a man leave his position so dispirited and so beaten. I recall President Johnson's speech claiming he would not accept his party's nomination to run a second term. In the depths of the Viet Nam war, there was something existential about Johnson's political fatalism. I recall Richard Nixon's final farewell after the Watergate scandal forced him to resign. It was classically Nixonian that his speech made the resignation seem orderly as he introduced the notion that Gerald R. Ford would be 'sworn in tomorrow in this very room'. As well, the defiant "V" for Victory sign made as he boarded his helicopter the next day with both arms stretched upwards was a testament to his arrogance but also his determination that history would vindicate him. Even President Carter's concession speech after Ronald Reagan's political thrashing was gracious. And of course, Bill Clinton left office disgraced personally, impeached by Congress, but soaring in popularity and ready to give his country the next generation of Clintons: Hillary (whose time is now) and Chelsea (whose time will come).

What does Bush get for his efforts? For one, shoes ignominiously thrown at him in Iraq, the country where the President claims he liberated 50 million people; a financial crash of unseen proportion since the Great Depression; the near-death of the American Auto industry; failure to bring back 'dead or alive' his arch-enemy, Osama Bin Laden; and approval ratings in the high teens, the lowest of any president leaving office. If all of these 'wounds' were not so haplessly self-inflicted, one would almost be inclined to feel sorry for W.

Resolution: Forget writing your memoirs; forget the Presidential library; forget the swanky $3M house you have just purchased in Texas. Do what President Carter did when he left office. He rolled up his sleeves and built homes across his country for the homeless. His stature grew as the years passed. President Bush has actually done some good things in Africa to fight the spread of AIDS. There are villages in that continent where grateful women have named their children after him. Start there. Roll up your sleeves too. Find worthwhile projects to help these poor people. The world will recognize your earnestness; and history might reward you with a better post-presidential resume than it will give you for your term in office.

Barack Hussein Obama:

This young, energetic leader represents hope for his nation and the world. Never have we witnessed a time in history when an ordinary man transcends 'mortal coils' to signify something beyond the human being he is. For some, he personifies the beginnings of a long-awaited rapprochement to the race issue in the U.S. For others who have lost their jobs in the harsh recession, he represents hope for secure employment. For those in foreign lands, he represents a more just foreign policy as well as the termination of two very difficult wars abroad costing trillions in dollars and much more in lost lives. The President-elect has all of these weighty burdens of high expectations on his shoulders as he approaches his inauguration day. Resolution for Barack Obama: don't let your head swell. You are poised to be a great President and you have chosen an excellent team to assist you. Your citizens are also willing to help you achieve your goals and the world is wishing you well if only because your predecessor screwed things up so badly. But, in your rarefied heights, do try to keep your head; and a balance that will stand you in good stead. I recommend you read Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. You should pay particular attention to Lemuel's travels in Books One and Two of his journey. In the first book, Gulliver is in the lands of minute people, Lilliput. He is a giant among the locals; and has the power of a god over these same Lilliputians. His head swells with self-importance as he plays with the fate of these little folks who can be smitten by Lemuel Gulliver with a simple hand gesture. Then, this same man travels to another land where things are turned upside down. Now, he is a tiny speck of a man in the land of giants. The formerly all-powerful individual must fight for his life with spiders ten times his size, and he becomes the plaything of a mischievous little girl. Lemuel goes from being all-powerful to being all-vulnerable. He is the same individual. Only his circumstances have changed. This is the message to Barack who at this moment seems 'all-powerful'. Don't be self-deluded by this grandeur. If circumstances were to change, so would your stature. Always remember the lesson taught by Swift. And in this current state, maintain the humility of a master-servant, one who has power to assist those who don't have your same blessings or opportunities. I pray that President-elect Obama will do just that.

Larry Di Ianni:

Larry has gone through quite a transition these past 8 years. He has gone from being the Principal of a High School to Councillor in an amalgamated municipality to Mayor in that same municipality, to civilian, to Federal candidate in the last election, to now ordinary civilian again. Resolution for Larry Di Ianni: keep your sense of humour and your positive outlook. You really don't know what you want to do when you grow up, so keep experimenting with different choices. Have fun along the way. And follow your mother's advice often repeated when you were growing up: "If someone does you harm, forget about it. Let others complain; never do it yourself. If you do good deeds towards others, forget about that too. Let others brag about your good deeds, never do it yourself."

Happy New Year everyone!

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