Pensioning Dictators

There is nothing quite like a spring day in Toronto. Unfortunately, these come by too infrequently and when they do, are fleeting, the city plunging rapidly into sweaty, drenchy summer. We have just now entered into one such phase.

            But even though the hazy, lazy days are upon us, Toronto is a lot more relaxed than it was this time last year. The change has come about because Canadian voters, in the federal election of last fall, decided to toss out the incumbent Conservatives and replace them with the Liberal Party. The Stephen Harper-led conservatives had pursued such un-Canadian agenda that it was little surprise that Canadians put the kybosh on them.           

The new government is living up to its party’s name by acting out an agenda that is reaffirming Canada’s reputation as a caring place after the nearly decade-long regressive social and fiscal tory policies. Predictably, the new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is proving to be every inch his father’s son, boldly taking on the forces of conservatism that would hold the country back. That he is an amateur boxer in no way diminishes his intellectual agility but might have added a bit of spice to his hands-on approach to government. Perhaps a bit too much, judging by recent events in the House of Parliament when, in trying to rescue one opposition party member embedded in a scrum during an intense debate over physician-assisted dying, his elbow reportedly made contact with the bosom of another opposition party member.  

Meanwhile, Stephen Harper decided to throw in the towel as party leader and seek his fortune in other spheres. This, we are told would not be a bad move, as he is likely to be much sought-after among the denizens of the corporate world for all that knowledge and cachet garnered during more than two decades of high-flying politics and, as prime minister of Canada, while hobnobbing among the  world’s movers and shakers. His earning potential is enormous. Maybe not approaching the astronomical levels of Tony Blair’sTonyBlair or Bill Clinton’s BillClinton subsequent to their own tenures on high, but certainly greater than that of most African presidents and prime ministers, whose only hope of a half-decent pension lies in remaining in office until they drop.

Is it time to consider a pension plan for African dictators? 

Tell Fren Tru