By Lloyd Mackey

SOMETIMES, dogs chase fire trucks. Those dogs know, for sure, that their chasing the fire trucks actually cause the trucks to go in the dog-desired direction.

That the drivers of the fire trucks believe that they, themselves, have control over the direction taken by their trucks, has nothing to do with dog-created reality.

So, I might suggest, tongue-in-cheek, that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's new "coalition" with the Conservatives is a direct result of last week's OttawaWatch piece, entitled 'Power-sharing if necessary.'

To properly understand my sense of satisfaction in the outcome of the federal budget vote, just consider OttawaWatch to be the dog. That makes the combined and diverse efforts of the governing Conservatives and opposition Liberals to be the Harper/Ignatieff fire truck driver-navigator team.

* * *

With that observation, we will move to a quick look at a couple of events that provide opportunity to spotlight British Columbia's continuing potential to provide some sense of direction for the federal body politic.

This year's Mel Smith Lecture at BC's Trinity Western University will be delivered by Deb Grey, long-time former Reform/Canadian Alliance MP. Yes, we realize that Grey served an Alberta riding. But she grew up in one of Vancouver's southerly suburbs and took her first two years of university at Trinity Western, when it was a mere junior college.

She is a good choice for the lectureship -- the 11th annual, as it happens. The late Mel Smith was a renowned BC constitutional specialist who taught at Trinity in his 'spare time.' Although he worked his entire career in the provincial public service, his wide perspective on constitutional matters served the national scene more effectively than most people realize.

Continue article >>

Grey, for her part, will speak to the topic of 'Power, Parliament and Preston Manning.'

The lecture takes place February 5. I hope, in the next week or two, to provide a summary of her comments.

* * *

And speaking of Preston Manning, let me take note that the Manning Networking Conference and Exhibition 2009 is set for March 12 - 14 at the Westin Ottawa.

Manning, of course, will be one of the speakers. But included in the list, as well, is a British Columbian, Gordon Gibson.

In his earlier years, he was well-known as a Liberal, both federally and provincially. In fact, he might have become BC's premier, if he had won the leadership of the BC Liberal party in the '90s, instead of Gordon Campbell.

In more recent years, he has made his mark as a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute. And he is seen as the author and designer of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, which has shaped -- and continues to shape -- the course of democratic reform in the west coast province.

* * *

As with Grey, I hope to provide some of Gibson's comments for OttawaWatch consideration, when the time comes.

* * *

Lloyd Mackey is a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa and author of Stephen Harper: The Case for Collaborative Governance (ECW Press, 2006), More Faithful Than We Think: Stories and Insights on Canadian Leaders Doing Politics Christianly (BayRidge Books, 2005) and Like Father, Like Son: Ernest Manning and Preston Manning (ECW Press, 1997). Lloyd can be reached at lmackey@canadianchristianity.com.

February 5/2009