Shocking Doctrine

Prime minister Stephen Harper angered many during an interview when he again refused the idea of an inquiry into the huge number of missing and murdered aboriginal women. His and the Conservative party's avoidance of the issue has been particularly perplexing.

We're all used to the idea of politicians of all political stripes making big, public gestures, but avoiding anything of substance of it could be costly or difficult. So I would not be at all surprised to see a politician in this situation call a commission, let it work away for a few years, then ignore its recommendations.

That's why it's so perplexing that the Conservatives are so dead-set against the inquiry. The monetary cost would be small on the national scale. And it's not like it would go against any of their political priorities. On the contrary, they could make a good argument that the inquiry is an extension of their law-and-order agenda. But not only will they not make the public act, they won't even turn out down in a dignified way, unceremoniously saying that it wasn't a priority.

Naomi Klein recently wrote an article about the problem, linking it to the Conservative's energy policy. She points out that the First Nations have provided the only effective opposition to the government's pro-oil-industry platform, and she sees this as payback from a government that sees itself working against indigenous groups.

But I find that hard to believe. I don't like Prime Minister Harper. And I don't mean that I'm a I-disagree-with-him-but-I-respect-him way. He's condescending. He's a bully. He's quick to abandon people and principles. But even I don't think he'd take revenge on a whole race of people like that.

Despite that, the accusation is still going to be a problem for Harper. Like I said, the Conservatives' stalling on this is, above all, perplexing. When actions are so inexplicable, any explanation - even one so difficult to believe - is going to gain traction. The government is going to have to come up with their own plausible explanation for their inaction if they don't want Canadians to adopt Klein's conclusion.