Vision required by PM

February 8, 2010

To the editor:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is no Sir John A. Macdonald.

Canada's first prime minister was a man of uncommon vision, ambition and courage. It took him fewer than five years to build a country second in size only to Russia. Then, for his encore, Macdonald proposed to bind this young and large nation together with a ribbon of steel.

Many scoffed, doubting such a huge project could be carried out. But Macdonald had the last laugh.

In 1886, the transcontinental rail-line he had promised was finally completed.

Today, the big ideas are coming from people like our own mayor, David Miller.

These people have vision enough to see what can and should be done, and, much like our first prime minister, these people see government spending as an investment in the future.

If I thought that our present prime minister had even a little of Macdonald in him, I would propose he make his mark in Canadian history with a huge national project comparable to Macdonald's rail-line.

Here are three possible projects, any one of which would do wonders for our country:

* Connect Halifax and Vancouver with a rapid-rail line.

* Rescue the automotive industry with incentives to buy vehicles manufactured in Canada.

* Underwrite the construction of housing in communities with depressed communities.

The provinces and the municipalities would be eager to participate in any one, or all, of those three projects if the federal government was prepared to make a sizable financial contribution.

All that we need is a prime minister with just a little of Macdonald's vision, ambition and courage.

Joseph Durocher