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December 3, 2008 at 13:10:55
Promoted to Headline (H3) on 12/3/08: by Laura Warman (Posted by dick overfield) Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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December 2, 2008 At this point, the only strategy the Conservatives are presenting is to persuade us all to be terrified of the big "S" team -- separatists and socialists. 'Socialist' is a term that doesn't have much sting out here, as we tend to think of it in terms of warm fuzzy things like medicare and old age pensions. Given that the 'free-market' approach has pretty well fallen on its face lately, a lot of people might think a little socialism could be be a good thing. Apparently local Conservative organizations have been phoning up their members and encouraging them to 'blitz' local radio talk shows and flood them with their fears that a coalition will lead Canada straight to separatist hell. I know a fair number of Conservatives (my riding usually puts out a 60-70% Conservative vote) but none of them give a rat's ass about separatism. I can't say how people in the rest of Canada feel, but I really doubt if the majority of citizens are going to get too riled up about having the Bloc take part in Parliament. Some might even recall how Harper was perfectly fine with having the Bloc participate when they were voting on his side. Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe said today that Harper gave the opposition the idea of coming up with a coalition, as the Conservatives suggested much the same thing the last time they were in the opposition.
Today was the most vehement Question Period the Canadian House of Commons has seen for quite a while. Showing the stringent party discipline the Conservatives are famous for, every Conservative member referred to 'the separatists and the socialists' in response to every question put them by the opposition members. The opposition members were also pretty much on-message, referring to 'this government that has lost the confidence of Parliament' in most of their statements.
The Governor-General is currently flying back to Canada. Monday is the day when things are going to be decided.
Or are they? Currently, the most probable outcome is that Parliament will be prorogated (postponed) until late January. This will give the Conservatives time to try to rejigger their budget in hopes of producing one that someone other than a Conservative would vote for. One Conservative cabinet minister hinted strongly that they were going to strongly influence non-Conservative members to leave the coalition and join with them. I don't know what combination of carrots and sticks they will come up with, but they do have a lot of cash on hand. Postponing things until January will also make a call for yet another election seem somewhat more workable, plus it would be close enough to the coming Liberal leadership campaign that some Liberal candidates may wish to jolly along the current government until a new leader is chosen. Author Linda McQuaig refers to Liberal hopeful Michael Ignatieff as a 'neo-conservative' and if she is correct he would be very likely to do what he could to bring down a coalition in favour of a Liberal party with himself at the helm.
So what's a citizen to do? Well, it might help if quite a few more of us got up off our asses and voted. Voter turnout last time was the lowest ever. Last time I had six candidates to choose from (and I live out in the boonies) so you can't use the 'no choice' argument. If none of the choices suit you, you can always run yourself. Up until then, don't get panicked, even by the "S" words.
Please email the governor general now and tell her how you feel. The Conservatives are massing their troops to send out their party line, so if you don't agree with their point of view, now is the time to let her know.
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stalling
I believe the GG still has the discretion, does she not to allow Parliament to be prorogued or not? If not then doesn't the government have to resign as she would have refused to take advice from her PM? Once the GG expresses non confidence in her government I believe it has to resign. by Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1767 comments [113 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008 at 4:21:22 PM  (0+)
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Reply: GG
Remember HM Queen Elizabeth is the decider regarding Canada, which makes the decision to prorogue, or not, the Canadian Parliament will be interesting. I understand that Harper is to see the GG today, Thursday. by sliphoch (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 110 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Dec 4, 2008 at 6:46:06 AM (0+)
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The GG's Options
Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean has returned from Europe to face a volatile and complicated situation created by Harper’s threat to request dissolution of Parliament. The up side for him is to avoid a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons on Monday that could precipitate the rise of a Liberal-NDP coalition. That coalition also has the support of the Bloc Quebecois and the Greens. Her Excellency has the authority to deny a request for dissolution. Appointed by former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, Governor General Jean has to decide whether or not to suspend the current parliamentary session, and if she does she will then have to decide whether to call an election should the Conservatives lose the vote of confidence, or approve the proposed coalition government. Harper, as Opposition leader in 2004, tried something very similar to this when he tried to dethrone Paul Martin by signing a memo of understanding with the NDP's Jack Layton. The Liberals were in the contrary position. The current situation is knock down drag out politics with hypocrisy dripping off the walls. The Coalition is not particularly strong. The Liberals and NDP plan to caucus separately. The Bloc could get rowdy and pull out if it didn’t like the ways things were going. Their current position is support for 18 months. The Coalition will have to cater to the Bloc to maintain stability. Western Canadians are not going to be thrilled with giving the separatist Bloc so much power. It is important to bear in mind that some 62% of Canadians did not vote for the Conservative Party. In addition, Canada is increasingly a multi-party state. Coalitions are effective throughout the world in similar circumstances. A persuasive case can be made that a coalition would represent the greatest number of voters. by dick overfield (26 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 64 comments [15 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008 at 11:17:31 PM (0+)
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Back in Canada -- Stalling for Time and the "S" Words
The Conservatives should as our system of government allows, let the coalition , the majority, take on Government. Coalition governments are common around the world. Parties working for people together. To put it off till January is unaceptable. Harper has moved us away from a caring society, a society that provides for all, to one where we are all on our own. We must have a government that leads us. by Rolland Miller (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 229 comments [79 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Thursday, Dec 4, 2008 at 12:10:52 AM (0+)
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