Politics In Canada

Turning my attention to my adopted country, what do I see?

The leaders of the three opposition parties presented their plan to topple Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority government at a press conference in Ottawa late Monday afternoon.

The leaders of the Liberal Party, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois publicly signed a coaltion accord and sent a letter to Governor-General Michaëlle Jean saying the opposition has lost confidence in the Conservatives.

The proposed coalition government between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party would last until June of 2011, but the Bloc is only pledging support for 18 months.

Under the plan, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion would become prime minister until May, when his successor would take over.

Woah!!! Didn’t see that coming. Dion is finally going to be the Prime Minister. I had voted for the Liberal party in the last election and was hoping to see Dion as the Prime Minister of Canada. But there were reasons for me voting for the Liberals. The main motive was The Green Shift. The other was to bring in actual accountability into the government and I saw that in the leadership of Stephen Dion. Unfortunately, not many Canadians agreed with me as Liberals were routed in the election receiving only 77 seats in the house.

But days after the election, I was wondering why the hell is the opposition not banding together against Harper? And I ask again, why exactly could not NDP and the Liberals to band together a few weeks ago? Of course, the latest shit pile from the conservatives is what galvanised the opposition.

The Conservatives are poised to eliminate the public subsidies that Canada’s five major political parties receive, a move that would save $30 million a year but could cripple the opposition.

I don’t really like this new scenario. I mean, Harper’s governance was full of shit, no doubt about it. He called the oppositions’ bluff and they bit him right back. If the current government is bought down, he must resign immediately from the conservative party for this was a shameless act of consolidating his power without giving a thought to the problems of the common man.

I will, of course, support a coalition of the Liberals and NDP. But I would support it only if The Green Shift or it’s variant is included in the mix.

Updated :

Ha ha ha….yes, it’s only the opposition vying for power!!!! These conservatives are so full of BULLSHIT!!!

The prospect of the Prime Minister trying to shut down Parliament to avoid defeat has one constitutional scholar shaking in his boots.

Political scientist Peter Russell said Stephen Harper may have the right to ask Governor General Michaëlle Jean to prorogue Parliament and end the current session but doing so would set a dangerous and undemocratic precedent.

“Of all the things that have happened or have been threatened to be about to happen, this is the most dangerous because it shows the intention of the Prime Minister to govern without Parliament and that is undermining our parliamentary democracy,” said Russell, a University of Toronto professor emeritus.

So much for thinking of the common man. Let’s shut down the parliament and avoid all business until we are firmly in power in Jan. 2009!!!

Now I really want the NDP/Liberals/Bloc to be in power!!

Run A Respectable Campaign, And Pay For It

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Liberal Party officials prepared a memo in 2006 warning their incoming new leader to prepare an immediate ad campaign to counter an expected assault from the governing Tories aimed at destabilizing whoever won.

However, Stéphane Dion opted instead to hang onto the bulk of a $4-million war chest he inherited upon taking over the top job, responding to a Tory ad blitz with a limited run of upbeat commercials.

When he announced his decision to step down as Liberal Leader on Monday, Mr. Dion said a Tory onslaught supplemented with substantial amounts of cash helped define him with the public and he never recovered.

So let me get this straight. The “esteemed” Liberal party of Canada wanted to run sleazy campaign ads against conservatives, Dion says no and Dion loses. I don’t understand this. I mean what does it say about us. That we respond to a politician by how much he/she can beat up the opponent in sleaziness? Is that what politics has come down to in Canada?

To be honest, I do not think this is the only reason why Liberals lost. Liberals lost because of lack of direction from Dion and the poor support that the party members gave Dion. Also, the party is moving away from being the party of the people to the party of business just like the conservatives : Maybe it always was the party of the business community but under Dion I thought that this party is very much the party of the people.

I think the party members still have not recoganised the fact that the loss was as theirs as much as it was Dion’s lack of “leadership”. To throw hacks like Michael Ignatieff (a torture supporter) and Bob Rae (his one term in office in Ontario is not fondly remembered) in the ring amongst others is basically saying let’s change the wheels of the car even though the engine’s shot. I know the party needs money right away but to go and pander to the businesses for money instead of rebuilding the party from ground up is disingenuous and insulting to the motto of the Liberal party. I fear that that Liberal party will, after Dion leaves, be competing with conservatives for business political dollars while ignoring the common folk.

The only reason why I was all for the Liberal party was Stephen Dion who showed time and time again to be a classy guy and a moral politician (and there are not many of those these days). I will be following the Liberal party’s shanangins to see what happens next but so far it seems that my love affair with the Liberals is over.