OTTAWA–Former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien and one-time NDP leader Ed Broadbent are planning to meet today to discuss the possibility of a coalition government.Finally, Chrétien answers directly and honestly what Canadians have long suspected.
A senior NDP official told The Canadian Press that Broadbent spoke to Chrétien at least four times yesterday and last night after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered an economic update that threatened to bankrupt the opposition parties.
"The idea is to have elder statesmen smoothing things out," the official said. "It's going to be a long day (today)." A Liberal MP confirmed that the talks were going on and the NDP said Broadbent was having a morning meeting with Layton.
Chrétien was seen on his way to his downtown Ottawa office, but when asked about the coalition talks he feigned an inability to understand English.
"Je ne comprends pas anglais," he said.
And the confidence issue which would bring this down the Conservative government is about what? All because the Conservatives have proposed to do away the draconian finance law brought in by the old Liberal retrograde Chrétien himself; which saw the public purse shell out to political parties for every vote cast their way.
According to parliamentary procedure, once the government looses a confidence vote the Governor General has the option of asking the official opposition if a coalition government can be formed or dissolves parliament and calls for an election. So if Jean and Ed and close the deal, and the opposition parties who did not receive a mandate from Canadians to govern will suddenly be leading the country. And progs, libber and dippers routinely accuse tories of being ‘undemocratic’. Don’t even bother to quote the 63% didn’t even bother to vote Tory as absolutely no one in your respective camps voted for a voted for a Liberal/Dipper/Bloc coalition
I started to write this earlier today before the drugs kicked and sent me off to la la land and then I woke up to find Harper won’t include introduce the plan to cut funding to political parties as a confidence vote. At first, I had to give my head a shake trying to understand why he would bother backing down as facing an electorate saying no to a political free ride would especially resonate with ordinary Canadians in times of an economic downturn.
I don’t care that the libbers, dippers and Greenies would all scream Harper and the Tories are meanies because they won’t play nice with us. Frankly, most days I find it entirely too trying and difficult to get along with anyone other than a few libertarians-conservative types, but then, I have never had much patience with whiners or the smug self-righteousness of the progressive crowd. And for all their hype about equality and fraternity, their obvious contempt and ill-will for those who think remarkably different from themselves is self-evident. So I crushed up a few more painkillers, and struggle to get the horse sized anti-biotics down my swollen throat and head back to the big sleep.
Arising from my drugged stupor to discover three important things; it is possible for my face to continue to swell more than it has already, the joys of having an impacted wisdom tooth surgically removed seems never-ending, and the Libber-Dipper are so in love with the idea of a coalition betwixt the two that they have decided to go for broke and introduce their own confidence motions designed to replace the Tory government with Liberal-NDP Axis -entitlements or no entitlements. The Globe and Mail:
Earlier, the federal Liberals laid out a potential plan to bring down the Harper government by putting forward a motion they could use to defeat the Conservatives on Monday and replace them with a coalition made up of themselves and the NDP.
The Liberals presented four possible motions, one of which says the opposition "has lost confidence in this government, and is of the opinion that a viable alternative government can be formed within the present House of Commons."
Well, you know what – go for broke. I say, let the little tyrants bring down the government and present Canadians with an Axis coup. Besides it will be endlessly entertaining watching the Liberals attempt to be responsible stewards of the economy when they cannot even manage their own party’s finances responsibly. All the while the Bloc and the NDP will be holding out their hands out screaming, "More, more, more!" Even better yet - put Bob Rae in as Minister of Finance so he can do to Canadians what he already did to Ontario. I am pulling for Duceppe as Foreign Affairs Minister. Then Dion can teach us all the verses to the green shaft with the Axis parliamentary choir chiming in with the chorus.
Once the country is wheeling under the weight of the Axis feasting with economic entitlements will be coming out of everyone and their grandmother’s arse and as my children’s economic future is indentured for the next 20 plus years. One of two things will happen; Harper will finally get his long sought majority or the East will not just smell the Fire Wall but see it. Either way, I’ll know which side of the firewall me and mine will be on. Long live the free men and women of the West.
4 comments:
it's "not matter a whit", by the way, but no matter...
What's with the title "Tyrrany of the minority?" The minority are the Conservatives and you seem to approve of them... is it that you approve of a tyrrany and you admit that Harper is running one?
It is ‘tyranny’ not ‘tyrrany” but whatever. Last time I looked at the vote tally the Conservatives received more votes than the Liberals, more votes than the NDP, more votes than the Greens and more votes than the Bloc which is why they are sitting with approximately 143 seats in parliament and carried 46% of the vote…to the Liberals 76 seats with 24% of the vote. And the NDP hold how many seats what – 37 with 12% of the vote? Jaysus, even the Bloc out pulled the NDP. So yes, a NDP-Liberal axis coalition is a tyranny of the minority, and what the left should realize is that the so-called right is a voting block here to stay and will not to be denied in any election.
I approve of the Conservative Party? If you had any notion of me you would know that I am highly critical of their ‘red toryism’ and keep praying for a true conservative hidden agenda to surface. I cannot count the times I have had my hopes dashed with every utterance of the NDP, Liberals and the media promising the Tories have a hidden agenda which never seems to actually materialize. The Tories have only my ‘hold my nose and vote’ vote at best and this continuing pandering to centre is rather off-putting to say the least.
Eh, the Conservatives won a mere 38% of the vote compared to the combined total of 26% for the Liberals and 18% for the NDP. Where I come from, 44 > 38. Toss in the Bloc there and you not only have a majority in the Commons but 54% of the total popular vote.
It's true that no one voted for such a coalition, but then no one votes for a government in this country - we vote for MPs, and the government that can command the confidence of a majority of those MPs has the "right" to rule. The Conservatives can't seem to do that, so... the natural result is that their time in office will come to an end.
I suggest you acquaint yourself with how the electoral system works (or doesn't work) - the share of seats most emphatically does not reflect the share of votes.
Josh, I have to admit I quickly scanned the Election Canada site (http://enr.elections.ca/National_e.aspx) and used the percentage of party standing rather than popular vote %.
So your figures are more accurate of popular vote but the Conservatives still command a rather overwhelming majority of those seats in parliament - even with an NDP-Liberal axis, and without the separatists whose agenda is the break-up of this country, there is no way any NDP-Liberal axis can pass a resolution on dog food. But ask yourself this – if the only way for your grand axis was to impose its will is by climbing in bed with the separatists would they same voters still have cast their votes that way? I suspect not, and Harper would have his majority with the popular vote to carry it.
Lecture me all you want on parliamentary tradition, but ask yourself this, if less than a month ago the Liberal party, supporters and pundits were all writing about the need to re-invent themselves and get in tune and in touch with needs and concerns of ordinary Canadians, and even though nothing dramatic has changed policy wise in the interin, those same liberals now think they possess the vision and policy needed to govern the country without earning a mandate from the electorate. But keep it up Josh, and when the firewall goes up, which side will you be on?
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