And Then Someone Pours Acid On The Burn
Stephen Harper (from the Opposition side) on Liberals delaying confidence votes
I think they are just signing their own death warrant. This is the kind of behaviour a government does when it is scared to death of the electorate.
When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid assent is frankly when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern.
Maybe somebody should tell them the InterWeb never forgets.
Actually, I’m okay with a one-week delay, which is what we have here, versus the 3 month delay that Martin pulled. I think cooler heads need to prevail here.
First of all, what would a Liberal/NDP coalition do differently? It would take weeks or months for new ministers to wrap their heads around the budget & finances etc. Remember Dion’s famous “I would build a team and in 30 days we would have a plan”? How would that help anyone?
Who is left of Martin’s cabinet that has actually run a department? This is not a time for new drivers (IMHO).
Many of the Liberals are veterans from cabinet, not rookies, Candace. The Con “team” is famous for having no talent – which is why Harper is the one man show that he is. The Liberals still have a wealth of experience on their front bench.
I’m ok with the 1 week delay too, but for a different reason – it gives the negotiators from the opposition parties more time to set out how the coalition government will work.
The only way cooler heads prevail is if Harper capitulates and gives us an Obama type stimulus plan, as well as a promise not to introduce the attempted killing of the Public Campaign finance system for the duration of his government. Then, he might survive.. But, I think he’s poisoned the well so much with this move, it may not be enough even then..
I ain’t talking about who is gonna do what, delay what, lead what, or even what they claim they’re gonna do if they get the chance Candace — I’m just making sure that y’all know that the only real difference between them is the colour of their ties.
– are we there yet
Scott: “The only way cooler heads prevail is if Harper capitulates and gives us an Obama type stimulus plan, as well as a promise not to introduce the attempted killing of the Public Campaign finance system for the duration of his government. ”
Well, for starters, Canada isn’t in as much trouble as the US (yet, anyways). Our banking system is in better shape, for example, our EI system is more generous than theirs and I bet our overall welfare system is, too. And don’t forget that you & I aren’t staying awake at night wondering what happens if we get seriously ill and can’t pay for it (because we don’t have to).
So what, specifically, do you want to see in a stimulus package?
As for the campaign financing issue, I’d prefer we scrap it and either go back to the checkbox on your tax return saying “yes, send $1 of my taxes to X party” and/or increasing the tax credit on donations (also to charities), so we are on different pages regarding that issue (what a surprise!).
SL “are we there yet” – not quite.
PS
Scott: “Many of the Liberals are veterans from cabinet, not rookies, Candace”
Who? I was under the impression that most had either retired or been forcefully retired. The only ones that come to mind (without research) are maybe Brison, McCallum, Dion & Goodale. Who else is left? I guess Rae would also count. But that’s only five, and not a finance minister in the bunch I don’t think…
Hedy Fry, Denis Coderre, Marlene Jennings, Ujjal Dosanjh, Roger Cuzner are some more that have experience in governance.
There’s more than a couple dozen members of the current Liberal Party that have either been in cabinet or chaired committees in previous Liberal governments.
Word on the Hill and in the blogosphere now is that there is serious talk of Harper proroguing Parliament until the new year. (insert chicken noises here)
[...] By da wolfe Stageleft is loving the Harper hypocrisy. (doubly so because his first post about this was about Harper’s pokerstar brilliance for [...]
I remember the scathing fury of conservatives when Martin was unprecedentedly avoiding opposition days before his government fell because I was one of them. This is hypocritical with an acid burn, especially if it goes on for something like as long as Martin did it.
But it’s pale beside the opposition who days ago were exploding over the partisan myopia of Harper risking the stability of the country and a 300 mill election by… gee, cutting the 30 mill of public money going to the parties.
Now they’re going to leap headfirst into either a 300 mill election or a coalition government equal part Liberal to NDP and Bloc Quebecois because they think they smell a chance to take Harper out.
Harper stepped off of his supposedly destabalizing partisan move – which I would say had a lot to do in the first place with the conservative instinct to make sacrifices of your own first and that the taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook in any case. Who do you think looks better to the people when they wake up to NDP and the Bloc in their government because Harper tried to end the taxpayer funding of all the parties?
Which is why I like this idea. Especially the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc sitting in government together. I like it as a partisan that is… as a Canadian, not really.
Prorogue ? …Really? Now? Leave the country without a rudder or helmsman with the storm in plain view?
OK well if that ain’t political suicide I don’t know what is. Wouldn’t that in of itself be an indicator that the Conservatives really don’t have a plan? No plan everyone below deck, batten down and seal the hatches we’ll resurface when the winds change. Is that it?
I wanna say no way it won’t happen but then since when did Harper care about (all) the people or Canada? Golly gosh it only gets more interesting….and can I add just a little bit scary.
Well, I think I figured out why the one-week delay – the “Big 3″ losers are supposed to have their business plans to the Cdn gov’t on the 5th, just like their US counterparts.
Makes sense if the Oppos want a bailout, and the gov’t is considering giving one dependent upon what happens in Washington, waiting to see what that looks like is not a bad idea.
There’s a perfect example of “a poor excuse is better than none” if I’ve ever seen one…. what will you defend it if he Prorogues Parliament?
SL – if he prorogues? he needs to resign as leader at the same time.
There’s a perfect example of “a poor excuse is better than none” if I’ve ever seen one
Actually, SL, I’m calling BS on that. The Throne Speech was PASSED on Friday, by the House. The same House that supposedly has no confidence in the PM’s govt.
They have not provided we, the unwashed, with any alternatives to what the CPC have proposed and have agreed to pass the economic update (sans the campaign funding and one or two other things that pissed them off) so that no one can say they voted against seniors (who are getting a financial fix to their RRSP/RRIF issues in this crappy market).
So just WHO is doing the grandstanding here? Or, more clearly, who is grandstanding MORE?
The throne speech is one thing, Flaherty’s economic update is another, and that is the cause of all this hoop-la… is it not?