lokase
12-03-2008, 02:36 PM
**sorry for the long write up but this is quite the unprecedented situation playing out up here in Canada**
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081203.wPOLcoalition1203/BNStory/politics/home
Things have REALLY heated up here in Ottawa over the past week. Let me try and condense the time line for everyone so that you can gain an idea of the scenario playing out in our national political arena:
November 27th:
The minority led Conservative government presents a “mini-budget” in the House of Commons. The mini-budget contains no real plans to stimulate the economy and defers those plans to the larger budget presentation later in January.
The Conservatives however slip in two caveats into this mini-budget that starts a fire storm. The first caveat is that the public service (all federal employees), who are unionized, will NOT be allowed to strike until 2011. Ouch, pissing off the public servants is a very bad idea.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Now comes the dozy. The Conservatives propose to end the public financing of ALL federal parties for election campaigns. That represents $1.95 per voter per election.
Canada just came out of a hastily called election (by the Conservatives) six weeks ago were the Conservatives were for the second time, handed a minority government. The opposition parties (Liberals, NDP, BQ, and Green Party) all had to take out loans to cover the cost of running a campaign for the election. The monies received from the public financing of party campaigns goes to pay off those debts.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper in effect has backed up ALL of the other federal parties into a corner and threatened their very existence, not to mention democracy here in Canada, heavy handed and bold does not even come close to describing this action.
Does anyone know what happens when you back a hungry racoon into a corner and then make sudden, erratic moves?
On top of everything, “mini-budgets” are automatically entered into a vote of confidence, meaning the house votes on the content of the budget. If the budget does not pass, the government is dissolved and we have to go through yet ANOTHER election. As a minority government Prime Minister it is Stephen Harpers duty to gain consensus and thus the confidence of the opposition parties in order to pass budgets and legislation.
With these actions in the mini-budget it appears as if PM Stephen Harper thinks he is running a majority government and can ram anything he wishes though parliament to his liking. Wrong!
So now things start to get interesting…
November 28th – December 1st:
The opposition parties with their backs to the wall enter talks to form a coalition government. Halo and other Europeans will be familiar with this concept.
When the government’s confidence is called into question there is the opportunity for the opposition parties to band together in a coalition and ask the Governor General to accept the coalition as the new ruling block in the Government, essentially ousting the current government.
There have to be a few guidelines in place for the coalition to take their request to the Governor General:
- The coalition must be made up of a majority of MPs in the House of Commons.
- It must be made quite evident that the majority of the MPs in the House of Commons have lost confidence in the current government.
All guidelines have been satisfied and the Liberals, NDP and BQ parties all signed a document agreeing to a coalition and oust the current Conservative government.
The formation of a coalition is legal under Canadian law and is purposefully setup to work like this in our democracy. The opposition is well within their rights to form the coalition no matter what spin you may hear in the media and from Conservative grunts.
Now it gets EVEN MORE confusing:
The confidence vote for the mini-budget is scheduled for Monday, December 8th. This vote must take place in order for the coalition to dissolve the current Conservative government. Once the current Conservation government has been dissolved the coalition can take their request to the Governor General. She can do one of the following:
- Allow the coalition to take over power
- Force all parties to enter into yet another election (blah)
And YET another EVEN MORE confusing scenario can play out:
PM Stephen Harper can ask the Governor General to accept a prorogue of this session of parliament. Essentially, this request would end this session of parliament and would buy time for the Conservatives. A new session of parliament would reconvene near the end of January and the whole shit fest would start up again.
And YET again another scenario:
PM Stephen Harper can step down as PM and have someone else, someone more moderate and willing to work with the opposition to take over the role and regain the confidence of the house. This scenario will NEVER happen. Stephen Harpers ego is massive and weighs the same as mountain made out of granite. He will fight to the bitter end no matter how much he taints his own parties’ reputation.
December 2nd:
The question period in the House of Commons goes berserker with PM Stephen Harpers back now up against the wall (looks good on the doof). Tempers are at the edge and a lot of he said she said is flung across the aisle.
The whole country is talking about the scenario playing out in Ottawa and you can see a clear line drawn in the sand between Conservatives and the Opposition parties.
Political pundits can’t get the smiles wiped off their faces, its going to be a great Christmas.
December 3rd:
The Governor General is called back to Canada from a diplomatic trip to Eastern Europe. She will be back on Canadian soil sometime this afternoon. She will no doubt have some visitors waiting for her at her residence to talk about “government stuff”.
PM Stephen Harper is set to “speak to the nation” tonight, no doubt his speech will be layered with half truths and a forked tongue. The guy is literally trying to save himself from political suicide.
Quick Analysis:
1) PM Stephen Harper is a very masterful tactician but has made the miscalculation of his political career. No matter if he can pull his party out of this clusterf**k, his days as PM, Conservative leader and even as a politician are numbered, and they are very few at that.
2) The Governor General, mostly a figure head position with no real power, now has real power and must make a very difficult decision. Her final decision will have major implications on what happens to our political system over the next few months.
3) The opposition is well within their legal rights to form the coalition. Mr. Dion, the leader of the Liberals and possibly the next PM tanked on the last election. He will even be stepping down come May when a party convention is held to replace him. Most of the country doesn’t want him as a PM but given the alternative are willing to live with it to gain the advantages of the coalition.
Personally I want to see Harper ousted by all means necessary. If we have a coalition government for the next 30 months so be it, perhaps they will actually be able to pass some legislation and get things moving again up on parliament hill.
Cheers,
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081203.wPOLcoalition1203/BNStory/politics/home
Things have REALLY heated up here in Ottawa over the past week. Let me try and condense the time line for everyone so that you can gain an idea of the scenario playing out in our national political arena:
November 27th:
The minority led Conservative government presents a “mini-budget” in the House of Commons. The mini-budget contains no real plans to stimulate the economy and defers those plans to the larger budget presentation later in January.
The Conservatives however slip in two caveats into this mini-budget that starts a fire storm. The first caveat is that the public service (all federal employees), who are unionized, will NOT be allowed to strike until 2011. Ouch, pissing off the public servants is a very bad idea.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Now comes the dozy. The Conservatives propose to end the public financing of ALL federal parties for election campaigns. That represents $1.95 per voter per election.
Canada just came out of a hastily called election (by the Conservatives) six weeks ago were the Conservatives were for the second time, handed a minority government. The opposition parties (Liberals, NDP, BQ, and Green Party) all had to take out loans to cover the cost of running a campaign for the election. The monies received from the public financing of party campaigns goes to pay off those debts.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper in effect has backed up ALL of the other federal parties into a corner and threatened their very existence, not to mention democracy here in Canada, heavy handed and bold does not even come close to describing this action.
Does anyone know what happens when you back a hungry racoon into a corner and then make sudden, erratic moves?
On top of everything, “mini-budgets” are automatically entered into a vote of confidence, meaning the house votes on the content of the budget. If the budget does not pass, the government is dissolved and we have to go through yet ANOTHER election. As a minority government Prime Minister it is Stephen Harpers duty to gain consensus and thus the confidence of the opposition parties in order to pass budgets and legislation.
With these actions in the mini-budget it appears as if PM Stephen Harper thinks he is running a majority government and can ram anything he wishes though parliament to his liking. Wrong!
So now things start to get interesting…
November 28th – December 1st:
The opposition parties with their backs to the wall enter talks to form a coalition government. Halo and other Europeans will be familiar with this concept.
When the government’s confidence is called into question there is the opportunity for the opposition parties to band together in a coalition and ask the Governor General to accept the coalition as the new ruling block in the Government, essentially ousting the current government.
There have to be a few guidelines in place for the coalition to take their request to the Governor General:
- The coalition must be made up of a majority of MPs in the House of Commons.
- It must be made quite evident that the majority of the MPs in the House of Commons have lost confidence in the current government.
All guidelines have been satisfied and the Liberals, NDP and BQ parties all signed a document agreeing to a coalition and oust the current Conservative government.
The formation of a coalition is legal under Canadian law and is purposefully setup to work like this in our democracy. The opposition is well within their rights to form the coalition no matter what spin you may hear in the media and from Conservative grunts.
Now it gets EVEN MORE confusing:
The confidence vote for the mini-budget is scheduled for Monday, December 8th. This vote must take place in order for the coalition to dissolve the current Conservative government. Once the current Conservation government has been dissolved the coalition can take their request to the Governor General. She can do one of the following:
- Allow the coalition to take over power
- Force all parties to enter into yet another election (blah)
And YET another EVEN MORE confusing scenario can play out:
PM Stephen Harper can ask the Governor General to accept a prorogue of this session of parliament. Essentially, this request would end this session of parliament and would buy time for the Conservatives. A new session of parliament would reconvene near the end of January and the whole shit fest would start up again.
And YET again another scenario:
PM Stephen Harper can step down as PM and have someone else, someone more moderate and willing to work with the opposition to take over the role and regain the confidence of the house. This scenario will NEVER happen. Stephen Harpers ego is massive and weighs the same as mountain made out of granite. He will fight to the bitter end no matter how much he taints his own parties’ reputation.
December 2nd:
The question period in the House of Commons goes berserker with PM Stephen Harpers back now up against the wall (looks good on the doof). Tempers are at the edge and a lot of he said she said is flung across the aisle.
The whole country is talking about the scenario playing out in Ottawa and you can see a clear line drawn in the sand between Conservatives and the Opposition parties.
Political pundits can’t get the smiles wiped off their faces, its going to be a great Christmas.
December 3rd:
The Governor General is called back to Canada from a diplomatic trip to Eastern Europe. She will be back on Canadian soil sometime this afternoon. She will no doubt have some visitors waiting for her at her residence to talk about “government stuff”.
PM Stephen Harper is set to “speak to the nation” tonight, no doubt his speech will be layered with half truths and a forked tongue. The guy is literally trying to save himself from political suicide.
Quick Analysis:
1) PM Stephen Harper is a very masterful tactician but has made the miscalculation of his political career. No matter if he can pull his party out of this clusterf**k, his days as PM, Conservative leader and even as a politician are numbered, and they are very few at that.
2) The Governor General, mostly a figure head position with no real power, now has real power and must make a very difficult decision. Her final decision will have major implications on what happens to our political system over the next few months.
3) The opposition is well within their legal rights to form the coalition. Mr. Dion, the leader of the Liberals and possibly the next PM tanked on the last election. He will even be stepping down come May when a party convention is held to replace him. Most of the country doesn’t want him as a PM but given the alternative are willing to live with it to gain the advantages of the coalition.
Personally I want to see Harper ousted by all means necessary. If we have a coalition government for the next 30 months so be it, perhaps they will actually be able to pass some legislation and get things moving again up on parliament hill.
Cheers,