courte piste
Nov. 30th, 2008 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcWent skating last night, sans ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
querrelle , who was knackered from kung fu and a long day at work. Fun, but my left foot's arch is aching for the first time in years. D'ya love him, Mary?
After the USA Presidential '08 dog and pony show, some have felt Canada's politics rather bland. Me? I think bland is the mark of a sane, sober country: keep the cash cows and pit bulls elsewhere s.v.p. But this week our politics are, dare I say it, exciting! We may soon see something rare in Canada: a coalition government. Here's the story so far:
Coalition government?
Since this all came down the Grits and NDP have been meeting to negotiate forming a coalition government should the Tories lose a confidence motion over the update. These 2 parties alone don't have enough seats to cobble together a majority, but the other opposition party - the separatist/sovereigntist Bloc Québécois--apparently will support the coalition on matters of confidence. And surprise surprise, all have agreed that Stéphane Dion would be the Prime Minister, even though he's a lame duck leader who got whooped in the '08 election
In fact, these 3 parties tabled a confidence motion asking to form such a government on Friday, with the intent of voting on it on Monday. The Tories are scared shiteless now: they cancelled the Opposition Day for Monday, so the motion is delayed a week. They also delayed voting on the update for the same reasons. They've back-pedalled on the $2 issue, but not yet on the rest. They've also announced plans for a full budget in January (a couple of months early).
3 in 4
Should the Tories fall, a subsequent election would be the third in 3 years, each of which costs 70-100 million to deliver. The opposition argues this is not in Canada's best interests, particularly given the global financial crisis. They would form a government in order to put some policies in place to help whether the storm. Some months later an election could be held.
Ideologies aside, I support the coalition. Harper has abused his position by trying to govern without concessions to the opposition--who together represent more Canadians and well over 50% of the popular vote. Minority governments are about compromise: no compromise, good-bye. But an election would send the wrong signal--and be a waste of money.
querrelle , who was knackered from kung fu and a long day at work. Fun, but my left foot's arch is aching for the first time in years. D'ya love him, Mary?After the USA Presidential '08 dog and pony show, some have felt Canada's politics rather bland. Me? I think bland is the mark of a sane, sober country: keep the cash cows and pit bulls elsewhere s.v.p. But this week our politics are, dare I say it, exciting! We may soon see something rare in Canada: a coalition government. Here's the story so far:
- Canada's had elections in 2004, 2006 and 2008, each one leading to a minority government--and the last 2 minority Conservative (Tory) governments
- Until the 2008 election (less than 2 months ago), the Tories have effectively governed as a majority thanks to the Liberals (Grits) unwillingness to stand on principle when they disagreed with the Tories. Not showing up to vote is a lame-ass protest and makes it very easy for the other opposition parties to say "Grits are wusses"
- If you've not noticed, the world's financial systems are a mess, although Canada's isn't really in trouble except for interdependencies with respect to credit outside the country. Our banks own a number of US banks, making those holding vulnerable
- The Tories brought Parliament back this week ostensibly to address the financial crisis. But their mini-budget featured:
- nothing to help struggling sectors like forestry or the auto industry
- a law banning public sector strikes until 2011
- a freeze on pay equity settlement with women in the public sector until 2011
- the removal of an electoral law that allocates roughly $2 per vote to each political party to garner 2% or more in the most recent national election
Coalition government?
Since this all came down the Grits and NDP have been meeting to negotiate forming a coalition government should the Tories lose a confidence motion over the update. These 2 parties alone don't have enough seats to cobble together a majority, but the other opposition party - the separatist/sovereigntist Bloc Québécois--apparently will support the coalition on matters of confidence. And surprise surprise, all have agreed that Stéphane Dion would be the Prime Minister, even though he's a lame duck leader who got whooped in the '08 election
In fact, these 3 parties tabled a confidence motion asking to form such a government on Friday, with the intent of voting on it on Monday. The Tories are scared shiteless now: they cancelled the Opposition Day for Monday, so the motion is delayed a week. They also delayed voting on the update for the same reasons. They've back-pedalled on the $2 issue, but not yet on the rest. They've also announced plans for a full budget in January (a couple of months early).
3 in 4
Should the Tories fall, a subsequent election would be the third in 3 years, each of which costs 70-100 million to deliver. The opposition argues this is not in Canada's best interests, particularly given the global financial crisis. They would form a government in order to put some policies in place to help whether the storm. Some months later an election could be held.
Ideologies aside, I support the coalition. Harper has abused his position by trying to govern without concessions to the opposition--who together represent more Canadians and well over 50% of the popular vote. Minority governments are about compromise: no compromise, good-bye. But an election would send the wrong signal--and be a waste of money.
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Date: 2008-12-01 01:59 pm (UTC)"That meeting took place against the backdrop of frantic efforts to avert the downfall of the Conservatives, who announced they will withdraw measures that would have banned civil-service strikes for three years and eliminated the $1.95-a-vote subsidy for political parties, which the opposition relies on."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081130.wottawa1130/BNStory/National/home