The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Normally one would expect chaotic political scenes to take place in pseudo-democratic countries overseas, but in Canada, gentlemanly and ladylike action has been the norm. No more? The recent goings-on in Parliament are unprecedented. The opposition leaders have signed a pact to form a coalition government and are determined to wrestle power from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Even with Parliament prorogued until January, they plan to defeat the government and ask the Governor-General to let them take over. The Liberals and NDP would share power and be supported by the Bloc, whose main objective is to separate Quebec from Canada. ItÕs what the papers call a Òmnage trois,Ó and some believe that since the combined opposition parties have more members than the Conservatives, they should be given the right to govern even though none of them campaigned on this possibility in the recent election. The coalition group, led by much-rejected Liberal leader Stphane Dion, claims that the economic disaster in the country cannot be helped by the Tories, and only they can save the day. The enraged Conservatives, who have backed off on their controversial economic update, claim that this is merely a plan to hijack Parliament. Their argument is that the Liberals and NDP, with only 114 seats compared to the ToriesÕ 143, will depend solely on the Bloc, whose goal (reconfirmed in a recent interview by leader Gilles Duceppe) is to further the sovereignty of the province, something opposed by the vast majority of Canadians. The opposition parties are attempting to grab power without an election. Dion was severely rejected by voters with his ÒGreen ShiftÓ idea. The NDPÕs proposal to tax business went nowhere, and they only won 37 seats. There is no way either one of them could gain power in an election, and without the Bloc supporting them, they could not last a week in government. Dion obviously wants to gain a position he could never win in an election, and the NDP, with a promise of six cabinet seats, is simply giddy with the thought of positions of power. The coalition has come up with a stimulus proposal to give away over $30 billion in subsidies, probably to the auto sector and other manufacturing industries. Talk about deficits! What else they would do is anybodyÕs guess. Apparently Jacko wants to be deputy leader, probably thinking with a guy like Dion he can take over. Duceppe and his party, including former leader Jacques Parizeau, see this arrangement as the best thing for them and Quebec, but it is amazing that Dion, who brought in the Clarity Act, would accept them or be accepted by the separatists. Ahh, power! The controversy is raging across the country. Albertans are very hostile to the idea and there is emerging talk about western separatism. After all, isnÕt tonnes of Alberta oil money going to Quebec? Some Quebeckers complain that it is anti-Quebec to criticize the Bloc separatists as a supporter of the coalition, but is it? What it really is, is a power grab by Dion, as he canÕt get it through his head that the Canadian people do not want him as prime minister, nor do they want Layton. On December 5, Harper asked the Governor-General to prorogue parliament until January 26 and she agreed. This will stop the legislature from functioning until then, when there will be a short Throne Speech and a budget presented. If the new budget is defeated, the government will fall and undoubtedly there will be another election. The big problem for the Liberals is how to get rid of Dion before the session in January. They can certainly do it and appoint an interim leader, even though they and the NDP are claiming the coalition will stick together. This is highly unlikely, but stranger things have happened, and remember a week in politics is a lifetime. What does the public think? A poll taken right after the suspension of Parliament showed the Conservatives at 44 per cent national support, the Liberals at 24 per cent and the NDP at 14.5 per cent (a considerable drop). Most people polled apparently do not want either an election or the coalition. Definitely stay tuned! RogerÕs Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
