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.
Is the infamous coalition of the "three wise men" Ð Layton, Duceppe and Dion/Ignatieff Ð really dead, or is it still waiting in the wings? Macleans magazine did the best story on the political crisis at the end of December. Their story on the attempt to hijack Parliament was revealing, especially the fact that the real leader of the coalition was none other than Jack Layton. The head of the NDP campaign had for three previous elections studied various outcomes, including possible coalitions. After the 2008 results, Layton assigned him to put out feelers to the Liberals about getting together if Harper starts making mistakes. And why not? Jacko realized and still does that there is no way he and his party will ever achieve power, unless they get together with others, even major enemies, to defeat those terrible Tories. As we know Harper gave them the reason when he tried to end the political party subsidies. There were many secret meetings and finally a signed agreement among the three losing parties. The NDP was granted six cabinet posts, and Dion would be acting Prime Minister until they got a new leader for the Liberals. On the Liberal side, Bob Rae, former NDP premier of Ontario, was a big supporter of the proposal and probably still is. The lone Quebec New Democrat, MP Thomas Mulcair, did everything he could to rationalize the move, hugely rejected by all public polling. One argument was that the long-ago 'King/Byng Thing' was the precedent for the Governor-General to follow if asked to okay the coalition. That was when Lord Byng refused an election sought by King, and let the Conservatives try to govern. It did not last, and King won a solid majority in the election that followed. We also know that Michael Ignatieff signed onto the coalition, and you can expect the Conservatives to use this as a club in the next election. As time passes, one can speculate what would have happened if the three parties had been successful in defeating Harper. My guess is that Harper would have been granted another election and won a majority over the hapless Dion and his new buddies. All the polls were with him at the time, and an election would have been preferable to a coalition that would really be run by the separatist Bloc. Recently, the Liberal leader was threatening to throw in with the other coalition parties and defeat the Conservatives, which would have meant a summer election. He was obviously bolstered by his 'new leader' bounce in the polls, but was really given everything he asked for Ð huge bailouts, huge deficits and lots of spending, but he wanted more billions spent on EI. There were many thoughts of a revised coalition. Why the third and fourth parties would want another election, with the Liberals rising in the polls, is anybody's guess. Ignatieff saw in the polls that a summer election was not wanted, met with Harper, and we will now see a super panel to advise the government on what to do about EI. Now some say there could be a fall election. Don't bet on it! More political troubles? A flyer sent out by head Manitoba cabinet minister Vic Toews gained a bit of ink this month. They were sent out to predominantly Ukrainian-Canadian areas in his riding, deploring comments Ignatieff had made in his 2005 book about Ukrainians and their independence from Russia. These remarks have haunted Ignatieff ever since, and he has tried explaining them to Ukrainian-Canadian leaders as being simply irony. There were howls of pain from the likes of Boris Wrzesnewskyj, a Ukrainian Liberal MP from Toronto. Why from Toronto? Because of course the Liberals have no MPs of Ukrainian ancestry in the West, and little hope of electing any. There are about 168,000 Manitobans in this category, and most are part of a solid Conservative mix. Ignatieff has shown a bad habit for shooting from the lip, such as his comment to raise taxes if elected and his description of himself as a "tax and spend liberal" in The Toronto Star. By the way, a nasty Liberal flyer was mailed out in Winnipeg attacking cabinet Minister Steven Fletcher for some of his comments, and Saskatchewan MP Garry Breitkeuz for his proposal to weaken gun laws. It shows the Liberals have learned nothing about their useless and costly gun registration. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
