So here is attempt number two to start the blog again. Hopefully I can keep it up this time.
On with the issues!
Constitutional Crisis?
Currently in Canadian politics we are embarking on a historic week. Through the arrogance and disdain for the political process by the Prime Minister, Canada is looking towards its first formal coalition government since WWI. If the Government were to fall on Monday, there is the possibility that the opposition parties will band together to form the government. If this happens then the Bloc Quebecois will have to prop up the NDP/Liberal Government on every issue.
During and after his victory in the last election, Mr. Harper stated that he was going to work to make parliament more functional. Instead he has tried to bully the other parties into going along with his proposed changes to party funding, and barring the right of government employees to strike. Lets deal with these two issues separately.
Party Funding
Mr. Harper and his Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty proposed in an economic update to eliminate the funding that parties get based on the number of votes that they receive in the previous election. Since the new rules of corporate financing of political parties came into place, parties rely heavily on these government subsidies. A party like the Greens only receive $1.8 million but this accounts for 65% of their annual budget. Without the money that is rightfully theirs, their party could not exist. I keep hearing (and I heard it again by John Baird on the Current this morning) the Conservatives berate the other parties for "not leading by example" and showing Canadians that the politicians are willing to take a financial hit before the public. This is an outrageous idea! How could the opposition parties support something like this? They would be financially crippled if this 'update' were to pass. The Conservatives should have known that the opposition parties would be in an uproar. It has long been established that the Liberal party only has enough money to stay afloat and not go bankrupt, regardless of the economic meltdown currently being experienced by the world. How could they ever responsibly support a motion like that? The Conservatives quickly saw the writing on the wall and scrapped this initiative from the motion, trying to back peddle and not be ousted.
Strike!
In the name of economic stability the Government proposed a ban on government employees from striking. This is truly an incredible part to this motion. Our Western democracy was built on the right to assemble and the right to strike. Without it, we would not have democracy and capitalism. To me this borders of Fascism instead of liberal democracy. If government employees could not strike they would have no collective bargaining capabilities and would be at the mercy of government will. That is a dictatorship to me. The right to strike is a fundamental right in Canada and if that were taken away, it would have devastating effects. I'm proud of the opposition parties for opposing such an abhorrent motion.
What Now?
So where does that leave us? On the surface it would seem that I'm all for the coalition and the toppling of the government, but on the contrary I'm apprehensive to throw my support behind this historic potential future government. While I'm not a Conservative supporter and would love to see Mr. Harper be put out to pasture, I do not think that this is the proper way to achieve that goal.
Stephane Dion is perhaps one of the most incompetent leaders in recent memory. He brought the 'Natural Governing Party' of Canada to its lowest vote share and seat total in the history of the party. He can barely speak English and would be a poor ambassador of Canada on the world stage.
On the other hand is Jack Layton. Mr. Layton, leader of the party that has increased their vote share in the last election, but is still the smallest party in the house. For these two parties to get together does not make any sense to me. I have voted for the NDP in the past and am a supporter of socialist values but to have the NDP in government I think would be a mistake. Irresponsible spending is surely to increase, especially with a stimulus package that the coalition has claimed to already have put together.
This is one area that I actually do agree with the Conservatives. I do not think that Canada needs bailing out right now. Everyone keeps saying that we need a package like the Americans. The truth is, we don't! While the Americans are bailing out their banks so that they don't go bankrupt, ours are stable and still have equity. Why should we just give money to them?
This proposed bailout package will target the auto industry. I understand that many jobs are at stake but why should we bailout the auto sector when they have not even talked to the Canadian government at all yet? The government should not write a blank cheque to the Big Three until they show Canadians what their plan of action is, and how they could ensure that the jobs stay in Canada.
Let Separate?
Now the most alarming issue to me is the fact that the Bloc is implicit in the NDP/Liberal plan to overthrow the government. The only way that the coalition survives is if the separatists support the coalition motions. This essentially gives the Bloc veto power over every motion in the house. the Bloc will become the most powerful party in the house. This is very scary to me. The fact that the NDP and Liberals have brought the Bloc into this melee shows that these parties lack the foresight to actually govern. How can a party that has a mandate to oppose the government and destabilize the nation, be allowed to play kingmaker? Because of this, this seems to me like two power hungry rejects trying to wrestle power away from the government.
Perhaps the most interesting part of all this, is that if there was an NDP/Liberal + Bloc government, it would actually be much more representative of the Canadian electorate than the Conservatives.
So there you have it. I'm totally scared of what's going to happen, but I'm also optimistic that the right thing will happen, I just don't know what that right thing is yet.
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2 comments:
hey dave! this is great- so kudos on that.
i too would love to see harper put out to pasture, but am apprehensive about how all of this is going down, particularly in terms of the roles of the ndp and the bloq.
i can't stand the idea of another election (which given the current climate could likely lead to a cons. majority...yikes) but given my often overwhelming desire to give jack layton a swift kick in the nuts, don't much like the idea of a coalition either.
another time and in another forum i could make my passionate argument for why we need more prominent women in politics (by which i mean women who actually care about women aka not sarah palin types)
What troubles me the most is the complete disregard for the electoral process. I'm no fan of Harper either, but I do respect the process.
It's true, Canada's more representative of the NDP/Liberals than the Conservatives, but there's something to be said about all those Liberal supporters who voted for the Conservatives.
Canada isn't like the States. People don't have the same allegiance to a party like they do there. I'm pretty confident that the new Liberal leader will bring back disaffected voters to its party, and possibly win a healthy minority or even a majority.
Voters sent a pretty clear message that they don't want Dion in power - the Liberals posted their worst showing in a century in the last election. People didn't suddenly become more conservative, they're pissed at the Liberals and rightly so. They ran a brutal election campaign and made inappropriate promises during this economic downturn.
I say wait. Wait until the Liberal's choose a new leader and then topple the government. It keeps the integrity of the process and it brings the decision back to the voters. As well, like you mentioned, I'm not sure how many people would be into a Bloc/NDP/Liberal threesome. (Or an NDP/Liberal partnership for that matter.)
In terms of the economy, I think Harper didn't do enough in his economic update, but, like you said, we don't need a $700 billion cash infusion. The economy relies heavily on what happens in the States, so we can't do much about it. As well, as much as people dislike Harper, I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt that he wouldn't let Canada devolve into economic chaos.
It seems to me that the Liberals and the NDP are just playing politics. It's a power grab and I think their positions on the economy are misguided. I'd rather go to another election than see Dion and Layton become the political equivalent to Beavis and Butthead.
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