Categories: Capital Read, Inside the Queensway

UPDATED: The day just got shorter. Or longer.

by kadyomalley on Friday, November 28, 2008 11:38am - 83 Comments

The day just got shorter

At this point, I’m not sure if the threeway opposition love (or at least not hate) train can be stopped, but I think this constitutes a prime ministerial blink:

Conservatives back down on controversial party funding changes

November 28, 2008 – 11:29

THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA – The Conservative government says an incendiary plan to strip political parties of their public financing won’t be included in a confidence vote on the fall fiscal update.

Government sources say only tax measures will be part of the ways and means motion that parliamentarians will vote upon on Monday.

It’s a sharp reversal for the minority government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

When the fiscal update was delivered on Thursday, government officials and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty expressly stated the party financing measures would be considered matters of confidence.

But with the Liberals and New Democrats in deep discussions about a potential coalition government should the Tories be defeated, the Conservatives are pulling back.

The party financing measures would effectively gut the opposition parties, who are far more dependent on public subsidies than is the Conservative party.

UPDATE: Okay, the latest CP update pretty much scotches the idea that backing down on political financing (which they’re not actually doing, you’ll notice, since it was never going to be in Monday’s Ways and Means motion in the first place) will kill off the New New Spirit of Cooperation (NNSOC):

A government source now claims the elimination of the $1.95-per-vote subsidy was never intended to be part of the ways and means motion, which will be voted on Monday evening.

But Liberals and New Democrats say that dropping the financing measures will not influence their decision to vote against a fiscal update they say provides no economic stimulus at a time when Canada is entering a recession.

Tags: breaking news, governmentdownbringingwatch 2008, huh

More by kadyomalley

Dr Riff

must be nice. don’t worry about bailing out corporations that lose $700 per unit. we need to sell off the stuff they made that’s lying around and get on with making new stuff. that’s what APEC is. Genesis 47:13-26. corporations are just screwing around with us. they want you to be fooled into giving them your money under the guise of a bailout which is supposed to give you money.
Jack Mitchell

Mike – Clarkson would certainly have leapt at this chance to use her prerogatives – in fact in her memoirs she said that she was even tempted to deny dissolution in case the Liberals lost the confidence vote in 2005! As that would have been unconstitutional, it’s a good things she resisted the urge! I feel pretty confident about Mme. Jean, though, she hasn’t shown any signs of craziness.
Mike

I find the whole thing exciting — this kind of thing happens once in a lifetime.
Jack Mitchell

Mike: Oh, man, I was just thinking the same thing. I’m drinking lots of milk and getting ready for a hell of a weekend.
http://myblahg.com Robert McClelland

MIke T: Keep dreaming. Layton won’t be PM.

I see it didn’t take very long for the arrogant liberals to start throwing the dippers off the train.
Lord Bob

I am beyond disgusted with this. The other three parties throwing such a childish hissy-fit over their taxpayer-subsidised perks that they threaten to send us immediately to another election, and the Conservatives backing down. Her Majesty’s Official Opposition is a five-year-old wailing in the candy aisle, and the prime minister of this country has all the backbone of an octopus.

Before the last election, I was disgusted with the Conservatives but voted for them anyway because I hate the other parties more. Now I think I’m just through with democracy. If Rick Hillier launched a military coup, I would totally sign up.
seaandthemountains

Anon, i think he needs a new slogan.

PMSH, making PMBM look like he was playing vulcan chess since 2008.
Terry

This has been a lot of fun. I never expected it to go anywhere, but the sheer apoplectic fury of the opposition when they realized they’d have to rely on their own lazy supporters (who can barely take the time to vote) to actually get off their asses and contribute time and money to raise funds was absolutely hilarious.

But it would have taken balls of steel to follow this through, and Steven Harper doesn’t have them.
Mike

Robert: A) I’m not a Liberal and did not vote for them in the last election B) The reality is that they won’t put Layton in as PM — DPM? Maybe. PM? No.
Dr Riff

yeah well bob if i knew about the $1.95 subsidy i wouldn’t have voted
Mike

Has the GG’s plane been re-routed back to Ottawa from her State Visit? Something tells me Her Excellency will be home very soon.
Mike

Is anybody else having problems with CTV.ca? Yeesh. Their server keeps crashing.
http://myblahg.com Robert McClelland

B) The reality is that they won’t put Layton in as PM

And another reality is that the Liberals are leaderless right now. I could easily see a coalition where Layton was PM and the Liberals formed the cabinet.
Ti-Guy

Who cares? Put a potted plant in 24 Sussex. Just get these juvenile delinquents out of our faces, already.
Mike

Robert: Lib constitution, according to media, provides for emergency scenarios whereby caucus can select a leader and have it ratified. Evidently Rae has already said he is willing to stand down in the event Ignatieff wins caucus backing. Libs would never let Layton sit in PMO. Ever. Sorry.
Jack Mitchell

I dunno, Ti-Guy, really? Goodale? Just until the leadership convention, or what?
seaandthemountains

Second fave quote today (fromt he Globe):

Defence Minister Peter MacKay told The Chronicle Herald that the opposition will blink. “When they play chicken, they wind up looking up like chickens,” he said.

get out your chicken suit Peter!
A friend

How humiliating for Harper and team. Looks like his fortunes have taken a permanent turn for the worse.
Mike

Ti-Guy: Let’s just let Michaelle Jean run things for awhile… actually, let’s get the Queen to fire Jean, the entire Parliament, and put Clarkson and Saul back in Rideau Hall for a bit to sort this out.
Jerry

Look at flarhety being manhandled by the PMO comms guy on TV! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. He actually cut off Jim twice!
Mike

And with MacKay out there calling the Opposition chickens… oy…
Geiseric the Lame

“Put a potted plant in 24 Sussex”

Ambrose?
stephen

Difference in 1985 Ontario was, Governing party lost seats election to election, the opposition parties both increased seats, the opposition parties had a common ground agenda of what they wanted to do for 2 years. All the leaders were elected in their positions.

In this situation, assuming the Bloc doesnt sign on to the agenda formally you lack the key element….even if they do, Lib leader stepping down, Bloc was sideways in Pop vote, NDP up..a little….government got more seats from one election to another…..one of the elements of the coalition is dedicated to mischief (the Bloc) and I dont see how you can get a 2 year agenda.

If the opposition parties can come forward with a legit agenda and signed agreement that is really clear, effectively the pracee of two throne speeches and the GG is comfortabble with the Bloc’s involvement and support there may be little choice….the quesion would be, why couldnt you do this 6 weeks ago, what has changed, why should I believe you and why shouldnt you wait till you have a leader and see and see if the government can muddle through till next Fall when there is another throne speech.

Then, I still thnk the Liberal Party is going to have issues, and I think the NDP are going to have issues. Dippers may just fly off to the Green party rather than see the Libs in power to steal the limelight like they did in Ontario. This would push the coalition under…….there are Libs who would be wary of NDP participation…..

Layton and the coeterie of advisors who see the NDP having a once in a lifetime chance to pass the Liberals will have to think long and hard about this one.

Only a combination of parties makes sense, and they wont include the Bloc. But that measn numerous Blue Liberals bolt.

The lure of power is strong, and the GG needs to be wary of these short term pledges of allegience. Think of the West, SW Ontario etc who rejected and would likely continue to reject this stuff.

10 Opposition members bolt and the Tories have majority…..could happen, including a few Blocheads. Thats all it will take. Just how sure is everyone about what they are doing.
Ti-Guy

Ambrose?

I like Rona. Have her cross the floor and make her PM. She’d be four months into the job before she figured out happened.
Doug Smith

Lord Bob and others,
I don’t think it’s so much 1 particular point (vote subsidy) or another, it’s the fact that Harper wrapped up partisan goals and ideology with a budget type of vote and pushes it on everyone. It’s equivalent to taking a sharp stick and poking it into the other guy’s chest while saying ‘nyah nyah nyah, you can’t catch me.” No one likes to be bullied, and that’s not how a person should be running the country. Full stop. Harper is playing games, he is not trying to run the country. Why couldn’t he get rid of the bs partisan stuff, say that there isn’t going to be a stimulus package until the US announces their intentions, etc? No, he wrapped it all up in petty politics and the others don’t want to play any more. The Canadian public did not give Harper a mandate to pull this stuff, but he’s trying anyways. Recess is over and I think he’s about to get his butt sent home from school. Let’s just hope that things turn out okay for Canadians that deserve better than this (this = all of them, not just Harper).