Categories: Capital Read, Inside the Queensway

Tyrannical Majority to PMO: Check.

by kadyomalley on Friday, November 28, 2008 2:45pm - 175 Comments

Tyrannical Majority to PMO

Hot off the Canadian Press wire (link when available):

The Liberal Opposition plans to introduce a motion in the House of Commons on Monday declaring non-confidence in the minority Conservative government and proposing a governing coalition.

The motion comes as emissaries from the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois hold talks about forming a new government should Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority fall.

But Harper could still avert the immediate defeat of his weeks-old government through procedural tactics.
The Liberal motion, which has the approval of the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, reads:

“In light of the government’s failure to recognize the seriousness of Canada’s economic situation and its failure in particular to present any credible plan to stimulate the Canadian economy and to help workers and businesses in hard-pressed sectors such as manufacturing, the automotive industry and forestry, this House has lost confidence in this government and is of the opinion that a viable alternative government can be formed within the present House of Commons.”

A source says the opposition parties have agreed that Liberal Leader Stephane Dion would lead the government for the next few months.

Tags: breaking news, governmentdownbringingwatch 2008, wow

More by kadyomalley

http://noneasyet dun roberts

*That’s correct. A no one voted for a Conservative government either. All we vote for in Canada is an MP. The rest is a matter of who can command the confidence of Parliament to form the government.*

well, yes they did – a plurality did. Only 25% voted for the Liberals.

As for `we only vote for MPs’ – no people vote for their MP in anticipation of the fact that the NATIONAL party will form a government.

It’s true – I at least am not saying that there the Libs-dips-Blocheads have no legal or constitutional right to form a government. It is immoral that they wish to do so, but what can I do?

In fact, I encourage you in your folly, as I said in every post here.
Jack Mitchell

“The posters here on this forum are among the few in ROC who actually think the BQ is better for Canada than Stephen Harper”

At least government policy vis-à-vis Quebec will be consistent.
Doug Smith

Regardless of whether your prefer Conservatives to whomever else, what Harper pulled is an insult to all Canadians. He has a minority government, yet he mixed bs politics with a financial update and tried to bully the rest of the government around. That is not how someone should lead this country. If people don’t like what is happening, they have only 1 person to blame. Don’t blame “left-wing” voters for someone else’s miscalculated shenanigans.
http://noneasyet dun roberts

*At least government policy vis-à-vis Quebec will be consistent.*

LIke I said, the only people in canada who are certain the bq is better for canada than harper…
Ti-Guy

In fact, I encourage you in your folly, as I said in every post here.

I know. It’s very charming, but please…I’m married.
http://noneasyet dun roberts

*Regardless of whether your prefer Conservatives to whomever else, what Harper pulled is an insult to all Canadians. He has a minority government, yet he mixed bs politics with a financial update and tried to bully the rest of the government around. That is not how someone should lead this country. If people don’t like what is happening, they have only 1 person to blame. Don’t blame “left-wing” voters for someone else’s miscalculated shenanigans.*

when did i blame left-wing voters?

I say again: go ahead with your folly. Do you really think the vast majority of us plebes are going to sit down for a coalition govt that includes the bq?

THAT, i can say with confidence, is going against the will of the people (quite aside from the fact that no one voted for a coalition govt – such a gov was specifically excluded from possibilty by dion)
http://noneasyet dun roberts

*I know. It’s very charming, but please…I’m married.*

??????????
Jack Mitchell

I didn’t say that, dun. I just mean that it’ll be interesting to see what the Bloc expects out of this coalition and how its lootbag compares to what Harper gave Quebec for free.
Bruce

If a non confidence motion passes, it’s the PM who goes to the governor general to say the government has lost the confidence of the house and then asks the GG to dissolve parliament and call an election. The GG can ask the opposition if they can form a government, but seeing that the combined Lib/NDP is 114 seats versus the Conservatives 142 seats this will not happen. So without the Bloq being a formal member of said coalition there would be an election.
http://noneasyet dun roberts

*I didn’t say that, dun. I just mean that it’ll be interesting to see what the Bloc expects out of this coalition and how its lootbag compares to what Harper gave Quebec for free.*

oh jack, the demands haven’t even begun…
Jack Mitchell

So next time you’ll be voting for a party that doesn’t suck up to Quebec nationalism, dun?
KRB

Dun Roberts, you are right that Dion ruled it out during the campaign. At least the Union coalition government in 1917 ran in the election under that banner.

T.Thwim, yes 26+18>38, but still 143>114, by a big margin. I was worried during the campaign that if the Libs+NDP seat total was higher than the CPC, that they would try to oust Harper. But I was thinking that the Libs would be at most 20 seats behind the CPC …. not 66 seats!

It is theoretically possible for them to do, but it would smash a whole whackload of long held conventions in our elections. Any coalition would suffer from a lack of legitimacy and of a clear mandate. Obama to the south just won a clear and decisive mandate from their electorate; what’s the Lib/NDP mandate? Rush some money out real fast? Do you think a transition in gov’t occurs overnight? It will take them 2 mos to get everything in place …. hmm, that’s the same amount of time that Harper is proposing to wait, to see what Obama’s administration does once they’re sworn in.

I wonder if the GG included the caveat that they could form a caretaker gov’t, but that they would have to submit their coalition to the electorate within 18 months, whether they would go through with it? I think we all know the answer to that one.

It will be interesting to watch, as it’s history in the making. But Wells Rule #1 is still there, a beacon of sanity in a crazy world.
Andrew (not Potter or Coyne)

dun, I hate to break it to you, but the CPC doesn’t have a mandate either. They don’t control a majority of the House, ergo, they don’t get to call the shots. They tried to, at the peril, and now they find themselves in a spot of trouble. Smacks of Joe
Josh

“this what is `best’ to left-wingers: two parties with no more than a quarter of the vote between them, joining in coalition with a secessionist party that has worked to destroy canada for twenty years.

“do you really hate your country that much?”

Snooze. Don’t you get tired of empty rhetoric?
KRB

Tom: KRB: The first coalition minority government in modern Western political history! We Canadians sure are groundbreakers!

The international politics nerd in me wants to point out that the last FF-PD coalition in the Republic of Ireland was a few seats short of a majority, and needed to cut deals with a few of a random gaggle of independents outside of the government to tip their way on confidence measures.

FF-PD-Grn have a majority in the current Dail w/o needing the Independents; FF-PD had a majority in the 29th Dail (’02-07) w/o the Independents as well. Ahern brought the Independents into gov’t (a few who were previous FF members) so as to stop the group of Independents (and specifically the Sinn Fein TD’s) from forming a Technical Group in the Dail, which is a quasi-party, giving the group of Independents speaking rights and other party perks.

Hmm, perhaps we should allow the same thing as this Technical Group thing. Their bar is only 7 members too.
KRB

Andrew, the CPC don’t have a majority mandate, but they have a clearer mandate than any coaltion gov’t would have. They were returned with 19 seats more than at the last election, while the principal opponents lost 26 seats. It’s clear from the election results that Canadians didn’t want Stephane Dion to become PM. I mean, if garnering the WORST popular vote % in the 141-year history of your party doesn’t give you pause, then I don’t know what will. And I can’t believe Ignatieff would be so dumb as to offer himself as PM now. Surely he wants a kick at two clean terms of governing … a nice 6-8 years. If he slides into the PM’s chair now, he will effectively have assured himself a legacy as the “usurper PM”, and get booted in 4 years time (or sooner). I can’t imagine he wants to be written as such in history.
Chris Tomalty

I never thought that the opposition could get this stupid or this petty; There’s no way any government involving the BQ – whose whole raison-d’etre is splitting Canada in two – could govern in the interest of Canadians. I also can’t believe they’d accept Dion.

Canadians voted for Harper. Get over it Dion.
Michael

A review of what is being offered.
-a coalition of separatists, Liberals and socialists
-the Separatists want a lage part of any stimulus package to go to Quebec
-the Liberals want as PM a failed professor who attracted only 25% of the vote only 7 weeks ago
-the Socialists want massive corporate welfare to prop up their friends in big unions.
These conditions are being negotiated behind closed doors!

Only in democratic Canada, eh!
Ti-Guy

a coalition of separatists, Liberals and socialists

And Taliban-huggers, don’t forget that.

Still better than a government of fascists, no?
Andrew (not Potter or Coyne)

Child pornographers, too.
Andrew (not Potter or Coyne)

Harper doesn’t have a mandate to dictate to the House. He has to go to the House and propose an agenda that can win the support of the House. He is unable and unwilling, so he loses his chance.

Do remember that we do not have a presidency!
Michael

Ti-Guy
Yes, I forgot the Taliban Huggers; they are part of the coalition too. A few fascists in there from the Liberal Party will have to be tolerated as well.
What a mix of strange bedfellows with powerful ambitions that the voters rejected.
madeyoulook

Andrew nPoC, you are correct about parliamentary procedure. But does it make any sense to anyone that the House, fresh at it is, should be humpty-dumptied and a farcical, fragile coalition be created on the they-didn’t-do-yesterday-what-they-say-they-might-do-next-month pretext? Seems a tad over-the-top.

Sure, the opposition would look even more self-servingly crass had Harper left in the party funding grenade (oh, wait, Flaherty says it is still in , just where it belongs in a later amending legislation — is that false bravado or true respect for the rules, I’ll leave to the experts), but I have to say (disclosure, some have slapped the con-bot label on me in the past) that the opposition might want a little more meat on the bone before upending such a fresh Parliament, no?

Plus, a few Liberal partisans are nervously praying for a scrubbing of google caches to cleanse all arguments that Harper was outvoted by a majority and thus had no legitimacy as PM. Does le très honorable monsieur Dion want these partisans to come off looking like fools trying to defend the legitimacy of a PM outvoted by an even larger majority? Please understand, I don’t have a problem with it, because it was the original argument that was hogwash. We just wouldn’t want their silly argument thrown back at them, it wouldn’t be sporting.
Ti-Guy

What a mix of strange bedfellows with powerful ambitions that the voters rejected.

You mean the Conservative caucus, of course…rejected by 63% of voters and 78% of the electorate.
Muriel

Dun Roberts;

No, I love my country, and I was a conservative for more than 40 years, it took Harper and Co to change my vote. While the coalition may not be the best thing to happen, they have access to a great deal of experience and with the three parties together, there will be checks, to avoid missteps, they each have a stake in Canada for various reasons. At least it will stop Flaherty from taking the country down, as he did Ontario.