Categories: Capital Read, Inside the Queensway

Her Majesty's Official Opposition teams up with separatists to topple democratically elected government …

by kadyomalley on Sunday, November 30, 2008 9:18pm - 22 Comments

… in 2005 – and you’ll never guess who was leading the charge!

(You don’t think there were any prior discussions between the two parties involved in this attempted coup, do you?)

Tags: blasts from the past, Bloc Québécois, conservatives, governmentdownbringingwatch 2008, minority government memory lane, treasonous majorities

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john g

This is pretty pathetic spin Kady, even for you.

Perhaps you believe that the government did not deserve to be defeated in 2005 after the revelations of Adscam were made public?

What am I saying? Of course you believe that. It was a LIBERAL government then.
Andrew

Kady, what do you think of the potential criminal implications of the interception and recording of the conversation, and the subsequent (apparently) illegal transmission of that conversation by the PMO?

Should be interesting if the RCMP start hauling away Conservative staffers.
http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

John G – Actually, I thought all sides displayed conduct unbecoming parliamentarians during that particular crisis of confidence, although I don’t recall Paul Martin condemning the Conservatives for cooking up a backroom deal with a party dedicated to the destruction of Canada.
kody

Except its not the “toppling” part that’s important this time around, is it?

It’s the forming a government together part.

I simply couldn’t imagine the press coverage if the Cons were actually planning on forming a government with the seperatists.

If a cartoon bird sent them over the edge, I suspect there would literally be heads exploding in outrage in our news organizations.

Instead we have the press carrying the Libs water, and false equivalences being drawn in an attempt to minimize.

Just another day in the left wing newsroom.
http://kitchenersown.blogspot.com/ Lord Kitchener’s Own

Maybe there were prior discussions, maybe not.

Unfortunately, it apparently never occurred to the government at the time to surreptitiously (and quite possibly criminally) record the caucus meetings of their opponents.

Thank God our new government thinks enough of transparency to secretly (and quite possibly criminally) record the meetings of their political opponents.
Compos Mentis

john g: why pathetic spin? It certainly is relevant in the context of what has been transpiring recently in Ottawa.

The Cons are busy distributing their talking points to their faithful about how the opposition coalition is “undemocratic”, and yet we find that these conversations have occurred before? When the Conservatives were in opposition, no less.

And the Liberal gov’t WAS defeated over AdScam (just in case you missed that part).

But if it was OK for the opposition parties to discuss forming a coalition to take over power from the minority gov’t then, why is it so undemocratic now (as per the Cons talking points)?

Maybe because it is YOUR party this time?

Partisan much?
Trillium

September 9, 2004

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson,C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.Governor General
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A1

Excellency, As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the Prime Minister to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government’s program. We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority.

Your attention to this matter is appreciated.

Sincerely, Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
Gilles Duceppe, M.P.Leader of the Bloc Quebecois
Layton, M.P.Leader of the New Democratic Party
http://kitchenersown.blogspot.com/ Lord Kitchener’s Own

kody,

That letter to the Governor General back in 2004 signed by Ducceppe, Layton and Harper wasn’t about forming a government???

I bet that’s what the GG thought it was about.
http://kitchenersown.blogspot.com/ Lord Kitchener’s Own

D’oh!

Trillium beat me to it! And with the text of the letter no less.

Gee, I wonder what this means: “We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation“.

Consultation couldn’t possibly mean they were TALKING together can it!

NO! I’m sure Harper signed the letter first and had NO IDEA the separatists were going to add their signature after him. Yeah, that must be it! He was tricked.

Those Separatists are tricky. I don’t think Duceppe has even said the word sovereignty in like, two years.
http://prairiewrangler.wordpress.com/ Olaf

Kady,

although I don’t recall Paul Martin condemning the Conservatives for cooking up a backroom deal with a party dedicated to the destruction of Canada

Perhaps you’re not trying to remember that hard. :)
john g

although I don’t recall Paul Martin condemning the Conservatives for cooking up a backroom deal with a party dedicated to the destruction of Canada.

You don’t remember that? Are you serious? Maybe this will refresh your memory

(If that link doesn’t work, google Harper Duceppe “in bed with” separatists, and click on the “View as HTML” link for “Martin pushes his way back” on the first page of results).

Here’s an interesting little tidbit from that article:

Martin and Layton have been saying for several days that Harper is now in bed with the separatists in an attempt to force an early election

So Layton too, apparently objects to being in bed with the separatists…except when he’s in bed with the separatists. I guess he was just jealous?

I never thought it was possible that someone who claims to be a journalist can be so blindly partisan as this. This is why journalists rank in the same esteem level as politicians.
Jack Mitchell

LKO: “That letter to the Governor General back in 2004 signed by Ducceppe, Layton and Harper wasn’t about forming a government??? I bet that’s what the GG thought it was about.”

She did think that’s what it was about — she said so in her memoirs. According to the same source, the viceregal brain was even toying with the idea of denying Martin dissolution in case of a no-confidence vote, Byng-style! Thank God we never got to asking Clarkson to make a decision on that, because she would have been way out of line.
http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

Olaf: You are entirely correct, and I feel shame at my lack of memory — in my defence, that was a *really* insanely crazy few weeks on the Hill. So we have a double helping of hypocrisy!
http://prairiewrangler.wordpress.com/ Olaf

What, there’s something going on in Ottawa? Do tell!
http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

Oh, it’s just a typical sleepy Sunday night here in the capital. Yawn.
http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

Oh, and for the record, I’d just like to note that I’ve never had a problem with any party working with the BQ Quebecois, in opposition or government. In fact, just a few short weeks (or possibly days; I’m losing all sense of time here, people) ago, I posted something along the lines of “Why can’t we just let the Bloc run the government?” Maybe it’s all that time I spend at committee.
john g

Well Layton apparently had a problem with it then. Will you be making a post to point out his hypocrisy? Or does Harper have the monopoly here at Macleans.ca on getting slammed for renouncing things that one used to believe when it was more convenient to do so?
Karol

Kady,
Just to let you know, in September 2004 week before opening of Parliament PM Paul Martin held in Ottawa televised conference of all premiers of all provinces and territories in Canada. During that conference PM Paul Martin promised to give Inuit 800 million dollars to fix healthcare in the Canadian North. On day two of that conference all premiers received by fax documents indicating that Paul Martin duped them as he was trying to cover up psychotropic drug experiments that were carried out at Baffin Regional Hospital in 1990ties. These experiments resulted in many deaths by suicide. Goal of what became known as “Canadian Zyprexa Experiment” was perfecting use of Zyprexa (Olanzapine) as murder weapon (psychodrug induced suicides). This conference turned into a big scandal that was covered up (television coverage was stopped after day two). This scandal was also leaked to international community. Since that day PM Paul Martin was a marked man. Harper initiative in 2005 to create a coalition that would offer an alternative to Paul Martin’s Liberals was in large part driven by Zyprexa Experiment scandal.
Dr Riff

the title of this blog is the most accurate description i’ve seen of this latest farce in government.
Liz

Say! That looks like a heck of a half-page ad! Maybe under the category of what Stephen Harper was for before he was agin.

This gong show of a government gets funnier by the minute.
don

did not check/but how many times has any party got a majority in recent

memory? if the results are always a govt. without more than 50% of the

seats,and how could a party get that many with the separatists of

quebec getting 40-50 of the seats. this type of coalition fiddling

could go on time after time. with no govt running anything for more

than a couple of months,what a way to run a country!the official

residence of the temporary prime minister might as well be a hotel

room, just to wait for the next coalition to be cobbled together.
don

A new era in Canada which is not a real country
Bullying is ok if you have the most people on your side
Horse races are not won by the horse that came first, but by the
agreement Of bettors who backed other horses
The supposed country of Canada is to be ruled by a group
Picked by a a Jamaican woman whose claim to fame is that
she was a presenter, Whatever that is,for the cbc and was appointed
to the ceremonial position by a defeated leader of the liberal party
Now who can argue with the logic of these statements?
This is just a few of the new realities of the lpcndpblocq party