Categories: Polls

How has Michael Ignatieff's decision not to bring down the government influenced your impression of him?

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by macleans.ca on Thursday, June 18, 2009 12:19pm - 26 Comments

Tags: election, Federal Government, Michael Ignatieff, Ottawa, Stephen Harper

http://intensedebate.com/people/Geiseric Geiseric

la meme chose

nothing happened.
http://www.myspace.com/2bethia Bethia

No one wants another election for the forseeable future, if one occurred both Conservatives and Liberals might be very surprised to find an historic gain from another party entirely as what has just occurred in Nova Scotia. People are struggling as it is without footing the bill for another election. Ignatieff must know this. People are totally sick of politics, they want leaders not grandstanding.
BobbyB

I agree that spending on an election would be hard but that is the cost for our democratic right to have a functional government.

If Harper in his MINORITY position would work with the other parties we would not be faced with this tiresome question of bringing down the government.

And since Harper agreed to meet with Ignatieff to actually consult/talk with another party and since they agreed then wouldn't it have been great if Harper had, in the first place, talked with the opposion parties in Parliament and agreed how to proceed vs Harper continually provoking and trying the my way or the highway approach!

Harper has a MINORITY government. No one wants an election (cost) but it apperas that Harper just wants to have his cake and eat it too and NOT work with the other parties.

Is that the kind of PM Canservatives voted for? Is that the kind of PM that Canadians want or should have to put up with!

http://intensedebate.com/people/FVerhoeven FVerhoeven

absolutely, elections are part of our democratic process, and it's not up to any of the parties to decide when to have elections, other then as an outcome of their actions (votes in the House). If the opposition parties all are of the opinion that they cannot live with what the current government proposes, then, in essence, they put themselves in position to ask the electorate for a new vote. That is how democracies work. Money (cost of elections) is besides the point entirely. So is the timing of an election-call irrelivant. Summer, winter, who cares.

John D. Froelich

I believe that the Libeals would lose badly at this point, especially if they try to defend the national health care system.
http://intensedebate.com/people/FVerhoeven FVerhoeven

This would be my point to bring across: why bother voting any way? When all we get for the foreseeable future is minority governments and such minority governments are pressured into being blurred into a mushy middle, than what does it matter which party sits as government? If in minority governments, particular parties are not able to put their point of view into action, than why bother to vote for parties any longer.

The problem in Canadian politics today is the participation of a provincial/separatist party in federal elections.

I would suggest, in order to salvage what is left of our Canadian democratic right, is for the truly federal parties (NDP, Greens, Libs and Conservatives) to agree on a motion which would state that any political party wanting to participate in FEDERAL elections, should field candidates in at least 155 ridings (50% + 1). Only then will we have reclaimed our truly democratic right to vote in federal elections.
http://intensedebate.com/people/FVerhoeven FVerhoeven

Our federal election system is based on constituencies. We do not have the PR system in place, and I don't think it would be wise to even consider putting it in place. And it is not wise to behave as if we have both systems in place; we don't!

There are many reasons for having the constituency method in place. This country is a very large one, and a diverse one.
http://intensedebate.com/people/FVerhoeven FVerhoeven

We must be careful not to confuse our Canadian minority governments with minority governments or coalitions agreed upon in other countries. In other countries where coalition governments are often formed to overcome minority status inevitability, the availability of many parties during elections forms the underlying ground for such electoral outcome.

We here in Canada, are dealing with a much different ground out of which minority governments spring up. In fact, the irony in Canadian politics of today, is this: the party responsible for securing minority governments ongoing (the BQ) is also the party which needs to be courted when forming a workable formal coalition. The Libs and NDP together, for instance, could never form a true coalition to counter the current government. And the same would be true if the Liberals were in minority government position. In other words, our FEDERAL parties are always in need of courting the BQ when it comes to forming workable coalitions. Nowhere on earth would we be able to find comparables to this 'democratic' deficit.

Or could the ultimate irony be that we, as Canadians, actively subsidize this bs.
minaka

Iggy had a poll that put him ahead for a nanosecond and wanted to trigger an election for no other reason than to get Libs out of what they consider purgatory – the opposition, and back to the government seats they think belong to them by divine right. Feverishly he looked for something, anything that would not seem totally lame and self-serving and came up empty.

Like most Liberals, he had no problem being logically incoherent. Libs would spend more and faster (important to stuff it in before the economy could correct itself) but on the other hand, Conservatives are completely irresponsible for running a deficit. Now if it were a bigger and Liberal generated deficit, then all would be well with the (Liberal) world. This is how it worked with the Bush deficit (bad) followed by the Obama mega-deficit (good).

When Iggy figured out that Canadians were not going to reward him for an unnecessary election costing hundreds of millions in the middle of a recession, he backed down. The people who see this cynical ploy ending in a whimper as "co-operation" must already be at the cottage with brains turned off.
http://intensedebate.com/people/FVerhoeven FVerhoeven

I can see Iggy going for the logically incoherent try of a trap, but had an election been triggered (and it could have gone that way, unforseen), the voter would probably have fallen for the ploy – Liberals would certainly not have been 'punished' at the poll. So, the voters ultimately, are responsible as well. It is irresponsible of opposition party leaders to bring us to the brink of election each and every time they have a grievance with the current government, but voters are active players in this. We do indeed get what we deserve!
lrob

wise move. the liberals will have an even stronger voter turnout later this year!
psnsy

Iggy looks like Dion , no principles ,no backbone and save face.
He just visiting and does all for himself, do he reaaly shame of himself what he did this week for all Canadians….

http://intensedebate.com/people/SamDavies SamDavies

Wow – You are the living proof that attack ads do actually work.
Now Shhhhhhhhhhhh….. the screen is talking! ;)

Marc Fortier

A PR electoral system would solve this problem of hair-trigger election calls. With a PR system in place, a 2% swing in voters' opinions would roughly translate to a 2% change in the makeup of the House (i.e. not worth going to the polls for). Under our current First Past the Post system, a 2% swing in voters' opinions could translate into big changes in the House. Our current system encourages brinkmanship, political bullying and my-way-or-the-highwayism.

FPTP worked fine when we had only 2 political parties to choose from. Those days are gone. If we want political stability in our future, we'll have to adopt some form of PR.

http://intensedebate.com/people/SamDavies SamDavies

FPTP certainly has not been working too well here in Canada, and I agree that it might just be the time to look into some form of proportional representation. We've moved beyond 2 parties, which creates a healthier democracy, albeit a dysfunctional one with our present rules.

Recently, we've had a PM manipulate the public via a false understanding of how our parliamentary system works.
During election time, we place so much emphasis on the leaders of political parties, which in reality should only be a fraction of why someone votes for that party. Blind loyalty to a party is silly – decisions should be made via a per candidate basis.

I'm politically promiscuous – aka a political whore.
In my lifetime, I've voted for – PC, Reform, Liberal, Green, and NDP.
While some of this is due to a shift in my political views, it also has much to do with moving, and experiencing different ridings with different candidates.

While I am against separation, I have no problem with the BQ existing. The voters of Quebec are entitled to elect whoever they want. Beyond the issue of separation, these MP's must be doing a good job for their constituents – hence why they keep getting re-elected! With that said, in our current system, they wield far too much power. We need something that is more balanced…

G.E.

It is nice to see politician (Iggy), who cares on first place about Canada ), not the party he represents.
http://myspace.com/electropig1 ElectroPig

1) We're voting Party "A"! Yippee!!!
2) Party "A" screwed us! We'll show them!
3) We're voting Party "B"! Yippee!!!
4) Party "B" screwed us! We'll show them!
5) GOTO 1)

This is how we vote. This is how we keep seeing the same thing over and over and over again. This, for some reason, surprises us each and every time we have an election. Why?

How many people honestly think that Harper wants to eliminate funding for "third parties" because he was certain that if another election call came, that there are enough willfully ignorant people out there to keep playing the "see-saw voting game? He wants to kill funding for LEGITIMATE politicians who will, and have publicly stated that they will, change to a path that actually leads to a repaired and functional Canada, and freer citizens!

Remember, folks…we elected ALL politicians as PUBLIC SERVANTS. We did NOT elect "PUBLIC MASTERS!"
Kemble Institute

Michael Ignatieff’s ploy was working just fine until he was interviewed by the CBC and it became apparent to anyone with the slightest grasp of body language that he had no idea what he was doing there. It was a ploy, pure and simple, had absolutely nothing to do with the wealfare of the country, was a sounding board to see if there was any traction (amswer: NO!) something that he viscerally didn't believe in. Mikcheal loses bigger than you think.
Janet

It's my understanding that Canadians are fed up with the fighting and the name calling and all the rest of the crap that goes on between the parties. They want the government to get on with the business of governing, especially with the Chalk River problems and the recession,etc.
Why would anyone condemn Mr. Ignatieff for trying to work with the Cons. instead of forcing another election? Another election is the LAST thing we need.

minaka

Ignatieff had no desire to "work with" Conservatives but trigger an election to capitalize on polls that put the new kid on the block ahead briefly. When told he's have to climb down from his brinkmanship because Canadians need a darn good reason to be dragged into an election in summer and he didn't have one, Iggy made a lame attempt to appear as Captain Canada raining down costly EI benefits on the masses. He labored mightily (actually huffed and puffed mightily) and brought forth a gnat.
http://intensedebate.com/people/FVerhoeven FVerhoeven

but why the show around it all? We have a parliament, don't we? The Libs could have dealt with this in parliamentary fashion. Some say it's tough being the opposition when minority governments rule, but what about being in minority government position? And what did the Isotope crisis have to do with the finacial update report card? Nothing, that's right. Ignatieff tried to appeal to the emotions of the voter and how low can one go……….The isotope crisis cannot be dealt with in the fashion Ignatieff tried to do just last week. He breeds unrealistic expectations that way.

Jim Huziak

The whole exercise was pathetic. Ignatieff got nothing, proclaimed victory, and ended up confirming the Liberals are still leaderless.
Mars

I knew it–as soon as Iggy found out nobody would vote for him –for creating an election– he backs down– now– with a majority Governm,ent–w e wouldn't have 2 put up with this nonsense–coalitions & minorities -don 't work–so next time U vote- make sure it counts!!! Mars
http://brinfin.com Jim Brindle

i HAVE NEVER MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXERCISE MY FRANCHISE..
MOST CANADIANS WHO ARE OF MY GENERATION HAVE A SENSE OF FRUSTRATION.HAVING OVER THE PAST FORTY ODD YEARS MYSELF,i HAVE OBSERVED THE FUTILE EFFORTS TO "APPEAR TO GOVERN" BY BOTH THE MAJOR PARTIES AND JUST TURNED AWAY ,TURNED AWAY TO PONDER AND TRY TO CONTROL MY FRUSTRATION AND TO HIDE MY ANGER AT THE PHONY LYING BUNCH OF CHARLATONS MOST OF WHOM WOULD NOT BE QUALIFIED TO RUN A ONE MAN RACE.ONLY TO SIT BACK AFTER THEIR REQUISIT TWO TERMS AND ENJOY THE LAVISH PENSION THEY MANAGED TO STEAL FROM THE CANADIAN PUBLIC AND OF COURSE THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED "HONORABLE" A JOKE IN ITSELF. i'M SURE MOST OF MY RESPONSIBLE CANADIAN FRIENDS FEEL AND SENSE THE FRUSTRATION I AM DISPLAYING IN THIS RANT.PLEASE FOR THE SAKE OF OUR FUTURE AND THAT OF OUR CHILDREN,WHO SURELY DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS SORRY BUNCH WHO ARE ALL TOO QUICK AT LINING UP AT THE TROUGH TO CLAIM THEIR ENTITLEMENT.PLEASE PLEASE AT THE NEXT ELECTION GET OUT AND VOTE. MAKE YOUR FEELINGS COUNT AND SHOW THE PRETENDERS HOW YOU TRULY FEEL LET US AIM FOR A REAL PLURALITY
60% AT LEAST OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS AND CUT OUT THIS NONSENSE WERE 30% IS WAGGING THE DOG.

BELIEVE IN OUR COUNTRY AND APPLY YOURSELVES IN THE SAME EFFICIENT WAY YOU MANAGE YOUR LIFE AND BUSINESS
wilson

'If Harper in his MINORITY position would work with the other parties we would not be faced with this tiresome question of bringing down the government. '

MI shud have proposed ideas any time in the last 5 months,
instead of insisting "Harper wears this recession, Liberals won't give him any idea to steal' .

The only proposal MI did push was EI 360, and it came with a threat of an election attached.
He got neither.

A. Redonda

Mr Ignatieff got himself into the same corner that Mr Dion was in – more crying wolf. An election leading to another minority government is a waste of taxpayer money and voters' time.