Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

On socialism

by Aaron Wherry on Thursday, September 17, 2009 12:24pm - 25 Comments

Also from Dominic LeBlanc’s scrum yesterday. This is what it sounds like when coalitions die.

Question: What do you think of the Liberal, the NDP supporting the, propping up the government?

Dominic LeBlanc: I think the NDP showed today that they’re for sale and not for a very high price.  I think if Tommy Douglas were alive today, he’d be very, very ashamed of the NDP leadership of Jack Layton.

This is also perhaps as close as Parliament may ever get to a “Yo Momma” joke.”

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  • http://twitter.com/LibsDog @LibsDog

    So true.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

    Wow. That's a low blow from LeBlanc.

    Obviously the NDP and Liberals are now at each other's throats, but it's not really the death of anything. The NDP did a 180 on "propping up Harper" because it was in their best interests to avoid an election. There's nothing to stop the NDP from doing another 180 after the next election and hopping into bed with the Liberals if it's considered politically advantageous.

    Canadian politics is not the place to find things like consistency or principles.

  • http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

    Wow. That's a low blow from LeBlanc.

    Obviously the NDP and Liberals are now at each other's throats, but it's not really the death of anything. The NDP did a 180 on "propping up Harper" because it was in their best interests to avoid an election. There's nothing to stop the NDP from doing another 180 after the next election and hopping into bed with the Liberals if it's considered politically advantageous.

    Canadian politics is not known for things like consistency and principles.

    • Old School Liberal

      As Harper's pro-cooperation with the socialists and separatists in 2004, 2005 and now demonstrates.

  • Dakota

    Looks like the divorce will be even uglier then the marriage was. I wonder if the Liberals mistress (The Bloq) will become a live in partner now?

  • anonymoose

    I had mentioned previously that Jack didn't have much, if any, leverage. Leblanc's copmment is true, unfortunately, it was Martin that decided to give Jack the idea that he carried a bigger paddle than he did. I still believe that Harper may say he doesn't want an election, but lookin at the polls, why not if he can lay the blame on the others?

    • Maureen

      I tend to agree with you – but I suspect the opposition parties will do something stupid that forces an election. The CPC is always in election mode which is not a bad thing for a party in a minority government, and they can go at the drop of a hat. The other parties – not so much, but the Liberals have really stumbled badly on this – those ads are horrible, say nothing and have used up whatever money they managed to raise over the last while – all in the quest to force an election. How sad that they think they have the brain cells to lead a government.

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/Thwim Thwim

        Actually, I think it is a bad thing, because if they're always in election mode it means they're not willing to compromise and come up with policies that will please the opposition.

  • Dave

    I guarantee you, Parliament will get closer to a "Yo mama" joke than this. Probably sooner than you imagine.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

    From the odd times I gloss over some partisan Liberal and NDP blogs, it's certainly been clear that they're almost more fixated on hating each other than the Conservatives these days.

    I understand they both feel entitled to the other's votes, but are they letting their petty emotions get the better of them? Or is it smart strategy to fight over the "left" flank of voters? Any thoughts?

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Thwim Thwim

      Have you read the commentary from the right flank? They've gone so far down the rabbit hole that before you could even fight for them you'd need excavation equipment that would even make people in Fort McMurray go, "Man, that's big!"

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/WDM WDM

    Cannot say I'm a fan on envoking the departed to make a political point, particularly when there's plenty of ammo to go after the NDP with without brining Tommy Douglas' posthoumous views into the the mix.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

      To be fair, the NDP rallies the ghost of Douglas frequently.

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/sourstud sourstud

        Don't forget how Jack constantly refers to Ed Broadbent several times in a single sentence.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

    lol!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

    From Layton's most recent speech at the convention:

    "When I hear that phrase I think of Tommy Douglas and of all the people who said to him when he began campaigning for Medicare during the Depression: it can’t be done.

    Saskatchewan can’t afford it, they told him.

    You’ll never balance the budget, they told him.

    It can’t be done.

    But Tommy and our whole movement saw that people were suffering without health care. They needed help. It was the right thing to do. And Tommy got it done.

    Tommy did it by budgeting carefully. But most importantly, he set out a vision of a government that serves everyone, a government that sees people not as consumers, but as full participating citizens in our society."

  • Dave

    Tommy Douglas would be – oh, never mind.

  • oppo guy

    Ha! I'm sure Trudeau and Pearson would be pretty proud of what Ignatieff is doing in their name too: Liberals are working for an election, while Jack Layton is working for the unemployed.

    Besides, Liberals – actual living ones – like Ignatieff's election co-chair don't even want an election anyway:

    “We’re not having an election on EI … I don’t hear Canadians clamouring for an election on this issue.” – Liberal strategist and senator David Smith, Toronto Star, 28 August 2009

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

      Quite right. So the Liberals now, finally, after God knows how long, have all parties right where they want them: the Tories looking weak (propped up by their ideological opponents), the NDP looking cynical and power-hungry (not to cast the first stone or anything), the Bloc sidelined, and the Liberals themselves able to blare at the Government without being forced to back up their blaring by actually bringing it down. It would have been better for Harper to bring on an election. I don't understand his decision to cooperate with the NDP.

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/SisyphusThis SisyphusThis

        Look down …. don't … don't … look up.

        • http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

          I'm very interested in your views on this stuff, Sisyphus, so I must confess I don't quite grasp this Delphic remark.

          • http://intensedebate.com/people/SisyphusThis SisyphusThis

            My views ? I don't have any on this stuff. It's a spectator sport that goes well with
            popcorn and Sleeman's.

            But I am wondering what Romeo and Tommy might be talking about right now.

          • http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

            Ah, I get you. Yes indeed. On that note, I'm about to start reading The Invention of Love.

          • http://intensedebate.com/people/SisyphusThis SisyphusThis

            You'd be wowed by The Strange Case of Hellish Nell.

          • http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

            Just looked it up, sounds amazing.

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