Beyond The Commons

Beyond The Commons

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

The Conservative-Liberal-Bloc-NDP coalition

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 10:33am - 16 Comments

The NDP says the Conservatives and Liberals have conspired to extend the mission in Afghanistan. Evangelical leader Charles McVety says someone in the government told him that the Conservatives and NDP have a deal to pass a bill on human rights for the transgendered. And the Hill Times says that the Conservatives are in cahoots with the Bloc Quebecois to keep the government in power and fund a hockey arena in Quebec City.

Thus are the Greens, the only party not presently said to be cooperating in any manner with any other party, well-positioned to benefit at the next election from an anti-coalition vote.

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  • Emily

    At the rate they're all going, that may be the only choice I have left.

    • Crit_Reasoning

      Since you're opposed to Canada's continued presence in Afghanistan, why wouldn't you vote NDP?

      • Emily

        Because the NDP want a large civilian deployment there, and while the Afghans certainly need job training, you can't teach anything in the middle of a war zone. Plus, I'm not a socialist.

  • Sigh

    None of these parties have joined the coalition either.

    Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada
    Canadian Action Party
    Christian Heritage Party of Canada
    Communist Party of Canada
    First Peoples National Party of Canada
    Libertarian Party of Canada
    Marijuana Party
    Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada
    Newfoundland and Labrador First Party
    People's Political Power Party of Canada
    Pirate Party of Canada
    Progressive Canadian Party
    Rhinoceros Party
    United Party of Canada
    Western Block Party

    • Emily

      LOL oh now there's a bunch of winners. Not.

      • sourstud

        Oh, and the Greens are? Ha!

        • Emily

          Nope, I can't even figure out what they stand for, and judging by their candidates at the meetings, neither can they.

    • John D

      Poor Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada and Communist Party of Canada, still can't work it out.

      • Emily

        Neither can the Christian Heritage Party.

      • Mike T.

        If I remember correctly, they're splinter factions of what was once the same party. The real "split on the left" so to speak.

        • Charles H.

          I don't believe they're splinter factions of the same party, but they are indeed evidence of an old split — the Sino-Soviet one to be precise.

          Up until the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Communist Party of Canada leaned heavily in the direction of Moscow. (They have, however, splintered somewhat since then.)

          The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) — the name they prefer, but which Elections Canada won't let them use for obvious reasons related to potential voter confusion — grew out of a BC student group and was founded along Maoist lines. Though they were also briefly Hoxhaists (of all things) in the years between the Sino-Albanian split and the collapse of the Albanian regime.

          Random trivia for the day: in some circles on the left, Hardial Bains, the founder of the CPC (ML) as well as a number of other Maoist parties worldwide, was known by the derisive nickname "Hardly Any Brains".

  • Albert

    I know this article was tongue in cheek, but this is exactly why minority governments in Canada don't work.

    Working with, or even agreeing with, the governing party is a sign of weakness, and you're not doing your job. Apparently this is because the whole point of being in opposition is only to oppose.

    Hooray for partisanship!

  • kcm

    I was disappointed to find out the Pirate Party doesn't actually advocate piracy…sigh.
    Doesn't anyone live up to their promises anymore?

    • MostlyCivil

      Oh, they'll agree to anything…but ya gotta keep yer eyes open cuz they might stabs ya in the back when it comes time to vote.

      Arrrrrr….

    • Sigh

      Real pirates don't need a party in order to party.

  • TheRealKuri

    How dare our elected officials cooperative on initiatives of mutual interest to them? Don't they know that Canadians won't be happy until our Parliament resembles a non-stop UFC match? Have they even bent over to remove their shoes to use on their fellow Parliamentarians' heads?

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