Posted on 12/01/2008 9:01:18 PM PST by Chet 99
TORONTO: In a political coup, Canada's three opposition parties have joined hands to oust the just elected minority government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
In a deal signed by the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party (NDP) and backed by the separatist Bloc Quebecois in Ottawa on Monday, the first two parties will form a new government, with the third supporting them from outside.
Under the deal, Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion will become the new prime minister till May when his party chooses a new leader to replace him.
Dion has sent a letter to Governor-General Michaelle Jean - who is away in Europe - about the decision of the combined opposition to defeat the current government in the House and form a coalition government.
The coalition deal will last till June 30, 2011, when the two parties will review their relationship. But the Bloc Quebecois, which is supporting them from outside, said it will back the coalition only till June 30, 2010, and then review the arrangement.
The cabinet will have 18 ministers from the Liberal Party and six from the NDP. It will be the first time since 1926 that a Canadian government will be replaced without an election.
In the 308-member House of Commons, the ruling Conservative Party has 143 MPs, the Liberal Party 77, the NDP 37 and the Bloc Quebecois 49.
In the Oct 14 general election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party was returned with a tally of 143 seats in the 308-member House of Commons. But it fell short of the 155-seat majority mark, leading to the current crisis.
Curiously, the man (Dion) who will be Canada's new prime minister had led his Liberal Party to its worst-ever defeat in decades, reducing its tally from 95 to 77 in parliament.
He is scheduled to step down in May when his party chooses a new leader who will then become the prime minister.
What brought the opposition parties together was the last week's economic update by the ruling party which failed to announce any package to stimulate the economy and cut public funding for political parties.
An outraged Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canadians will not like the overturning of ``the results of an election a few weeks later in order to form a coalition nobody voted for and everybody denied.''
Referring to the Bloc Quebecois which wants French-speaking Quebec province to break away from Canada, the prime minister said, ``And to have a coalition like that that can govern only with the veto of the people who want to break up this country.Do they really believe that is in the interests of this country?''
They haven’t even held a vote of confidence yet, and the Times of India is presenting this as a done deal?
My Deepest Sympathies
I know little of Canadian politics, but the Conservatives should make this new bloc’s life a living hell. Oppose them in every way possible and make it untenable to rule.
This is becoming the MO of the left. I mean, look at what Franken wants done in Minnesota with help from the Senate.
It’s funny my first thought at reading the headline was, “I didn’t know Celine Dion was in Canandian politics?”
uh...eh?
>``And to have a coalition like that that can govern only with the veto of the people who want to
>break up this country.Do they really believe that is in the interests of this country?’’
Good closing quote, eh?
I was going to make fun of our neighbors to the North but then it dawned on me ... this happened in the US in 2001, courtesy of Jumpin Jim Jeffords. Also, Joe Lieberman has held control of the Senate in his hands ever since his election as an independent.
Wow, a month ago they were sounding the dirge for Dion’s political career!
We’ve got Obama bin Laden as President. The Canadians are getting off easy.
and cut public funding for political parties.
yeahhh that was a pretty dumb move when you don’t even have a majority.
It appears that North American government has been reduced to fraud, skullduggery, and bamboozlement. Enough is enough already. There’s still the route of new elections, but hey.
Of course, I could just be fooling myself.
Gee, and here I was thinking that Canada might be a good refuge should the 0bama Civilian National Security Force decide that I am an ‘unrepentant capitalist’. Guess I’ll have to look elsewhere for safety.
Well, Mr. PM, people here in the States don't seem to mind it when the candidate who gets fewer legitimate votes claims victory and assumes power. It's been happening a lot recently. And no one seems angry enough to do anything about it.
I'm interested to see how the Tories end up handling this, to see if anything may be applicable here. One thing: it's going to prove tough to keep together a coalition of three, with the vetoing party being the most radical.
An outraged Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canadians will not like the overturning of ``the results of an election a few weeks later in order to form a coalition nobody voted for and everybody denied.’’
The downside of a parliamentary system which allows for the majority, even if it comes from several smaller minorities working together, to take over. I hope the electorate let those in Ottawa know what they think of this coalition. My guess is that when it falls apart, Harper will come out of the next election with a majority and some of these interlopers will be defeated.
That’s a good idea-can’t the OUTRAGED; (along with most Canadians, I would assume-even rank and file members of those opposition parties since this did not happen in an election) so can’t the conservatives pick off a few oposition members every vote (even if the coalition comes to rule?). Aren’t there a few “conservative leaning” members of the Bloc Q??
As to the comment that it was a dumb move to try to cut off government funding that is a red herring argument. Harper already backed off and the NDP has been planning this for at least 3 weeks now - this was all planned long before the funding question.
If the Governor General allows this it will absolutely be unprecedented. I beleive it needs to go back to the electorate or she should allow harper to suspend Parliament. This is NOT good for this country. These are ALL Morons. Two of them could NEVER win an election and the third one couldn’t either but then he is interested in separating Quebec from Canada and becoming his own country? Oh- Vey!! God Help us all. CO
I agree Sam. And yes, The Governer General MUST do what is RIGHT for the country. This is just plain wicked. If it goes to another election, it just might backfire and the Conservatives win a Majority. At least I can wish huh? CO
This is why party affiliation is terribly important.
When people say “Yeah, he’s a Democrat, but he’s a conservative Democrat” it makes me furious.
Or “I vote for the person, not the party”.
It doesn’t matter how good a person is, they vote for the leadership of their “team”. A conservative pro-life, pro-gun Democratic congressman will still vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House.
Our brothers in Canada are seeing how close of an edge this has taken. If even 11 Bloc Quebecois members wanted Harper to stay in power, it would be so. But they are more loyal to their party than to the will of the people.
So those Canadians who voted for a member that was a good person but not in Harpers party have wrought this situation with their own hand.
AMEN!!! May they answer for this. CO
What are you talking about? As per the rules if there is a vote of non-confidence the Prime Minister must go to the GG and inform her that he does not have the confidence of the house.
This act occurs after every election.
The Prime Minister, if he has lost an election, is still the Prime Minister. He or she then goes to the GG and states that they have lost the confidence of the house.
At no time is Canada without a Prime Minister.
If I take you opinion at face value, after an election in which the Prime Minister loses, the opposition always disolves parliment.
Excuse me....how is allowing Harper is suspend government in any way Democratic? This is not unprescedented and don’t try to make out that it is.
The GG must decide who has the confidence of the house and Harper doesn’t. This is the way Canadian Govt 101 works. ‘
Jeez I voted for Harper but all this talk about “treason”, “suspending government to stay in power”, “separation” is disturbing.
However talk of treason make you feel comfortable. This is not treason but rather a legal manuver on the part of the opposition. There is no constitutional crisis, the consitution is clear.
Now where is http://pm.gc.ca/eng/bio.asp?id=46
My wife and I really wish....and I even know liberals who really wish for a real leader.
Harper’s toast.
Creating a coalition agreement that gives control of the nation to separatists IS treason.
So everytime Harper joined with the Bloc to pass legislation (effectively creating a coalition) he commited treason?
My God, do you support this coalition?
Doesn’t matter if I support this coalition (I still think it’s good for the conservatives). But you are being overly dramatic. The BLOC memebers were duly elected to the Canadian House of Commons. Whether or not you agree with their beliefs is besides the point.
As members of said house it falls to them to support or defeat a minority government. It really doesn’t matter whether you like this or not these the facts of the matter.
Canadian’s voted these people in and they represent them. If their constituents demand they bring down Harper’s government it is their duty to do so.
Harper does not have a majority, his party lives and dies by the rules of the house.
This is NOT a coup, it is parlimentary procedure. This is not treason, this is how it works. To tell it any differently is disengenuous.
Any Canadian high school student can tell you that.
Any GG of any worth would not approve of a coalition that requires the ROC to pay fealty to the province of Quebec for their support. A constitutional monarchy is an English apparatus not a French one.
No it’s a constitutionally allowed procedure. Eventually Canadian will clue in to the fact that all this screaming about coup’s and or junta’s is, or are lies.
The press is already starting to prostrate themselves at the altar of the liberal’s and lay out what is constitutionally correct and what isn’t, guess what this falls under.
IMHO Harper blew it big time and looks weak at this point but hopefully it can be turned into a positive. Dion, of course looked worse but we all know he’s on his way out and anyone they choose will shine brighter.
we will see what happens come January 27th but any hopes Harper had of passing anything remotely responsible are out the window.
And for what?
This all just confirms what I have always suspected about Canada - it is a banana republic with snowflakes. Don't know if it was Mark Steyn that coined that, but pretty accurate description.
Harper needs to stuff the Senate with 18 conservatives for his parting shot.
But by trying to push the end of welfare for Political parties he gave them the excuse to go ballastic. Anything he does now will be in the interest of keeping power.
He will basically give the East whatever they want....need a bailout....need some money.....need even more money....etc
He now rules from a position of weakness.
I ask again, what did he achieve by trying to pass what he did? Nothing!
You know who won? Gilles Duceppe, that’s who. He got Harper to go all out negative against Quebec, he not only insulted Bloc members but insulted all Quebecers’. He painted them as the boogeyman and Gilles Duceppe loved every minute.
Quebecer’s looked at Harper and rejected him,,,,
How do I know, cause I live and work there. I work for an American firm up here and the vitrol against Harper is so thick you can taste it.
God what a mess.
Well good riddance to PQ if it ever comes to that...which I know it won’t sadly...being on the dole of the English people is just too much to give up.
I think Harper should give PQ its own parliament where they can make all decisions outside of defense. But they then get no voice in the Parliament of Canada.
Than blame the deserving individuals. Layton went to weak kneed Dion to hatch this rediculous “coalition”. To my knowledge there has never been “hastily formed coalitions” before. Non-confidence votes yes, that is perfectly legal. This was a political power play by three boobs who couldn’t get elected in their own right, to try to turn over the results of an election a little over a month after the same. It was rediculous and bound to fail right from the get-go. English Canada is rightfully outraged. Not only that, the coalition is already falling apart. Can you see these three parties actually working together on a full time basis? Not bloody likely. CO
How exactly are they “turning over an election”. The conservatives won a minority government that rules at the whim of the opposition.
At any time those parties can form a government. This is constitutional.
I really hate being the voice of reason here, but people aren’t seeing it as it really is.
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