Posted on 05/09/2005 5:08:35 PM PDT by GMMAC
CNEWS.canoe.ca
May 9, 2005
Is Tuesday doomsday
or just a regular day at the office for Liberals?
By ALEXANDER PANETTA
OTTAWA (CP) - The opposition calls Tuesday the day of reckoning on which the Liberal government faces its demise in a non-confidence vote.
The Liberals call it the second day of the work week - and nothing more dramatic. Their opponents say the government should resign and call an election if it loses a vote on a motion expected at 5:45 p.m. EDT. The Liberals dismiss suggestions the vote carries life-or-death implications and vow to continue governing regardless of the result.
"It's clearly not a matter of confidence," said Marc Roy, a spokesman for Prime Minister Paul Martin.
If every member of the House of Commons attends the vote, it is expected the Liberals would lose 153-152.
Their only remaining lifeline - Independent B.C. MP Chuck Cadman - underwent chemotherapy treatment on Monday and told The Canadian Press he could not travel before Wednesday.
The controversial Conservative motion was tabled Monday and the Commons Speaker ruled it in order.
The motion asks the Commons public accounts committee to amend an obscure report from last October "to recommend that the government resign because of its failure to address the deficiencies in governance of the public service."
Roy said the motion would only become critical to the survival of the government if it was adopted on Tuesday, and then the public accounts committee amended its report, and then the report was later adopted by the Commons.
Liberal and NDP members currently control the public accounts committee. But their grip on the Commons is far more tenuous.
And the Liberals must call an election if they're defeated in the Commons on Tuesday, the opposition insisted.
"The Liberals must admit that the hour of truth is upon us," said Bloc MP Michel Guimond.
"If the government loses the vote, the government loses power. Full stop.
"And the prime minister would have to go back to the Governor General (to ask that an election be called.)"
The Conservatives are counting on being carried to power by the daily drip of scandalous testimony from the sponsorship inquiry.
A clear-cut confidence vote this spring is inevitable. But the Liberals have used procedural moves to stave one off until they see more opportune conditions for a showdown.
The Liberals would prefer to delay a non-confidence vote and force a showdown over their own budget.
That would leave the Tories and Bloc with a difficult choice: whether to trigger a rare summer election.
The Liberals had already dismissed a similar motion as a procedural matter and said they would continue governing even if they lost that vote, which is to come May 18.
The Tories will clearly try to rouse public fury if the Liberals refuse to recognize a loss on Tuesday.
Some constitutional experts agree that Tuesday's motion technically is not a confidence vote. But they say a Liberal defeat would have devastating political consequences and trigger paralysis in the Commons.
The opposition also cites a similar motion in 1926 that caused Liberal prime minister Mackenzie King to resign.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe called on Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson to intervene if the Liberals ignore such votes.
Constitutional authorities agree the Governor General can only accept recommendations from the prime minister.
The NDP has also said the coming vote seems like a matter of confidence. But unlike the other parties, the NDP will not vote to bring down the government.
That leaves the Commons split evenly into a pair of alliances - Tory-Bloc and Liberal-NDP. The fate of the government will rest on the votes of three Independents.
An aide to the prime minister wondered why the opposition chose to table its motion Monday while federal politicians were abroad honouring veterans.
"(Harper) can't appear to wait a single day - even if that means marring this day reserved to honour our veterans with cheap politics," said Martin aide Scott Reid.
PING!
Fireworks north of the border. Should prove interesting.
Maybe regime change is coming to Canada, France, Germany and ?.
Oh Gosh - Poor Chuck. He's one of the best MPs out there!
I sure hope he can make it!
viva la Saskatchewanians
I admit that I am somewhat ambivilant about Canada surviving as a nation, but there have already been news reports that separatist fever is again making itself heard in Quebec. If they did secede and Canada crumbled, could we pass a law that would make it illegal to give those bozos foreign aid unless they repudiated french and started speaking English?
the problem is Eric is the Liberals have pissed so many of us off, that the separatists are starting to make sense, our problem is our Liberal federal government, not Quebec per se, except that the federal government keeps giving into their blackmail and yet many Quebeckers are so mad at the Liberals they're willing to give up the goodie train to get rid of the feds......in fact I think Quebeckers have more sense than people in Ontario- I know I live in Ontario a Conservative in the wilderness of fools.....
Tuesdays are good days for kicking liberal butt.
Canada is falling a part. Last Year, Conservative leader Stephen Harper praised the Belgium model of Federalism as model for future canadian constitutional reforms. Well. Mr Harper you should follow up on Belgium: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1399340/posts
At least to Canada it is. In France, it can only get worse if the socialists take over from the "conservative" (as they call them) current government...not sure about Germany...
If the left wing governments of Canada and Germany are regime changed, after John Howard, GW and Tony Blair were reelected, that would a nice trend for the world.
No, the independent Quebecs will pass a law mandating that any foreign aide they receive must be provided with fluent French, otherwise they won't accept the dilution of their culture.
When there is a non-con vote and the goevernment loses, they must ask the Governor General to call an election. The Liberanos simply won't ask for an election and continue with business as usual. There is nothing to stop them. Even public opinion can't force the government to do anything. Once in power, the ruling party pretty much has an iron grip on the government. It's not that much different from Mexico in the end result.
Quebec should leave and then have all economic aid from Canada cut off. see how long they survive on their own. That being said Canada appears to have A LOT of problems lately. THough i hold no real animosity for the people of Canada i cannot say i will be sad to see the Martin govt collapse. I do feel bad for any conservatives living in Canada though - seems you guys are a rare and near extinct breed. Good luck!
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