Posted on 11/28/2005 6:56:00 AM PST by GreenLanternCorps
Government expected to fall, accused of income-trust leak
OTTAWA - The battle lines are firmly drawn for what will be a bitter winter election that will mirror the nasty and short-lived 38th Parliament, which is expected to fall tonight under the weight of a non-confidence vote brought on by a united opposition.
The Conservatives continued to hammer their core theme of corruption as they hurled allegations that Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's office leaked details of income-trust changes, just days after opposition leader Stephen Harper linked the Liberals to organized crime.
The Liberals, meanwhile, having learned from their early mistake of the past election campaign, continued to stress Prime Minister Paul Martin's record as a deficit-slaying former finance minister and the architect of Canada's G8-leading economic performance. But the Grits also took to the offensive yesterday -- accusing the NDP of imperilling public health by siding with the Conservatives in tonight's non-confidence motion.
All of that came before the campaigning is to begin tomorrow morning, when Mr. Martin is expected to visit Governor-General Michaelle Jean at Rideau Hall to serve official notice of the dissolution of the House of Commons after 17 months of acrimonious Liberal minority rule.
Mr. Martin's last decision will be to determine the length of the campaign. He can opt for the five-week minimum or call for a longer campaign with a built-in Christmas holiday break, which would likely see Canadians go to the polls on Jan. 16 or Jan. 23.
The parties continued their pre-election posturing yesterday, with Mr. Martin and NDP leader Jack Layton making campaign-style swings through the Grey Cup city of Vancouver, and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe in Montreal.
Mr. Martin was greeted with a chorus of boos from the 59,195-person crowd at B.C. Place when he was introduced and invited to centre field for the Grey Cup's opening coin toss.
Mr. Layton polished a fire-and-brimstone stump speech in front of party faithful and predicted big gains for the NDP in British Columbia.
Mr. Layton took credit for helping to rewrite the last federal budget, but ultimately he was unable to wring a promise from the Liberals that would have ruled out the growth of private health care.
Mr. Layton blamed Mr. Martin for plunging Canadians into a holiday season election, saying he could have accepted the NDP's compromise offer to call an election in early January.
Mr. Martin, however, predicted voters would ultimately blame the opposition for forcing the holiday campaign.
"We don't want to have a Christmas election," he told reporters in a pause from flipping pancakes at a Grey Cup breakfast in Vancouver. "We said we should have an election in March. I think that's when it should be."
While Mr. Harper spent a quiet day at home with his family in Ottawa, Conservative finance critic Jason Kenney emerged to fire yet another broadside at what his party says is a corrupt Liberal government that it maintains has lost all moral authority to hold power.
Mr. Kenney called for an investigation, either by the RCMP or the Ontario Securities Commission, into whether Mr. Goodale's office leaked details of his income trust announcement last week.
Mr. Kenney based his allegation on the flurry of trading in related stocks hours before the announcement and the subsequent speculation by media pundits and one high-profile forensic auditor that this may have been the result of a leak from the Finance Department -- an allegation Mr. Goodale has vociferously denied.
Mr. Kenney was apparently undeterred by the lawyer's letter the Liberals sent to Mr. Harper last week after he accused the government of breaking "every conceivable law in the province of Quebec with the help of organized crime" during the sponsorship scandal.
Mr. Kenney would not repeat those allegations during a press conference yesterday, where he did not benefit from the legal protection of parliamentary privilege.
Mr. Kenney said the Conservatives would unveil their platform once the campaign begins, and that it would present Mr. Harper as the only credible alternative to run the country.
"This election, at the end of the day, will be about who can best restore accountability to government in Ottawa," he said.
In his weekly radio address, Mr. Martin attacked the NDP and Conservatives for joining forces with the separatist Bloc to force an unwelcome holiday election on Canadians.
Mr. Martin also stressed the country's strong economic situation, which he said includes the only budget surplus among the world's richest countries, as well as low interest rates and inflation along with the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years.
"Under a Liberal government, our nation has gone from pauper to powerhouse," Mr. Martin said, referring to Canada's downgraded economic status in the 1994 when he first became finance minister.
Mr. Martin also took credit for eight straight budget surpluses and billions of dollars of payment on the debt. He also promised to deliver on his recent $30-billion worth of tax cuts if re-elected.
"This Prime Minister, first of all, has always prided himself on his strong economic record," Human Resources Minister Belinda Stronach told CTV's Question Period, in another attempt to do what the Liberals neglected to do in the last election campaign: build on Mr. Martin's stewardship of a booming Canadian economy.
But the Liberals also went on the attack as Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh accused Mr. Layton of jeopardizing Canada's public health care system by aligning himself with Mr. Harper, whom he says favours private health care.
"Try as he might to erase history, Stephen Harper's aversion to the Canada Health Act is a matter of public record," Mr. Dosanjh said in a letter to Mr. Layton released yesterday.
Bye, bye, Paul! And good riddance!
Is any one party likely to get enough votes to form a government or will it be another coalition scenario ?
Depending on the results we could have any of the following options:
1. Conservative Majority (Yeah!)
2. Conservative Minority (ie: Tories have most seats, but must get Liberal, Bloc, and/or NDP support, to pass specific bills)
3. Liberal Minority (what we had after the last election)
4. Liberal Minority supported by the NDP (what we have had for the past 8+ months)
5 Liberal Majority (GAG!)
Vote slated for 6:45 EST.
According to Coyne's analysis this would result in a Conservative minority government. Hope he's right.
Thanks for the link!
yw
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