Posted on 11/28/2005 4:06:03 PM PST by Heatseeker
The opposition parties banded together Monday to defeat the Liberal minority government and trigger an election that is expected to culminate in a mid-January vote.
The House passed an historic no-confidence motion exactly one year and five months after Canadian voters elected the Liberals.
Prime Minister Paul Martin will now have to go see Governor General Michaëlle Jean Tuesday morning and ask her to dissolve Parliament.
The Liberal defeat marks the first time a government has fallen on a straight motion of no-confidence in Parliament.
Other minority governments have been forced into elections after losing budget votes or censure motions interpreted as loss of confidence.
Last week, Opposition Leader Stephen Harper officially tabled the motion of no-confidence which read: "That this House has lost confidence in the government."
The Liberals have 133 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 98, the Bloc Quebecois with 53 and the NDP with 18. There are four seats held by Independents.
According to a poll conducted by Environics Research for the CBC, 35 per cent of decided voters said they would vote Liberal. The Conservatives came in at 30 per cent and the NDP were picked by 20 per cent.
With a margin of error +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20, the poll puts the Liberals and Conservatives at a virtual dead heat.
Federal elections have to be held on a Monday and the campaigns have to be at least 36 days long. Martin is expected to call for a slightly longer campaign, setting the vote for mid-January, either the 16th or the 23rd, with an agreement among the parties to take a holiday break and stop campaigning between Dec. 23 and Jan. 3.
An eight-week campaign would be the longest the country has seen in two decades.
The last time a government fell at the hands of the opposition was Joe Clark's Conservative government in 1979.
Monday's vote means a number of bills will die on the order paper, among them an act to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana and an animal cruelty bill.
Watching Martin speaking to his caucus now. Bad choice of a backdrop there Lil' Paulie, when they zoom in on the Maple Leaf flag like that it looks like you're standing in front of a big red-state 'W'. ;)
Short.
No, no, no; Deeply Saddened."
Well, Deeply Saddened yes, BUT mainly STUCK ON STUPID!!
With the civilized world in a battle to the death with radical Islamists -- it's good to see the Canadians are working on the important details....
Canada continues to whistle past the cemetery.... They STILL haven't done squat about one of their citizens - a journalist - beat to death by the Iranians - over NOTHING... Hell - the last I heard the Iranians even refused to release or return the body!!!
Canada's response -- "Diplomatic letters of inquiry".
Must stay busy -- don't look at the ugliness all around -- make it legal to have pot and illegal to be cruel to animals.........
Have Canadians become metro-sexual cowardly girlyboys......
Semper Fi
2007
Not to mention NDP gains.
Nice and all that, but really who really cares?
We are on the border and the only Canadian issue that comes up is all the Canadians coming to hospitals here to do their surgeries they can't get done until after they're dead.
Good point, although most of them were re-elected for other reasons (and defeated for other reasons)...
The bums have been tossed!!! ;)
Should this have any effect on our 2006 Mid-Term elections? Or does this effect Canada only?
If the Conservatives win here big, it should give you momentum...
We don't know yet about Italy's Berlusconi. About Poland, I thought the guy who went to war with Bush was toppled? Although the replacement was even more pro-America.
I think his term ended.
He and his croonies are a scary lot.
Short.
And his stature is even lower.
Not soon enough. These countries have to stop putting "girlie boys" like martin in power. I hope this signals a change of policy re the immigration of al qaeda.
It did teach that opposition to the Iraq war gets you no gratitude. Not from the Muslims, not from your non-Muslim citizens.
The gross corruption of the Liberals was there to see in the most recent elections. That didn't stop Canadian voters from keeping the scoundrels in power. The Canadian electorate is starting to remind me of New Jersey voters -- no matter how disgusting, dishonest and corrupt the ruling Democrats are, New Jersey keeps them in power.
It must drive conservative Canadians nuts to live in a "blue" country.
canadians cannot vote for a leader..... The "parties" appoint someone. Whatever happens will... Repetition shall occur with the absence of democracy... My opinion of the government of canada is low; due to the fact you cannot vote for a leader. Martin made a deal with the aboriginal leaders: to give them 5 million dollars as a push to get out of poverty. What a great thing to do!!! Give money to aboriginal leaders. The leadership of indian reserves is the fault of their leaders. I'd rather have : a full-time government job and a house. Smells like communism to me
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