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.
"Good point. BTW, is there a vote that is required or scheduled in France soon so we can boot out Chirac?"
The Presidentials are in 2007, and Chirac will retire and not run again. Dominique de Villepin will run for the UMP, and he will probably win the Elysee.
Please don't sack the Moosehead brewery, eh?
I hate to pee on the dancefloor but I think the NDP pulled a sucker move and will lose seats to the liberals.
Duceppe stayed quiet and let Jack Layton fall on the hand grenade.
Bloc can now claim they didn't force the election and Layton is left holding the bag.
NDP support in the west added one seat and NDP support in Ontario is weak except in Toronto.
My prediction: Martin will be back with a few more seats and another minority government.
If I'm wrong I will drink my own urine. (Gag, Cough)
I hate to pee on the dancefloor but I think the NDP pulled a sucker move and will lose seats to the liberals.
Duceppe stayed quiet and let Jack Layton fall on the hand grenade.
Bloc can now claim they didn't force the election and Layton is left holding the bag.
NDP support in the west added one seat and NDP support in Ontario is weak except in Toronto.
My prediction: Martin will be back with a few more seats and another minority government.
If I'm right I will drink my own urine. (Gag, Cough)
yep some lawyer from quebec will probably be the next pm..
I'd have to agree with you on the NDP front. Layton screwed himself good hehe
Duceppe is a smart communist ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Duceppe ) and plays well in Quebec. Duceppe might even gain a few seats.
Harper well.....he has to fight:
Years of balanced budgets, an economy that while not red hot is O.K., a scandal that happened (yawn) and has been brushed under the carpet, a Liberal machine that even Karl Rove would have trouble cracking.
My predicition:
A Liberal Majority.
It will take a few years and the Liberals will fall but I just don't see it this time.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
A short has been who is retired because he politically couldn't grasp his "frog leg" and cross it over his other leg in a pleasant way while doing photo op's.
It will take a few years and the Liberals will fall but I just don't see it this time.
I agree.
These Revelations take time.
Some don't see the time required to change however.
You are forgetting BC. Sure they have about as much say as Alberta, as to who forms the government, but they will be moving heavily liberal this time (just a guess).
As for Harper and the conservatives it will only take one party member saying something incredibly misinformed or informed depending on your point of view (either religious, racist or generally bigoted), and they sink like stones.
Look at every election the Reform / Conservatives have run lately and prove it wrong.
Until the any taint of Reform Party (a western party) is totally removed from the Conservatives they will not win an election in Ontario.
BTTT
If the Liberals are wiped out in Quebec and lose more marginal seats in Ontario, where do they make up the losses? They already have a lock on Toronto...and they certainly aren't going to gain anything out west...
How does having a social conservative platfom kill the Conservatives' chances? Read this detailed analysis: http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/national_news/2004/news_0704.html#3
We are on the same page and if you look at the history of Canadian poltics when governments end up with a minority status it takes several elections before a majority government comes to power.
eg Trudeau to Mulronney.
I see five years before a sea change one way or the other.
If only Dorothy hadn't uttered that girls wearing glasses line........ ;)
I don't even see pro-life / abortion debate on the radar in this election. Remember that, overall, Canada is a heavily socialist state heck even the exisitng conservatives are to the left of American Democrats. The pro-life / abortionist / religous angle may play well in some areas but it flops in places that count.
Ways to loose this election:
Make abortion the pivotal issue
Make same sex marriage the pivotal issue
All the liberal will scream is Harper wants to make us like the U.S. and next we will be in Iraq and ooogabooga etc...
Harper can make gains by hammering the Libs on ethics and promising not to rock the boat. It's hard to convince a populus that is well-fed, employed, and generally content that the country is going in the wrong direction.
This is all by popular vote right?
Too bad they don't have some kind of electoral vote system.
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