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[Canadian] MPs topple Liberal government, trigger election
CBC ^ | November 28, 2005 | CBC

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.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Canada; Foreign Affairs; Political Humor/Cartoons; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: canada; canadianelection; election; invagenow; paulmartin; stephenharper
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To: curtisgardner

"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.


41 posted on 11/28/2005 5:01:50 PM PST by Vicomte13 (Et alors?)
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To: Heatseeker

Please don't sack the Moosehead brewery, eh?


42 posted on 11/28/2005 5:02:37 PM PST by sergeantdave (Member of the Arbor Day Foundation, travelling the country and destroying open space)
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To: Heatseeker

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)


43 posted on 11/28/2005 5:05:00 PM PST by beaver fever
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To: Heatseeker

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)


44 posted on 11/28/2005 5:05:28 PM PST by beaver fever
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To: Twist_T
It does seem that the form of government and its implementation in Canada, does set up the people for wide spread corruption and sorted, back room deals, were a few votes can be bought and the head of government bought for a few dollars here and there.
45 posted on 11/28/2005 5:07:03 PM PST by FFIGHTER (Character Matters!)
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To: FFIGHTER

yep some lawyer from quebec will probably be the next pm..


46 posted on 11/28/2005 5:21:44 PM PST by Twist_T (internment camps for the future!!)
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To: beaver fever

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.


47 posted on 11/28/2005 5:21:46 PM PST by JNL
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To: Semi Civil Servant
Vote-rich Ontario - specifically the 416 Greater Toronto Area and the 905 suburban belt is what keeps the Liberals in power. Its as much geographical as it is ideological. ON likes the power it wields in the current constitutional set up and doesn't want to see it diminished. ON will simply not vote for a Western Canada based party.

(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.")

48 posted on 11/28/2005 5:25:59 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: JNL
The Liberals will be wiped out in Quebec except in a handful of anglo ridings. They will lose some marginal seats in Ontario they kept the last time. Toronto area voters will punish the NDP by switching a couple of seats over to the Liberals. My prediction: a slightly stronger Liberal minority Government. This will be (unless I'm wrong) another status-quo election.

(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.")

49 posted on 11/28/2005 5:31:42 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: xrp
What's Tom Daschle's status?

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.

50 posted on 11/28/2005 5:37:42 PM PST by EGPWS
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To: JNL
A Liberal Majority.

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.

51 posted on 11/28/2005 5:41:59 PM PST by EGPWS
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To: goldstategop

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.


52 posted on 11/28/2005 5:43:08 PM PST by JNL
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To: Heatseeker

BTTT


53 posted on 11/28/2005 5:47:27 PM PST by hattend (In France, it's not just the cheese that's soft and runny.)
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To: goldstategop

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...


54 posted on 11/28/2005 6:01:00 PM PST by Heartofsong83
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To: JNL

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


55 posted on 11/28/2005 6:02:42 PM PST by Heartofsong83
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To: JNL

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.


56 posted on 11/28/2005 6:06:46 PM PST by beaver fever
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To: Congressman Billybob; JRandomFreeper

If only Dorothy hadn't uttered that girls wearing glasses line........ ;)


57 posted on 11/28/2005 6:13:29 PM PST by ohioWfan (PROUD Mom of TWO GROOMS!)
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To: Heartofsong83

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.


58 posted on 11/28/2005 6:21:32 PM PST by JNL
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To: beaver fever

This is all by popular vote right?

Too bad they don't have some kind of electoral vote system.


59 posted on 11/28/2005 6:21:53 PM PST by headstamp
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To: atomicpossum
LOL. That picture left out a double-double. I ask for it down here and no one's got a clue what I'm talking about. ;)
60 posted on 11/28/2005 6:26:39 PM PST by Heatseeker (Never underestimate the left's tendency to underestimate us.)
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