Canada ping!
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Posted on 06/21/2006 4:50:43 PM PDT by fanfan
OTTAWA — Liberals and Conservatives joined forces Wednesday to block an NDP motion that threatened to trigger a fall election.
The motion, at the Commons environment committee, called for the resignation of Environment Minister Rona Ambrose.
If it had passed at committee, it would have gone to a vote in the House of Commons in the fall. And because the Conservatives declared it a confidence motion, it threatened to bring down the government.
Even though Conservative committee chair Bob Mills had declared the motion valid, Tory members challenged his ruling and overturned it with the support of the Liberals.
“The Liberals decided to vote with the government, that’s incredible,” Bloc MP Bernard Bigras said after the vote.
NDP strategist Ian Capstick commented: “The Liberals are working awfully hard to save Rona Ambrose.”
The NDP motion castigated Ambrose for failing to defend the Kyoto Protocol, refusing invitations to appear before the committee, cutting the Energuide home-retrofit program, and other matters.
The motion originally seemed to have a good chance of passing because the Conservatives are in a minority on the committee, and the opposition parties have all been critical of Ambrose.
But Prime Minister Stephen Harper raised the stakes Tuesday, saying he would consider the motion a matter of confidence.
Liberal environment critic John Godfrey said a Commons committee is not the right forum to determine who should serve in cabinet.
“We would rather leave Ms. Ambrose in place because she represents the total incompetence of the government,” said Godfrey. ``We would rather let that fruit ripen, if I may put it that way.”
He insisted the Liberals are not afraid of an early election.
NDP environment critic Nathan Cullen said the Liberals are effectively endorsing the minister after having repeatedly denounced her performance.
“They talk a good game on the environment, but whether they’re in power or in opposition . . . they just don’t follow through.”
The New Democrats and Bloc members are planning an appeal to Commons Speaker Peter Milliken. No immediate comment could be obtained from Milliken’s office.
Ambrose has cut a number of programs from the Liberals’ Kyoto implementation plan while promising a new “made-in-Canada” plan in the fall.
Canada ping!
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Parliamentary rules remain a mystery to me.
there's only one that matters - Government must maintain the confidence of the majority of the parliment - in Canada's case their "House of Commons"
In Canada, some bills can be passed or defeated with out having any effect on the sitting government.
Some bills/legislations are considered to be "Confidence" bills.
If this type of bill is voted down, it means the 'house' has lost 'confidence' in the government, and an election should be called.
When the elected government holds more than half the seats in the House of Commons, they are said to have "a majority", and can pass any legislation they see fit.
That's how the Liberals got away with so much.
Right now, us Conservatives hold power in fewer than half the seats, and have to depend on votes of support on certain items from the other parties.
I'm not sure how he pulled it off yet, but Stephen Harper forced the Liberals to vote with the Conservatives on a "confidence" bill.
More egg on their face.
I love Harper!
The liberals are afraid of an early election, the grass roots liberal organizers have been called crooks on the doorsteps of constituants. The election in the fall would likely give Harper and the Tories a majority government.
The liberals plan to reorganize, create a scandal, and then control the timimg of the election with the help of the NDP to unseat Harper.
You bet the Libs voted with the government, they likely would lose seats to the NDP, which is why the NDP tried to force the issue.
A couple years ago I had all but written Canada off. It looked hopeless for any conservative comeback.
Boy am I glad to be wrong.
Lets hope this trend continues! Harper is awesome.
I agree. I'll now likely head to Canada this summer for vacation (1st time in ~ 4 years).
Cool!
I've been here for a while for school, and have noticed many more 'support our troops' ribbons showing up on cars since the election.
Even saw some cars with Bush/Cheney stickers on them, during ours. Hopefully this Nov is a good year for the GOP, I think it will be.
(I'm not sure how he pulled it off yet, but Stephen Harper forced the Liberals to vote with the Conservatives on a "confidence" bill.)
I understood from the article that had they succeeded in voting the minister out, that would have been considered (with Harper's backing) a no-confidence vote on the Conservative government. That sounds bad on its face for the Conservatives who don't have a majority of the seats. New (and earlier) elections would have been necessary. Based on the fact that liberals blinked, it means that both Conservatives and Liberals know that had elections been performed, the Conservatives would be victorious, and perhaps would get more than half the seats! Hurrah for calling the liberals' bluff! This reminds me of when the GOP allows a vote on cutting and running in Iraq (the Democrats' own proposal) and even the Democrats who originally proposed it vote it down!
I profoundly hope that you are correct in your analysis. I am seeing symptoms of despair in the green lefty enclave that I live in.
More notably, the CBC is subtly trying to shift ground on various 'sensitive' issues without being too obvious - there are careers to consider! LOL!
The lefties are running scared - I love the way Harper is boosting the NDP to undercut Liberal efforts - masterful!
And this article reveals what a pack of fools he is up against in all opposition parties.
The Man is a genius. Thank God!
Between now and next spring Harper can do whatever he wants and count on Liberal support. The Libs are down in the polls, have no leader and no money so any election within a year would wipe them out and they know it. That's why they did the sudden reversal about the Minister.
Ha! Same here.
Good!
I get the general rule. You get to form the government until you get a majority in Parliament to say your ___ is grass, but it's actually a lot more complicated than that in day to day stuff.
But I'm not sure our form of government makes much sense to foreigners, either.
I'm just saying...
The libs and NDP seriously underestimated Harper. We have a good man leading our nation now.
They are also underestimating Ambrose.
I bet there is a lot of cussing going on in the Libbycaucus this night( rats, foiled again!)
I am also pleasantly surprised that gentle mannerly Canadians are actually calling Liberal grass roots party organizers "crooks" on the door stoop without inviting them in for a cuppa tea. Glad folks are waking up, and I hope that it is just a beginning.
When the libs realize how cooked they are, will the grass roots organizers bail? I bet they will, cowards that they are! Elections have been liberal rubber stamping affairs in so many constituencies across Canada for many years! Now the liberal political job with the public will not be as easy as it has been for the last 20 years or so.
It is fun to watch this group of Canadian Conservatives playing offense.
So far so good.
In some ways it seems having a minority is better than a majority.
It is tempting to just dismiss them, but I suppose the Libs must not be underestimated.
I grabbed this little gem off of Kinsellas' blog.
"Conservatives' ideology is their ideology: tax cuts, law and order, and so on. That kind of stuff. The Liberal ideology is, to be blunt, winning."
(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")
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