Posted on 05/20/2005 4:07:57 AM PDT by Clive
The majority of Canadians who told pollsters they were against a spring election got what they wanted last night -- as did Paul Martin's Liberals.
But it's a classic case of "Be careful what you wish for."
The squeaker vote on the Grits' jerry-rigged budget passed, as expected, after tight-lipped Independent MP Chuck Cadman threw in his lot with the government and Speaker Peter Milliken broke the resulting 152-152 tie.
We now face many more months of unprincipled, sleazy government by a scandal-tainted party that has shown it cares about nothing more than staying in power, ruled by a PM whom 63% of Canadians reportedly believe is the most dishonest of all the party leaders.
But hey, on the bright side, we can plan our summer vacations without having to worry about being pestered by annoying politicians or bothering to vote!
Admittedly, the mood out there, among the public and even on Parliament Hill, is not one of a country in crisis -- even though a case can be made that it should be.
Citizens aren't likely to storm Ottawa over the goverment's appalling banana-republic tricks -- suspending Opposition days to worm out of confidence votes; refusing to recognize a 153-150 vote demanding they resign; buying the defection of ex-Tory Belinda Stronach -- even though by rights, they have every reason to.
As Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and the Bloc Quebecois' Gilles Duceppe seemed to accept last night, it's time to stand down, chill out and fight another day.
But let's not kid ourselves about what's happened:
* The Liberal-NDP budget just passed hikes spending outrageously, wiping out any claim the Grits once had to fiscal responsibility. (Martin actually tried to tell his caucus last night the budget represented their ideas and vision -- when he knows full well it was concocted in a hotel room with the NDP and union leader Buzz Hargrove. Do even they believe this stuff?)
* The really crucial vote here came not from the cancer-stricken Cadman, whose difficult choice is understandable, but Stronach, whose opportunistic jump to the Grits sealed the deal. (No wonder a wounded Harper praised his remaining MPs for sticking to their principles.)
* The AdScam inquiry headed by Justice John Gomery will continue digging up dirt on Liberals and justifiably outraging Quebecers, as it should all Canadians.
* Finally, like it or not, we're still in for an election -- if not sooner, then 30 days after the final report of the Gomery commission this winter, as PM Paul Martin promised in his pathetic TV speech last month.
Nothing has changed. Except that the Liberals now have up to 10 months to go on blowing our money, dangling sleazy favours and otherwise distracting us from their own corruption. Enjoy your summer.
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I blame Stronach as well. OTOH, I'm glad that she's gone. She was a cancer in the CPC that needed to be removed.
Canada is now, officially, a banana republic. The only thing that separates a responsible democracy (or democratic republic for all those who like that fight) from a banana republic "democracy" is a moral base. That is when the politicians put the country above party. It is interesting that both North American liberal parties put party above country.
What are the real chances that the Liberals will be turned out regardless of the severity of the final report?
Zero. There is dancing in the streets of Toronto today because Christmas has come and THE GOODIES WILL FLOW! Until they leave for the cottage at noon for the long weekend, they'll be counting the GOODIES they believe that the Liberals will (this time for sure!) showering down upon them any minute now.
Wait til the Whos down in Who-Ville wake up to find that no Christmas is coming ... when all the Whos begin to cry "boo hoo" ... wait, been there and done that; all that will happen is that the dictator will pour on more promises and the little Whos will go back to their stupor.
Well, if the Liberals cannot be defeated, what are the possibilities that Quebec and Alberta will try to secede?
To quote an old coffee commercial, "You get what you pay for". The Liberals retained their power, the taxpayers get hosed. Canada slides into greater irrelevance. Secession, anyone? By the bye, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm an American, so I'm not asking about secession as a fellow countryman.
No, there won't be an election. Martin will weasel out of it. His word isn't worth the air he breathed.
Quebec isn't going anywhere.
#1 The Liberal Party needs Quebec to hold power and are more than happy to bribe them to stay.
#2 Quebec needs CDN$$ to maintain its socialist utopia. There might be much sabre rattling but once the real costs of separation are known, which is the trump card the Liberals would play under any real separation threat, Quebecors will stay put and continue to and count their money.
My hope is the Western separatist movement takes hold. Eastern snobbery (and a compliant MSM) will not allow anyone connected to the old Reform Party to hold power.
Wrong,sir.The libs need Toronto(Ontario) to survive, but it's too bad the English Canadians don't have the guts here to admit that they are the ones who kept the libs in power.
I hate to say it but I have to agree!!
No argument Ontario is to blame for the Libs current reign. My point relates only to Quebec separation. The Libs are the only national party that has anything going in Quebec right now. Their leadership (and recent Prime Ministers of any duration -Trudeau, Cretien, Martin) are almost entirely Quebec based. Every other party could kiss Quebec bye bye and be made stronger since it would eliminate all the Bloc votes and a significant number of Liberal votes. The Liberals can't and won't let Quebec go.
The Libs will be vulnerable in Ontario someday. The CPC needs some time to get its legs and Harper probably isn't the person to do it but the day will come. Most of those votes will come from rural Ontario. The Libs are also at risk for some seats at least in T.O. to the NDP. That crap hole is tilting so far left it's at risk of falling into the lake. The problem they will one day have is spending enough to keep the voters of T.O. without alienating the conservative vote in the rest of the province which hates the city's constant whining.
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