The Rubber Hits The Road In Ottawa This Morning

Thursday, December 04, 2008 03:59 AM

It all now boils down to what the Governor General decides should happen in Ottawa. Stephen Harper is set to ask her to prorogue parliament this morning at 6:30am local time.

Harper is hoping to be able to convince the GG to allow him to bring in a budget on January 27th and if it fails the test with the Liberal-NDP-Bloc- coalition, he is out of office, with a hitch, he either tries to get an election in Canada to settle the matter for once and for all, or he waits in the wings watching the Bloc with veto power on the legislation in Parliament, increase their share of the wealth in Canada.

The Bloc has nothing to lose in this exercise, any gains (of which there will be many) under the coalition flow to them. If the coalition fails, they win, they can go back to the people of Quebec and say, see we told you that the rest of Canada doesn’t want or like us, if on the other hand they last the term they can return to Quebec saying looks what we got for you.

There is however a rub in all of this and both the Liberals and the NDP are aware of this. If Harper gets to call an election, the face of Canadians politics could change for some time.

Would you be prepared to support a party that would team up with the Bloc to govern Canada? Would you vote for the Liberals or the NDP if they both had the same platform? That back lash of pitting the right and left could spell disaster for those who like to vote in the center.

In the end could Harper be sitting back playing his cards and waiting for a new coalition to take power and then see the economy collapse in front of them? It is about to happen anyway , so why not blame the Liberals-NDP and the Bloc for that collapse? They would be handed the blame for the ills of the nation and the Conservatives would have perfect pitch for the next election. That must be also a consideration of the Conservatives as they sit in Ottawa this morning pondering their future.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

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Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2008 03:59 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Posted by: Denaljo on December 4 2008 5:03 AM

Mr. Harper is doing more to slice and dice Canada than the Bloc could ever dream of. Perhaps it is just part of a more sinister ulterior motive? Divide and conquer and end up part of the good old USA.
Huh!? Ooooooh! We already are.

Posted by: anniemartin on December 4 2008 6:50 AM

This is a very interesting time in Canadian politics and I for one am enjoying following the news lately. In my humble opinion, most people just want the government to get to work - if we acted as ineffective in our jobs we wouldn't have one very long! I find it very upsetting that everyone is so ready to jump on the lies about the boogie-man seperatists being the real threat here. The true threat is the inaction by government to address the recession, the loss of jobs in the forest industry and the lack of government spending to boost our economy. This talk of not going into defecit is really unnecessary - we have done nothing but climb out of debt in the past 15 years yet it didn't keep our economy from taking a big hit so when this down turn is over, we can start repaying the debt again. Government is not a business - no profit should be expected and their business is spending taxes that benefit ALL Canadians not those who contribute the most to a political party. Time for the MP's to get to work - no matter who is in the PM's seat. If these were 5 year old's in the sandbox, their parents would have told them that if the want to stay and play then they'd better find a way to get along!

Posted by: Andyfreeze on December 4 2008 7:25 AM

I am not a John Baird fan but I have to admit that his morning in an interview, he made as much sense as anyone has so far, without being nasty or ripping up the opposition parties.
He spoke very well.
Those from the coalition side are starting to squirm and you can hear it in their rhetoric.
They sound like a tape recording,over and over.
The cracks are starting to appear and it was mentioned this morning that there is disention on the back benches in both the NDP and Liberal parties, but we haven't really started to see much of it yet.
I suspect the party whips are keeping them very quiet.
Look for things to really start to get mean and dirty after Harper talks to the GG.
My guess is Harper will get the prorogue, much to the anger of the opposition, because that is the last thing they want if they are to keep their momentum for the coalition going.
I also think the majority of canadians just want parliment to work, without fornicating with the Bloc, and I think the latest poll results will show that.
The question remains...will the coalition and the GG pay attention to what the majority of canadians want?
Will Jean take the time to even find out through the polls such as Ipsos Reid, which are in fact considered to be quite accurate?
Or will she just ram this coalition down the throats of Canadians?
Dealing with the Bloc is a no-winner for Canada and if there was a mistake made by Dion and Layton,it is just that.
Canadians outside of Quebec do not want a deal with the separatists and probably a lot of people within Quebec don't either.
They are not ALL separatists in Quebec.
If there is one thing in all this that bothers me in regards to the GG is where is she from?
Who has her ear...or better still,what is her husband whispering in her ear?
He is a known separatist supporter and that is a bit scary in itself.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on December 4 2008 7:25 AM

oops! sorry about the echo!

Posted by: socredible on December 4 2008 8:33 AM

Andy, if you're not happy with what the GG decides, you can take it up with her boss, the Queen. We all know where SHE's from, and she's as "apolitical" as anyone could ever be in a Canadian sense, and that's the beauty of retaining her as the ultimate Head of State. And HER husband certainly isn't a closet separatist, if that's what Jean's is. I think the GG will do what she believes is the right thing for the country, and that will likely be what the PM has advised her to do.

The bigger issue, by far, is that no matter WHO leads the government they are ALL going to move to replace a "deflationary" evil with an "inflationary" one.

Which is why Harper moved to try to limit the Civil Service Unions' right to strike before bringing in the type of "stimulus" they ALL seem to have in mind.

He's smart enough to know that there's going to be trouble when their members realize they, (and the rest of us , too)will be working for a paycheque that "buys" even less than it'll buy now, and are still the only organized sector of labour left to try to do something about it. But, hey, who cares if we're working for 'nothing' or not~ at least those who are so 'dumbed down' to make the "job" their God will all be 'working'!

The "stimulus" should NOT come directly as 'increased infrastructure spending'. It SHOULD come by 'compensating' ALL CONSUMER PRICES now charged us, allowing them to be effectively lowered and thereby increasing consumer demand, (and economic activity, i.e. "employment") without affecting the seller's rate of profit. It is CONSUMER DEMAND that drives any economy, not artificial, inflationary "stimulus" put in as a 'moral' excuse to re-employ someone. We're simply going back on the same old circular treadmill we've been on too many times before, and it will solve absolutely nothing, and only set the stage for a far bigger crash in the future.

Posted by: downnotout on December 4 2008 8:56 AM

Everyone seems to forget that the economy of this country and even of the world is tied into the economy of the USA and they are in the toilet right now. Unless the US economy improves no amount of defict spending will improve our economy.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on December 4 2008 9:11 AM

As you now know now socredible,the decision has been made.
We have a prorogue so it is all moot now.
And I think she did the right thing.
This situation needs breathing room and now we have it.
And I am happy to see that she WAS apolitical as I had hoped she would be.
Let's face it,in canadian politics nothing would suprise me!
And I agree completely on where the "stimulus" should come from.
Increasing consumer demand is the fastest way get things going and I hope that is what we see in the near future.
Artificial stimulus is a ticket to further financial disaster
It has to be actually based on something concrete or we are kidding ourselves.
Today is a good day for Canada, but only time will tell how long that will last!

Posted by: kagee on December 4 2008 12:26 PM

What will destroy Canada is the power in the Prime Minister's office and his acting like he has the power that the US President has. Over time the PMs have been taking more power and leaving the MPs without. Our system was that the MPs have the power and we have no check or balances when the PM shut down the MPs job.

I started thinking that the coalition might not be a bad thing as the parties would have to work together and the MPs may have gotten their power back.

Posted by: Resident on December 4 2008 1:16 PM

Harper tried a power play and it back fired. Now he has to suck it up and get on with trying be co-operative with the other 3 major parties in parliament. Interesting 3 of 4 parties could come to a formal agreement but Harper and his group could not even get 1 of the 3 other parties to support him.
IMO the only difference betwen political parties is some have been at the trough longer than others.