Report From Parliament's Hill - March 20th,2008

By Prince George - Peace River M.P. Jay Hill

Conservative Gains Should Quench Opposition Thirst for An Election

Our Conservative Government welcomed another Member of Parliament this week.  Rob Clarke, chosen in a democratic nomination process by members of his local riding association, secured a resounding victory in Desnethé--Missinippi--Churchill River, a Saskatchewan riding previously held by the Liberals.  He beat out the Liberal candidate hand-picked by Stéphane Dion by a very comfortable 1709 votes.

“Conventional wisdom” has always been that sitting governments do not fare well in by-elections.  Often, voters are compelled to head to the polls in by-elections as a form of protest against the government.  Yet, in this week’s by-elections the only protest seems to have been directed at the Liberals, or perhaps more accurately, Mr. Dion. 

Since Mr. Dion took over the helm of the Liberal Party there have been seven by-elections.  Not only did Mr. Clark take a Liberal seat for our government this week, the Liberals came within 152 votes of losing Vancouver Quadra, a long-time Liberal stronghold, to our Conservative candidate there.

The Conservative Party picked up MP Denis Lebel’s seat in Roberval--Lac-Saint-Jean in September.  And we very nearly won Hyacinthe-Bagot in that round of by-elections.  While the Conservative vote shot up substantially in four of the seven seats at stake, the Liberals are down by two seats - having lost one to the Conservative Party and one to the NDP.

In summary, Mr. Dion’s hand-picked candidates aren’t doing very well at all.  Good thing high-profile Toronto-area candidates and his former leadership rivals, Bob Rae and Martha Hall Finley, won what one national newspaper columnist called “two of the safest Liberal seats in creation”.

These results should also compel the opposition to question their failed efforts to paint our Conservative Government with the kind of scandal that plagued the Liberal Government through more than 13 years of power. 

Without a doubt, this is the most divisive, partisan Parliament I’ve served in through my 15 years as your MP.  The opposition parties have used their tyranny of majority to hijack House of Commons Standing Committees, where typically the most productive work of Parliament takes place.  Last week the House Speaker had to admonish all parties for bad behaviour and he called upon the House Leaders and Whips to find a way to instill civility and productivity in Parliament.   As Chief Government Whip, that is a goal I will continue to work towards.

The irony is that despite the ugliness and partisan sniping both in and outside the chamber, our government has been very successful in getting our agenda through.

This includes all three of our budgets and our economic statement; our legislation to crack down on criminals; and, our success in regaining Canada’s proud reputation on the world stage as a nation that will come to the aid of those in need, like the Afghan people.

Every time our Conservative Government draws the line in the sand with the opposition parties, particularly the abstaining Liberals, we succeed.  And Canada and Canadians succeed.

Hopefully these latest by-election results will quench the opposition’s thirst for an early election and save election-weary Canadians from another trip to the polls.

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