Three idiots and a Bully: How Canada is in a constitutional crisis - SPTO's Blog

Arena Blog Dynasty Scores Sign Up ☰

SPTO's Blog

Three idiots and a Bully: How Canada is in a constitutional crisis

Posted on December 2, 2008 at 10:26 PM.

(3)

Pictured on the left NDP Leader Jack Layton, Liberal leader Stephane Dion and on the far right Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe.

************************************************** *************

Just yesterday the unthinkable happened. The Liberals and NDP (New Democrat Party) proposed a coalition government with the backing of the seperatist Bloc Quebecois in order to defeat the minority government of the Conservatives and Stephen Harper. This is a naked act of aggression pure and simple by three bumbling idiots. This wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the bully tactics of one Stephen Harper.

Let me backtrack so you guys can get an idea of what caused this. The Conservatives under Stephen Harper are more or less a bunch of bullies. They've ripped several pages out of Mike Harris' "Common Sense Revolution" in Ontario in the '90s where he won a couple majority governments in the province. The M.O. of Harris' Conservatives was to take no prisoners and go balls to wall with their platform. This caused numerous public sector strikes and such but one has to hand it to Harris, he kept the province economically strong and had a strong set of beliefs.

Harper's main strategist worked with Harris back in the '90s and they've tried to use the same tactics on the national stage. Harper's first minority government was run much like a majority and Harper and his colleagues gained the reputation of being confrontational and hardheaded. In fact, one of the big problems that have dogged the conservatives in recent years have been back benchers and party leaders making crude comments that has made the party look like it's being run by jackasses.

One of the things Harper did in the last election campaign was to soften his approach and he even spoke in conciliatory terms about the other parties. Harper traded in his grey suits for brightly colored sweaters and did photo ops with ordinary Canadians. This approach worked so well that the Conservatives nearly garnered a majority as they picked up more seats then they expected to in Ontario which has historically been Liberal. The Conservatives only needed 12 extra seats to achieve majority status. That's how close they were to securing themselves for the next 5 years.

Sadly, Mr. Harper must've confused himself as he set out to destroy any goodwill he built with the opposition with the talk of working together and consulting each other. The first thing Harper and Co. did was slash government funding of the arts in Quebec which got that province up in arms and pissed off the Bloc. Next thing he does is slash government funding of all the political parties. He probably thought he could get away with it because monetary wise it looked like the Conservatives would lose a ton of funding but the truth is the Conservatives have a huge fundraising operation and it wouldn't really cost them. The Liberals and NDP on the other hand would lose 63 and 57% of their budgets without anything to replace it! The last blunder made by Harper and his cronies was releasing an Economic Update with no consultation with the other parties AND without a stimulus package to boost the economy.

Well, that just about did it....Now you think that would be a great reason to try this coalition but alas the opposition were ALREADY plotting this thing out. There are reports that the candidates for Liberal leadership (Dion led the Liberals to their worst defeat in a century) invited Dion, Layton and Duceppe over to construct this coalition WEEKS AGO!

It's only a convenient excuse that the Conservatives are too bullheaded to put out a stimulus package and this blunder is being used as the key to an overthrow. Now if you think that's bad enough, take a gander at the PR nightmare that is this coalition in waiting. You have a guy who would be interim Prime Minister who can't even speak english properly. The NDP leader is a nutbar whose party is stuck in the 1960s labour mindset and they're being propped up by a party whose main goal is the destruction of confederation!

Already you have people calling into news shows wanting to burn down Quebec because they're of the belief that this is some crazy BQ scheme. Other people are calling in and calling a spade a spade and disowning the Liberal party which for 2+ generations has been THE face of Canada. Finally, you have others cursing out the Governor General who will be faced with the choice of offering the coalition the reigns of power or calling an election if the No Confidence vote succeeds on Monday.

This situation is even graver then the King-Byng affair where PM Mackenzie King was ousted in a similar manner and Arthur Meighen ran the country for 3 months. King ran an election campaign decrying then Governor General Byng duty of overruling the votes of Canadians. That event led to the Liberal Dynasty of the 20th century in many ways. The situation is much more grave here as this would be unprecedented to have 3 parties more or less running the country as one. You have the old East/West and Canada/Quebec divisions flaring up again in much more intemporate ways. Let's just say the scars that will be left behind after this will be around for a long time.

...and all because one man can't play nice. In fact there's also a lot of Canadians that want to see Harper step down as leader of the Conservatives due to what just happened.

It's madness up here! Maybe it's the cold air freezing everyone's brains.

Comments

# 1 JAYMO76 @ Dec 2

Good take on the issue. I don't like the BQ component but I am fascinated to see how this all plays out. In Alberta the necks are mighty red right now. Maybe Harper will learn a lesson for his folly!

# 2 superjames1992 @ Dec 3

That's interesting that the conservatives raise more money up there in Canada. Down here in the US, the Democrats always destroy the Republicans in fund raising (See how much Obama raised vs. how much McCain raised). Yet, in Canada the liberals have been in power for a long time to my knowledge and the conservatives have been in power for most of the last 20 years down here in America, even without the money on their side.

Interesting how those things work. Money isn't everything obviously.

# 3 SPTO @ Dec 4

Superjames, the Liberals are probably close to the Conservatives in terms of money raised but the Liberals' money mainly comes through government expenditures. The Conservatives have made a breakthrough by going to outside donors which is why they wouldn't suffer so badly if the slashing of party funding went through.