This topic is generating a tonne of heat over on facebook. I thought I'd throw it out here as well. As you can see I am for the coalition, in fact I am ecstatic the the Bloc Quebecois has decided to support this coalition - they are working harder for national unity than the Federalists??? Harper has to be on the way out and I think he can kiss goodbye any gains the Conservatives have made in Quebec. I find it so offensive his attacks on the Bloc. Why he can't own up to his own culpability in engineering his downfall, is simply beyond me. His penchant for bullying and US style politics led to the last election. And contrary to the little dream world he has concocted, he did not get a mandate to rule like he has a majority. He won a minority, that means Canada expects him to behave himself and cooperate for the good of the country. Obviously he is incapable of this.I'm probably biased though - I can't say that I've ever really trusted Harper. I just thought with all the rhetoric about a more civil parliament he would have at least tried. Enough is enough and I say Harper has to go. Obviously I would rather see the Green party represented, but at this point if we have elected leaders willing to lead through cooperation then by all means we need to let them. That is why I support the Liberal-NDP coalition.
7 comments:
I think that it is a sad state that we find ourselves in. The real issue is that there is no real leadership in any of the represented parties.
I don't think that a coalition is a good idea. Why bother letting the people vote if you can undermine that with a coalition. I am in no stretch a conservative supporter. But they did win the election. If you don't like what he is doing then vote against his motion. Bring down the government. Send us to the polls again. Then we can be in the same place again.
I think the coalition is undemocratic. We let the people speak then we trump them. Not Good.
I want Harper and the conservative out of there just as much as the next guy. But I don't think that a coalition is the right way.
I hear this a lot Steve. But we did not elect a party. We elected a parliament which happened to contain a strong minority of Conservatives. In our system we elect a parliament and the parliament proposes a government to the Governor-General. The proposed government, in the case of a minority, must work hard to maintain the confidence of the elected parliament - something Harper did not want to do (nor do I think he is capable of, it requires transparency and real consensus building not dictatorship and secrecy). So parliament is completely within their rights to find an alternative solution. In fact if the current minority was dissolved the GG would ask the parliament if there was an alternative to going to an election - then she has the tough decision of if this should be ratified. I think she would rather than send us to the polls so soon.
As for it being a good or bad thing. Well it isn't my first choice. But considering the spirit of cooperation it represents - I can get behind that. The fact that the Separatists are willing to lay down their separatist agenda for a year and a bit shows they have more commitment to the nation than the Federalists under Harper (that should really make us afraid). Plus I think Duceppe is a very wise man. The other good thing is that the Liberals will be kept in check by the NDP and vice versa. This is what we voted for - a minority to see us through some tough economic times. It means that their responses will be measured and do as little damage as possible. That is an alternative I think we need.
The last point I would make is that this will be only temporary. But it will mean that Canadians will have a better sense of what the three main parties actually represent to our country. My hope is that we'll look for a fourth (Green) way, but that was my hope all along. I expect to be back in the polls in about a year - hopefully with a lot more Canadians voting this time.
If you want to see more people voting, you have to present better options. Harper has to go if the Conservative want to gain more ground. Someone a little closer to center in nature would be good. Harper is way to far to the right...he comes from the good ol Reform party and his colors haven't changed that much when he merged with the PCs.
Dion was a terrible choice by the Liberals, they are a complete mess right now. The Liberals brought nothing to the table at the last election, at least nothing that people wanted to buy into. Layton, is fine, but the NDP will not goo far in this country. What they have now is pretty much all that they are going to get. May was really good at the debate, but running against Peter Mackay was dumb. She would have won in London or wherever it was that she was in the bi-election last year. But unfortunately, it will take a long time for the Green Party to gain ground in Canada. People still perceived them as "Granola Crunching" or whatever slant you want to give them. Right now the Greens are taking some of the Liberal votes away (Mostly) So maybe those 2 parties should merge.
I think that we are going to the polls before the end of next year. I don't see things changing any. We are in a mess.
Harper is a bully, he is uncooperative, which is really stupid when you have a minority government. That is when you are suppose to form a coalition in the spirit of cooperation for the greater good of the country. But right now, he doesn't want to play with anyone.
I've been talking with a few Canadians here about this today and as ignorant as I am about Canadian politics, I do think that multiplying elections is generally a bad thing. It would be better if the parliament can work out a solution using its own resources. If this requires a growth in co-operation and negotiation skills, then so much the better.
wow.. nice to find some company. A large group of local christians are planning a rally in support of Harper here on Saturday. I am SOOO tempted to hoist a red sign for the coalition..
Hey Len. I noticed that in the folks I interact with the most, the conservative type evangelicals are all enamoured with Harper. Yet the other folks tend to be either indifferent or do not like Harper. It is amazing the polarization going on. There are some notable exceptions, but it is quite interesting. I dread going to anything prayer related among evangelicals around election time - I have a hard time praying God's will be done amongst the partisan rhetoric. I'm also quite frustrated with the glamorization of American politics. Personally I think our parliamentary system is very good and provides for a richer diversity in political discourse than the two party system the US has.
You are in good company here.
@DMofKor:
Complaining about the competition in Parliament? I wouldn't be so quick to label Harper based on where he's coming from. He was quite willing to address all of the Liberals/NDP's promises. This time this wasn't quite necessary, as he saw that the voting community didn't care for their "promises". Dion was great for a Liberal (but apparently too many Canadians are too xenophobic to vote for a "French citizen", so they certainly more than deserve the outcome).
Harper can pull off what he did because another election would be a waste (he'd just get re-elected). The coalition was done at the wrong time. I do like Dion, but if he's to colaborate with "Chavez/Castro/Ortega/Jong-Il" Layton, he certainly could not be of any help in parliament. Besides, thanks to the coalition, Harper grew in popularity, Dion resigned, and we'll likely see more years of Harper to come. I suppose I like the coalition after all considering the outcome.
I do believe that Harper does have it wrong when it comes to personal freedom when he considered prohibiting unlocking GSM phones that were sold by service providers. Wouldn't stop people though (and it couldn't be controled anyway), so it doesn't really matter.
Oh and I'm glad Harper values the military. For all you anti-war hippies, tell a South Korean that the Americans should have pulled out sooner (or not have fought at all) and see how long you live...
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