Did Quebec reject the Bloc to make a coalition easier?

There has been lots written the last couple of days about the collapse of the Bloc and the NDP surge in Quebec and so far I have not read anything that really explains what happened. Did BQ supporters all wake up one day and decide to toss out a party that for years has enjoyed their support because of something Duceppe did or did not do? Were they all taken in by the guy from downtown Toronto with the big smile and equally big spending promises? 

While I don't claim to know the answer I do have some thoughts and a possible piece of the puzzle as to why Bloc supporters decided to abandon their party and support the NDP.

The coalition.

Whenever the idea of a coalition has been discussed it has been quite clear that having Bloc MPs as part of any coalition was not to the liking of most Canadians. During the original coalition crisis both the Liberals and NDP were desperately trying to spin that the Bloc were not actually part of the coalition, only that they would be supporting it, and Ignatieff himself had this to say as to why he didn't enter into the deal he had signed: "I could be sitting here as your prime minister, but I turned it down because I didn’t think it was right for someone who believes in the national unity of my country to make a deal with people who want to split the country up," 

Having separatist Bloc MP's either in or supporting a coalition government did not fly in 2008 and was never going to go over well with Canadians. Bloc supporters were as aware of this problem as much as anyone else but what to do about it.

The solution: Drop the Bloc and elect enough NDP MPs so that a coalition would not only be legitimate but it would have a much better chance of being accepted by the rest of Canada.

It makes sense and possibly explains why dedicated separatists tossed their own party and blindly voted for NDP candidates some of which were barely old enough to vote themselves, did not speak French, or have NEVER even been to the riding in which they were running in.

Your thoughts?

Jack Layton and the NDP still wooing the Bloc

Jack Layton and the NDP look to still be wooing the Bloc (as possible coalition buddies?) instead of supporting legislation that would increase democracy and add representation to underrepresented Alberta, BC and Ontario.

I take special note of Edmonton Strathcona MP Linda Duncan who again tosses the needs of the people of Alberta out the window in order to appease the Bloc and Quebec.

We will remember this Linda.

To those of you in BC and Ontario represented by the NDP you might want to ask them what the hell are they thinking.


Here is what the NDP caucus voted in favour of earlier today.

" That the House denounce the fact that the government seeks to marginalize the Quebec nation by introducing a bill to decrease Quebec’s political weight in the House, and that it affirm that Quebec Members of Parliament, who represent a nation, must hold at least 25 percent of the seats in the House; The House proceeded to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the amendment of Mr. Laframboise (Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel), seconded by Ms. Demers (Laval), — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the words “in the House” and substituting the following: “and call on the government not to enact any legislation that would reduce Quebec’s current representation in the House of Commons of 24.35% of the seats.”.
Results can be found here.

Will the "it's an attack on democracy" opposition do the democratic thing?

After all the yelling and playing outraged for the cameras is over and everyone is back to work, will the opposition parties do the democratic thing and vote unanimously to bring back any Bills that may have been stopped due to prorogation?

I would think the answer would be an obvious yes considering that the stoppage of Bills is one of the things that they claim to be so outraged over and is a major talking point, but as we all know, what the opposition says and what they actually do are often 2 very different things.

Will the Bloc and the NDP make Parliament work by voting to unanimously bring back bills that they may have originally voted against?

Will the Liberal position change yet again?

Will the MSM even notice?

We have to wait and see but it should be interesting to watch and see if the opposition actually practices what they have been preaching for the last month or if it really was nothing more than grandstanding.

They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast

No matter how much they try, no matter how much they wish it would just go away, the coalition will live on well into the next election campaign.

“Attacking the Liberals so early could be dangerous for the NDP. In all likelihood there might be some sort of coalition government after the next election,” said Nelson Wiseman, a political scientist at the University of Toronto."

It still lives, and like or not it will be THE issue of the next election campaign. In fact the first shots have already been fired across the bow by the Conservatives as Democratic Reform Minister of State Steven Fletcher was quoted as calling for an end to political party subsidies.
Yes, those very same political subsidies that even the threat of cutting back in December caused the coalition to first form; although all the coalition partners deny that the cuts were the real reason, anyone with a brain knows it was the cuts to funding that was the real trigger.


As a little refresher Jack Layton reminds us all just why/how the coalition formed. BTW, one BIG question that has never been answered properly or even at all, is when did Jack Layton first discuss a coalition scenario with the Bloc? I guess that one will can be asked again during the campaign.




You can listen to the entire conference call here and pt 2 here.



So get ready Iggy because like it or not, here it comes again.


Oh, and for the first first journalist who sticks a microphone in Bob Rae's direction and asks him if he still thinks the coalition was a good idea, a free cup of coffee on me.

Ignatieff: The Bloc wants to tear up Canada.

We all knew it and we were ripped apart in the media when we said it.


Micheal Ignatieff: "“I could be sitting here as your prime minister, but I turned it down because I didn’t think it was right for someone who believes in the national unity of my country to make a deal with people who want to split the country up,”


I wonder if the media is going to give Ignatieff a pass on this one too?


Update: Oh how Iggy's tune has changed : Links from Andrew Coyne at Macleans .

Source: "Like them, he's a federalist, and said Canadians shouldn't fear the Bloc Quebecois' role in the opposition coalition, which also includes the New Democrats."

Source: "Bloc MPs are duly elected by Québec voters. They are not traitors, they are not the enemies of Canada."


I thought that the Daily Gleaner article was so good it deserves to be reprinted in its entirety.

Read it yourself for a little understanding on just how Ignatieff really thinks and how he used this entire charade as an excuse to seize power of the Liberal Party for his OWN benefit.

SAINT JOHN - Stephen Harper will have to destroy the Liberal Party to keep his job as prime minister, and that's not going to happen, Michael Ignatieff said Friday.

In Saint John for meetings with local business and political leaders, the Liberals' prospective quarterback said that not even banishing Parliament to a seven-week recess will help Harper save his government.

"Mr. Harper's only chance for survival is to split the Liberal Party of Canada," Ignatieff said in his first significant interview since Ottawa's descent into a constitutional crisis.

"He will try to drive a wedge between us, and he will not succeed. Our party is united in its determination to face Mr. Harper down."

Ignatieff is the most popular Liberal leadership candidate in a race that includes fellow Ontarian Bob Rae and Beausejour MP Dominic LeBlanc. He arrived in Saint John on Thursday night and was shepherded around the city by former MP Paul Zed, chairman of his 2006 leadership campaign.

"As soon as I left Ottawa, I could feel the stress leaving me with every mile," said Ignatieff, whose great-grandfather, Sir George Parkin, was from Parkindale, near Moncton.

"I can't walk through the airport, go to the supermarket or stop to get a bottle of wine without people saying, 'What is going on?'

"This is a special event in Canadian history."

His ability to govern fading by the minute, Harper asked Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean on Thursday to prorogue, or temporarily suspend, Parliament. The manoeuvre allowed the embattled prime minister to escape a no-confidence vote that would have scuttled his leadership.

But Ignatieff said nothing will save Harper from that fate. He said a coalition of opposing parties will ultimately topple the Conservatives, who retained a minority government in the Oct. 14 election. The House of Commons is scheduled to re-convene during the last week in January.

"This is an extraordinary situation," said Ignatieff, who lost the last leadership vote to Stephane Dion. "The prime minister has had to go begging the Governor General to get off the hook. But he is the one who got us to where we are today.

"He deliberately provoked the opposition and created a political crisis, and a national unity crisis, and that is unworthy of a prime minister.

"People are furious at him, and they should be."

The son of a Canadian diplomat and the grandson of a Russian count, Ignatieff was a campaign volunteer for Lester B. Pearson in 1965, and three years later was a national youth organizer and party delegate for Pierre Trudeau.

Like them, he's a federalist, and said Canadians shouldn't fear the Bloc Quebecois' role in the opposition coalition, which also includes the New Democrats.

"Democracy hinges on there being confidence in the government, and there isn't any at present," Ignatieff said. "In fact, Mr. Harper has managed almost the impossible, by getting parties that disagree on fundamentals to join together.

"But there are limits to what the Liberal Party will allow. The Liberal Party believes in fiscal responsibility and a competitive business environment, but it will never trade away national unity or trade away the authority of government.

"What's outrageous is for a party like ours to seek to end a constitutional impasse caused by Mr. Harper, and to be discredited as traitors. That's terrible. He crossed the line when he did that.

"His rhetoric has to stop, and stop for good."

Animosity has grown between the Conservatives and the Opposition since Harper called a fall election, a year ahead of schedule, in hope of winning a majority. The Tories ended up gaining seats, but in the last two weeks completely lost control of the House of Commons as deadlock devolved into disaster.

Ignatieff said the crisis was triggered by what the Opposition perceived as government attacks on collective bargaining and pay equity, and by a proposition by Harper to do away with financing political parties.

"You can't make a gesture like that and expect to have the co-operation of the House," Ignatieff said. "But that's typical Harper. He tried to jam us and we refused, and it was game over at that point.

"To understand the rage, you have to understand that this is the continuation of a buildup of accumulating resentments. It was a long time coming."

The last straw, Ignatieff said, was when the prime minister failed to announce an economic recovery plan that was to the Opposition's liking.

"We were anxiously awaiting the government's economic stimulus package, and we sat there in stunned disbelief over the absence of any economic stimulus," Ignatieff said. "Like in Sherlock Holmes, when the dog didn't bark, everyone sat around and looked at one another, dumbfounded."

Ignatieff said the coalition has already worked, by forcing Harper to back down on collective bargaining, pay equity for women and on party financing.

"That's pretty good for a week in Parliament," he said.

Educated at the University of Toronto, Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard, Ignatieff's ancestors were among the early settlers in Parkindale, which is in Albert County. His great-grandfather, the founder of the Rhodes Trust, served as a headmaster at schools in Bathurst and Fredericton.

"I've got some New Brunswick in me," he said.

Ignatieff said his constituency office in Toronto received 2,000 e-mails one day this week from Canadians concerned about the current conundrum. He said it can be resolved by a government-run coalition.

"In our system, to govern, a government has to have the confidence of the House," he said. "We have to talk to each other, not past each other, and that isn't happening now. We owe that to the Canadian people.

"Canadians can have confidence in a coalition, provided they know certain things are on the table and certain things are off it at all times. And they have our iron-clad assurance they we will govern in their best interest.

"I think this is what Canadian people pay us to do. They pay us to get it right, and I think we have to find a way out of this for all Canadians. I am convinced we can do this. We are up to it.

"We are aware we are we are living historic moments. We are aware of the responsibility."

Funny how all of this has now changed once he got what HE wanted out of it; not for the good of the people of Canada but rather for himself.

If this is not proof that he only cares about what is good for Iggy and that he will say or do anything to achieve his goals, than I do not know what would be.

In 9 months time....

If in 9 months time* the poll numbers look positive enough for the Liberals that they decide to pull the plug and try to force an election.

Will Jack and Gilles play along?

And if you think the answer is yes, could you offer up some reasons as to why you think they would do so after their 'coalition leader' Iggy just threw them both under the political bus?


As most adulterers know, sometimes those old bed partners can come back to haunt you.



The love fest has already started.

From the comments:

"Ignatieff will turn 65 and get his pension before we see an election,
... oh no, wait, he can't get a pension, he's never worked in Canada ..."Thomas Mulcair NDP MP.

The latest addition to the NDP web site. "This is the first important public decision Mr. Ignatieff has made in his life. And what he decided to do is stick with Mr. Dion's unfortunate habit of voting for Stephen Harper. What you and I learned today is that we can't rely on Mr. Ignatieff to oppose Mr. Harper."

Update: A day later: NDP radio ads appear. Ad #1 Ad #2

That was fast. You might think that these were ready before the budget came out. Nahhh, that would make no sense.

* an arbitrary but perhaps realistic date.

Well Colour Me Surprised.

Jack Layton and coalition partner Gilles Duceppe say they will not support the budget.



In the mean time Iggy is trying to find more creative ways to have Liberal MP's sit on their hands.

Kingsford to the rescue.

I was out doing my Christmas shopping this afternoon, a few days early this year but that is another story, and as usual I had a few names on my list that were giving me some problems as to what to buy them. I had managed to find something for all of my friends and family members but could not find the right gift for some of the others on my list; the members of the proposed coalition.

So after wandering around aimlessly from store to store looking for that something special to jump out at me, I finally found the perfect gift to send to all of the members and supporters of the coalition*.


What could be a more perfect gift than coal for the coalition?

Merry Christmas everyone.

* all except for Bob Rae. I bought him some astroturf.

Jack Layton to move into Stornoway as leader of the opposition.

An AWM exclusive: Don't call the movers yet Iggy.

Having had his plans of being in a coalition cabinet thwarted by newly anointed interim Liberal leader Micheal Ignatieff; Jack Layton has made a deal with Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe that would have the NDP named as the official opposition with Layton as leader.

Similar to the failed tripartite coalition agreement the 2 parties are expected to approach the Speaker of the House of Commons with a letter of intent outlining their cooperation in forming the official opposition as their 2 parties combined have more seats than the now current official opposition Liberals.

An NDP insider said; "If Mr. Ignatieff will not honour the coalition agreement that he signed then we have no other choice but to do what Canadians have already strongly voiced with their votes in the last election." adding that "74% of Canadians voted against the Liberals being the official opposition and we are following along with the great traditions of our democracy by doing what the voters intended."

Our phone calls to the Liberal Party of Canada were not returned.

“A guy like Chrétien don’t like separatists very much, whoever they are.”

The words of former PM Jean Chretien, Nov 2007: “A guy like Chrétien don’t like separatists very much, whoever they are.”

Forget for a minute that he is eerily speaking in the third person and then think back to his role in negotiating the coalition involving the separatist Bloc Quebecois and contrast that to the above statement.

How very typical of a Liberal politician, say one thing and do another. He doesn't like separatists, even if that separatist is the Dalai Lama, but he is more that willing to overlook that and deal with Canadian separatists if that helps the Liberal Party of Canada fulfill its goal of power in this country no matter the cost.

Is anyone surprised?


Speaking of JC; it would seem that he forgot to destroy the photos of his meeting with the Dalai Lama before denying that he had met with him.

Again, is anyone really surprised?






Updated with related story links here, here, here, here, and this one comes courtesy of former Liberal MP David Kilgour , the last Liberal MP elected in Alberta.

Where is Gilles?

With the anointment of Ignatieff as the interim leader of the LPC and as he would become our PM if the tripartite coalition is successful in their underhanded bid to thwart the last election results ignoring the wishes of Canadians, I have to ask a question.

Where is Gilles Duceppe and why have we not heard his thoughts yet on the the selection of Iggy as interim leader of both the LPC and the coalition?

I can't see Gilles being too happy with this considering that Iggy has always had the support of the Liberals Quebec wing, but coalitions make strange bed fellows as we have seen over the last week or so.

So come on Gilles, it is time to go on the record about your new bed mate.

Speaking of Parliamentary Tradition....

There is a lot of yapping that is coming from the other side about parliamentary tradition and what not in their power hungry attempt to unethically take control of the Government of Canada until mid 2011, but the left conveniently seem to have forgotten about one parliamentary tradition when doing so.

Our parliamentary tradition is that newly appointed Prime Ministers seek electoral sanction within six months. Louis St. Laurent, the former Liberal Prime Minister, holds the record for the longest period between his appointment (November 15, 1948) and his election (June 27th, 1949) but at least his party already had the endorsement of Canadian voters.(NP)

So how does this tradition fit in with the tripartite pact signed by Dion, Duceppe, and Layton?

I await your spin.

Justin Trudeau Papa would be so proud.

It kind of speaks for itself.




Courtesy of ParlVu and CTV. Thank you for keeping Canadians informed.

My apologies for the bad sound on certain parts of the clip.

Fight the New Liberal Bloc Party Coalition.

Hey, this option is legal too.

The confidence vote happens and the Government loses. Dion starts to hear from upset people all across Canada and after being pushed by frightened leadership candidates he begins to realize that the coalition may not be that great of an idea and backs away.

Layton infuriated by this goes to the GG with Gilles Duceppe and offers up a NDP/Bloc coalition be allowed to form government with Gilles Duceppe as PM since the Bloc has more seats than the NDP.

The GG appoints the duly elected MP from Laurier—Sainte-Marie as PM.


As pointed out by coalition trolls everywhere this scenario would not only be legal & would fit with parliamentary tradition, it would also be the correct thing for the GG to do, and opposing it would make you undemocratic.

Think about that for awhile the next time a coalition troll or party pundit is making the case for this coalition that does not have the balls to put their unholy alliance to a vote before the Canadian people.

BTW, it will be these same 'if it's legal' eagles to be the first to scream if PM Stephen Harper exercises his legal authority and fills the empty seats in the Senate.

A few thoughts on Outremont

This result is not really a surprise to anyone but a few deluded Liberals who thought everyone else was wrong and they would pull it off in the end.

How can some claim that the Bloc losing support is an ominous sign for their future, but the Liberals losing support is just some kind of weird anomaly?

BTW, Thank you PM Harper for setting the conditions for the demise of the Bloc.

Hey Stephane, do you still think the fiscal imbalance never really existed in the minds of Quebecois?

How can Dion not be blamed for this as he hand picked the candidate and parachuted him into the riding? The same thing he wants to do to women all over Canada against every principle of grass roots democracy; all because it is the 'pc' thing to do and he thinks he knows better.

Would J. Trudeau have faired better? Or perhaps another candidate chosen by the local Libs?

Does anyone else think that the Liberals are going to find a way to like the next thrown speech a lot more now?

It is a good thing that Lizzy didn't pull the Green Party candidate, or else the NDP would have only won by 16 percent instead of nearly 20.

How do some Liberals figure that bad mouthing Iggy and using him as a scapegoat will make him more of a team player?

And while I am on the subject of Iggy, I wonder if he favours the Ginsu over the trusty butcher knife? Only time will tell.

The media smells blood, and that blood is Dion's. This story is not going to die and will linger much longer than any Liberal would like it to; all due to the MSM.

Does anyone else think that somewhere out there Frank McKenna and John Manley are laughing hysterically right now?

Al

Shane Doan, exposing stupid politicians everywhere.

Gilles Duceppe digs that hole just a little deeper with his latest thoughts on the Shane Doan fiasco.

From The Star : Gilles Duceppe said it was wrong to make Doan captain of Canada's world championship team while the star forward remains embroiled in two defamation suits related to the alleged anti-French slur. "When someone robs a bank he's presumed innocent until proven guilty – but I don't know many people who'd name them bank manager while the trial's still on," Duceppe said. "They want to name him captain even before the verdict comes in. It makes no sense. It's an insult to Quebecers."


My sides are hurting here from the laughter. Gilles figures that Doan should not be the captain of Team Canada while Doan is involved in 2 lawsuits with Denis Coderre, but it is OK for himself to be the leader of the BQ while he is involved with Stephane Dion in a defamation suit of his own.

Priceless.


Al

Bill 257 is Dead

The vote is in and Bill 257 has been defeated.

The liberals were split on the issue with many voting in favour of the Bill, but those that voted against were enough to stop this sad piece of legislation in its tracks.

A fitting end to a bad bill proposed by the BQ which would have had much negative impact across the entire country.

Unanswered Questions

Gilles Duceppe keeps asking, but is anyone going to answer?

"Who are these people who received money illegally, as admitted by Mr. Côté? Mr. Dion likes clarity. He should be clear," Mr. Duceppe said at a Bloc caucus meeting in Laval, Que.

Source.

Mr.Martin never did answer the question. Will Mr. Dion?