They fell on their own sword
This will not go away. At the request of the NDP, the RCMP are investigating the Conservative bugging of NDP caucus conference calls. The tape revealed Layton explained how he had reached a deal with the Bloc to form a coalition before the Oct 14 election. No wonder Layton campaigned on the fact he was prepared to be the next Prime Minister. After all he had a plan. A "secret agenda"
Flaherty's vicious Fiscal Update would have bankrupted the Liberals and severely hurt the coffers of the BQ, NDP and even the Green Party. They had to react. They were forced to. Layton offered the carrot that the horse drawn cart would follow. The offer of power was seductive. Political dinosaurs Ed Broadbent and Jean Chretien brokered the deal and coalition was born in 3 hours on morning of November 28th.
The polls showed Canadians took exception to a coalition with a party that holds a Separatist agenda. It seemed Gilles Duceppe would further the separatist agenda by taking advantage of a weak Prime Minister like Dion, should the coalition form government.
The Coalition died on Dec 4th. The carrot had been caught, chewed up and shat out. All it took was a delay. The Governor-General Michaëlle Jean granted to prorouge the House of Commons. One by one they fell.
Frank Valeriote
Frank McKenna
John Manley
Michael Ignatieff
Jim Karygiannis
Judy Sgro
Keith Martin
etc.
So now what?
I'm hoping Harper presents an amicable budget that enough Liberals can support so we don't have to involve the G-G any more then ceremonial reasons. In other words, I'm hoping the confidence vote will pass so the government of Stephen Harper can get on with business of governing Canada.
Should the budget be voted down, the G-G will be faced with a terrible choice.
-Will she see if the Tripartite Coalition has the support of the house to form the government?
-Will there even be a Coalition by that point?
-Or will it go back to the voters?
The Liberals cannot go into an election with an interim leader, Dion or someone else. I think the Liberals need to call a leadership convention ASAP, instead of waiting for the convention in Vancouver next May. I doubt very much the Liberals will enter an election on a Tripartite Coalition platform. This Wednesday they will have a caucus meeting to try and resolve this dilemma. I expect the general support for Liberals to swell under a new Leader.
The NDP has lost whatever gains it had made over these past few years. Layton took a risky gamble and almost succeeded. It was a chance he could not pass on. I expect he will not be thrown out immediately, but I do not expect him to pass his next leadership review.
The Conservatives have proved they have an unscrupulous leader. He may be the best person to lead the country during a time of crisis. But his ambition knows no bounds. He still has this scandal of listening in on the opposition's meetings to deal with. If he gets his majority, there will remain such baggage.
The BQ have succeeded in re-raising the question of independence. It remains to be seen if this will have momentum.
And the all but left out Green Party? May was wise to stay out of the limelight in this recent turn of events. The Liberal-rejected career politician, Stephen Dion, no doubt has the option of joining this fledgling party in a major capacity. His experience could be Elizabeth May's successor. He has his supporters and a certain credibility to push the Greens into the mainstream. He will not be rejected here.
Flaherty's vicious Fiscal Update would have bankrupted the Liberals and severely hurt the coffers of the BQ, NDP and even the Green Party. They had to react. They were forced to. Layton offered the carrot that the horse drawn cart would follow. The offer of power was seductive. Political dinosaurs Ed Broadbent and Jean Chretien brokered the deal and coalition was born in 3 hours on morning of November 28th.
The polls showed Canadians took exception to a coalition with a party that holds a Separatist agenda. It seemed Gilles Duceppe would further the separatist agenda by taking advantage of a weak Prime Minister like Dion, should the coalition form government.
The Coalition died on Dec 4th. The carrot had been caught, chewed up and shat out. All it took was a delay. The Governor-General Michaëlle Jean granted to prorouge the House of Commons. One by one they fell.
Frank Valeriote
Frank McKenna
John Manley
Michael Ignatieff
Jim Karygiannis
Judy Sgro
Keith Martin
etc.
So now what?
I'm hoping Harper presents an amicable budget that enough Liberals can support so we don't have to involve the G-G any more then ceremonial reasons. In other words, I'm hoping the confidence vote will pass so the government of Stephen Harper can get on with business of governing Canada.
Should the budget be voted down, the G-G will be faced with a terrible choice.
-Will she see if the Tripartite Coalition has the support of the house to form the government?
-Will there even be a Coalition by that point?
-Or will it go back to the voters?
The Liberals cannot go into an election with an interim leader, Dion or someone else. I think the Liberals need to call a leadership convention ASAP, instead of waiting for the convention in Vancouver next May. I doubt very much the Liberals will enter an election on a Tripartite Coalition platform. This Wednesday they will have a caucus meeting to try and resolve this dilemma. I expect the general support for Liberals to swell under a new Leader.
The NDP has lost whatever gains it had made over these past few years. Layton took a risky gamble and almost succeeded. It was a chance he could not pass on. I expect he will not be thrown out immediately, but I do not expect him to pass his next leadership review.
The Conservatives have proved they have an unscrupulous leader. He may be the best person to lead the country during a time of crisis. But his ambition knows no bounds. He still has this scandal of listening in on the opposition's meetings to deal with. If he gets his majority, there will remain such baggage.
The BQ have succeeded in re-raising the question of independence. It remains to be seen if this will have momentum.
And the all but left out Green Party? May was wise to stay out of the limelight in this recent turn of events. The Liberal-rejected career politician, Stephen Dion, no doubt has the option of joining this fledgling party in a major capacity. His experience could be Elizabeth May's successor. He has his supporters and a certain credibility to push the Greens into the mainstream. He will not be rejected here.