Liberal, Npd And Block Going To Bring Down The Gov

[calgarydave]

Personally I think this would be a stupid idea. Canadians do not want another election.

Especially over something stupid like campaign funding.

[MissEmily]

You know, as much as campaign funding is a pretty petty argument, considering the Liberals are almost bankrupt at this point and the Bloc and the NDP don't have enough support to gain even official opposition status, I would be glad to go to the polls over this. The only party that wouldn't be effective by the policy would be the Tories - because most of their funding comes from private donations. It seriously looks like a move by Harper to make sure he retains power for a long time to come; and when you're not a fan of the Tories in anyway shape or form, a vote would at least mean democracy is some what respected.

 

But that's just me.

[Crusader]

Personally I think this would be a stupid idea. Canadians do not want another election.

Especially over something stupid like campaign funding.

Harper's forcing this. He's just trying to get himself a majority.

[Who]

They want to bring down the government because of campaign funding but there are a shitload of other things in there that don't even deserve our time.

 

BRING THE FUCKER DOWN!

[Dan #3]

All one needs is Harper's natural enemy;

[borntohula]

Personally I think this would be a stupid idea. Canadians do not want another election.

Especially over something stupid like campaign funding.

wouldn't this avoid an election?

 

if the parties vote against harper's budget plan, but do not form a majority in a coalition, then parliament would dissolve and we'd have to vote. but if they just form a coalition, and therefore have the majority of the votes, they would be usurping the gov't without the need for an election.

 

i could be wrong.

 

i like the idea because, like someone else mentioned above, the parties on the left side of the spectrum are crippled financially. not only that, but i think at this point, the liberals have only been able to survive for so long because they rely on the "left" vote, in most cases if one chooses to vote strategically. the greens and the NDP have much stronger campaigns and ideas than the libs. this last election was definitely a sign of that.

 

"uniting" the left, or at least reducing the number of parties on the left side, is definitely beneficial for those of us who vote left and would like to have our voices heard. it's nonsense that the cons won the election, even with a minority gov't. this is why i hate the first-past-the-post system.

[Moonlight_Graham]

This whole mess is political power-mongering bullshit. All the parties are guilty of being total assholes here. I hate them all.

[Bizud]

The Prime Minister is the member who commands the most support in the House of Commons. That's Stephane Dion now. I applaud the opposition parties and hope this coalition works. After all, a majority of Canadians voted against Stephen Harper.

 

It should also be noted that Harper brought this upon himself with his economic update. He challenged the opposition to play political chicken and he lost.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Bizud

[Morglor9]

Yes, I agree with what borntohula said about this avoiding an election. Last I'd heard, the proposed coalition government would plan for themselves to be in effect for 2.5 years. On the other hand, if Harper stayed as PM, we would probably be looking at yet another election within the next year to year and a half.

 

Unfortunately this coalition means that the wholly unpopular Dion will be/in a way already is Prime Minister. Personally I would prefer Layton as PM, I quite like him, but it's not going to happen considering that the Libs have more seats in the House. I do wonder what position Layton would be given in the coalition government...

 

And Harper tried to claim that he called an election because the previous parliament had become ineffective. More ineffective than this?

 

Afterthought: I liked Canadian politics a lot more before the PC and Alliance parties merged.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Morglor9

[Crusader]

Conservative Reform Alliance Party

[C-Bacon]

Here's hoping that this leads to the Liberals conceding to electoral reform in the form of proportional representation

 

Also, politicians sure like to throw around the word "socialist" as if it's some sort of evil doctrine these days eh

Edited December 2, 2008 by C-Bacon

[Bizud]

Scare tactics for the Conservatives' target vote demographic. All the national parties do the same thing with "separatists" as well.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Bizud

[Computer]

Here's hoping that this leads to the Liberals conceding to electoral reform in the form of proportional representation

 

Also, politicians sure like to throw around the word "socialist" as if it's some sort of evil doctrine these days eh

 

There was a vote in ontario last year for a reform to change the first past the post and it got shot down in a landslide

Edited December 2, 2008 by Computer

[Bizud]

A similar referendum question in BC received more than 50% of the vote.

[borntohula]

There was a vote in ontario last year for a reform to change the first past the post and it got shot down in a landslide

some of that landslide should be chalked up to misinformation (i'm not saying that it lost because of misinformation). there was a lot of fear mongering going on during that time, and i remember my dad was getting email forwards about why he should vote against the bill because it would give "more power" to "fringe" parties. luckily, my dad already believed that shit without an email telling him to, but i was surprised at the overall lack of information about what a representational voting system entails.

[sinkingstone]

My very first Canadian politics thread.

 

Absolutely fascinating.

 

I'm a little embarrassed to admit I'm ignorant when it comes to Maple Leaf politics. I don't know much about Canadia.

 

I'm here to learn!

Edited December 3, 2008 by sinkingstone

[garsk]

so three out of the four parties dont like what the one party (who has the most seats) is doing, so they decide to take over the government, how democratic.

[Crusader]

Let's get this straight, the minority government is making a new policy that they know will result in another election. Do you want to have another election or what? The Cons just want to keep doing it until people get annoyed and give them a majority.

 

The Conservatives didn't even win the popular vote. It's not just the three parties that don't like them.

[Morglor9]

It's times like these when I wish I didn't live in Saskatchewan. Hearing pro-Conservative idiot radio hosts spread their fear of the evil undemocratic socialist coup is a bad start to any morning.

[Bizud]

so three out of the four parties dont like what the one party (who has the most seats) is doing, so they decide to take over the government, how democratic.

A little lesson in how Canadian politics work. We don't elect governments, we elect parliaments. The government must hold the confidence of the House of Commons. If it doesn't, the governor general is correct in asking any other leaders to form a government that can hold the confidence of the House; if no-one can, the GG should dissolve parliament and call another election. In fact, you can argue that the opposition parties are duty-bound to try to form an alternative government if they have no confidence in the Conservatives.

 

So, 1) Is this less democratic than having the Conservatives, who oppose the other parties on most of the main issues, ruling with 37% of the vote?

 

2) Would you rather have another election a month after the last one? What if the result is the same and the opposition parties still don't have confidence in a Conservative government?

 

Coalition governments are the norm in most democratic countries. Get used to it, I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of it in the future.

 

As for the timing of this - after the Dion-led Liberals suffered their worst election defeat in a century - I admit it's not ideal, but just about anything's better than Harper. He should be ousted at all costs. I'm really truly giddy about this. In fact I've been wanting this to happen since even before Harper took power. The three opposition parties are progressive parties and Canadians overwhelmingly voted for progressive parties, and now we're going to have what looks to be a progressive government. That's more democratic than a minority Conservative government ruling just because the progressive vote is divided among four parties.

Edited December 3, 2008 by Bizud

[Doormat]

So we form the triforce and take down Ganondorf?

 

AWESOME

[Bizud]

DID YOU KNOW: The government of Sweden is a coalition of centrist and right-wing parties that is led by the Moderate Party with 97 seats - even though the Social Democratic Party has the most seats in the riksdag (130 seats). Undemocratic, or normal coalition government?

[Ravenous Yam]

The Prime Minister is the member who commands the most support in the House of Commons. That's Stephane Dion now. I applaud the opposition parties and hope this coalition works. After all, a majority of Canadians voted against Stephen Harper.

 

If 60% of people voted against Harper, then by the same logic 75% of people voted against Dion and 80% of people voted against Layton.

 

Harper should have known better than to have tried to modify campaign funding with a minority government, and he probably should have at least budgeted a token economic stimulus package (as much as I don't think one was required). However, that doesn't excuse Dion, Layton, and Duceppe from taking an action that will grievously destabilize Canada politically and economically, especially in this fragile economic climate.

[C-Bacon]

DID YOU KNOW: The government of Sweden is a coalition of centrist and right-wing parties that is led by the Moderate Party with 97 seats - even though the Social Democratic Party has the most seats in the riksdag (130 seats). Undemocratic, or normal coalition government?

 

Democratic if Sweden voted for a majority of centre-right parties (wtf Sweden!? They the red state of Scandinavia?).

[AnOceanPearl]

You know what I have always wanted to see for Canada?

 

Proportional fucking representation of some form.