Canadian Politics Sift-talk anyone?
So, hey. Anyone up for venting a little on the current situation in parliament?
Personally, I'd have preferred that it would not have come to a coalition, but I can respect the reasons for it having come to pass. And, given Harper's reaction, completely warrented.
We do not vote for Prime Minister in Canada. We do not vote directly for the ruling party. We vote for the person we think is going to do best in our riding. The CPC won a minority government because they constituted 38%(?) of those votes, out of four major parties. If the liberals and NDP wish to form a coalition government with the help of the Bloc, they are in their right to do so as they have ALSO been voted in, and together represent a majority over that 38%. They represent a broader fraction of the Canadian vote than the CPC, together. Harper knows all this, he knows that the message he's trying to sell Canadians about this being 'un-democratic' is completely false, and yet that, out of all the other arguments he could use to defend his government, is what he is going with.
The scripted narrative coming out of the CPC is, in my opinion, inexcusibly divisive. Demonizing Quebec to try to rally the rest of their party behind them is incredibly scummy - and what about the conservatives that finally managed to make gains in Quebec? What are they thinking?
I think the Bloc-Liberal-NDP should have backed down on no-confidence after the antagonizing funding cuts were rescinded, with the promimse to hold CPC's feet to the fire should their petulant behaviour have continued. But here we are.
What do you think?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/03/harper-address.html
Personally, I'd have preferred that it would not have come to a coalition, but I can respect the reasons for it having come to pass. And, given Harper's reaction, completely warrented.
We do not vote for Prime Minister in Canada. We do not vote directly for the ruling party. We vote for the person we think is going to do best in our riding. The CPC won a minority government because they constituted 38%(?) of those votes, out of four major parties. If the liberals and NDP wish to form a coalition government with the help of the Bloc, they are in their right to do so as they have ALSO been voted in, and together represent a majority over that 38%. They represent a broader fraction of the Canadian vote than the CPC, together. Harper knows all this, he knows that the message he's trying to sell Canadians about this being 'un-democratic' is completely false, and yet that, out of all the other arguments he could use to defend his government, is what he is going with.
The scripted narrative coming out of the CPC is, in my opinion, inexcusibly divisive. Demonizing Quebec to try to rally the rest of their party behind them is incredibly scummy - and what about the conservatives that finally managed to make gains in Quebec? What are they thinking?
I think the Bloc-Liberal-NDP should have backed down on no-confidence after the antagonizing funding cuts were rescinded, with the promimse to hold CPC's feet to the fire should their petulant behaviour have continued. But here we are.
What do you think?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/03/harper-address.html
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