Dear Charlie,
I thought this provides clear wisdom on what Canada faces!
This coalition changes everything:
BY Tom Flanagan, From Monday's Globe and Mail, December 8, 2008 at 12:00 AM EST
..."Constitutional expert Eugene Forsey famously supported Lord Byng's refusal of Mackenzie King's request for an election in 1926, but even Mr. Forsey had to admit that an election would have been necessary if "some great new issue of public policy had arisen, or there had been a major change in the political situation." The emergence of the opposition coalition has satisfied both those conditions for going back to the voters.
The political situation has changed fundamentally through Mr. Dion's willingness to form a governing coalition with the NDP, because he explicitly rejected that possibility during the campaign. "We cannot have a coalition with a party that has a platform that would be damaging for the economy. Period." That's what Mr. Dion said three weeks before election day, after Jack Layton had started dropping hints about a coalition. The 26 per cent of voters who supported the Liberals were led to believe that such a coalition was out of the question. When Mr. Dion resurrected in November what he had rejected in September, he wrought a fundamental change in the political situation because it involved an entire potential government, not just this or that policy.
Bringing in the Bloc as a supporting partner with an effective veto over government policy is an even more radical step, for which Mr. Forsey's phrase of "a great new issue of public policy" is an apt description. The Bloc is not a party comme les autres. It rejects the Canadian constitutional order and is devoted to achieving the separation of Quebec from Canada. Our Constitution wisely protects the Bloc's freedom to advocate the breakup of the country as long as it does not resort to violence. Bloc members are duly elected and thus have a right to sit in Parliament. Because they cast votes in the House of Commons, other parties must at times make common cause with them on particular issues; otherwise, nothing would get done in a minority Parliament.
But it is another thing altogether to ink a long-term agreement that makes such a party a pivotal supporter of a coalition government. Any politician who says he cannot see the difference has just demonstrated why he should not become prime minister. Ordinary people intuitively grasp the difference. That is why Conservative poll numbers are surging and there is so much outrage reported in the media. And that is why it is preposterous to install a Bloc-based coalition in power without giving voters a chance to discuss it. If, after hearing the pros and cons and knowing what they are voting for, voters give approval to such a coalition, so be it."
Further... By Paige Aarhus - Red Deer Advocate, Published: December 08, 2008 7:17 AM:
"The newly-elected MP [Dreeshen for Red Deer who replaced Bob Mills] blasted Liberals for striking a deal with a separatist party. “During the national anthem, the entire Bloc Quebecois does not come into the house. They cannot even find it in themselves to sing O Canada, they walk in after we’ve finished singing with smirks on their faces. And this is the party that will have a permanent consultation mechanism with the coalition government,” he said, to boos and shouts from the crowd.
Dreeshen later defended a letter sent by Harper to then-governor general Adrienne Clarkson in 2004, asking her to consider letting him govern— supported by the Bloc and NDP— should the minority Liberal government of Paul Martin lose a confidence vote in the House of Commons.
Dreeshen said the situations are different because a formal coalition was never created. “This time the Liberal party made the decision to put your vote aside and ignore the election,” he said."
Charlie,
I SAY:
It should be crystal clear... to any Canadian with Common Sense... what is going on in this Country.
The liberal and nd parties betrayed Canada. The Bloc simply did what they were elected to do... split Canada wide open.
I thought this provides clear wisdom on what Canada faces!
This coalition changes everything:
BY Tom Flanagan, From Monday's Globe and Mail, December 8, 2008 at 12:00 AM EST
..."Constitutional expert Eugene Forsey famously supported Lord Byng's refusal of Mackenzie King's request for an election in 1926, but even Mr. Forsey had to admit that an election would have been necessary if "some great new issue of public policy had arisen, or there had been a major change in the political situation." The emergence of the opposition coalition has satisfied both those conditions for going back to the voters.
The political situation has changed fundamentally through Mr. Dion's willingness to form a governing coalition with the NDP, because he explicitly rejected that possibility during the campaign. "We cannot have a coalition with a party that has a platform that would be damaging for the economy. Period." That's what Mr. Dion said three weeks before election day, after Jack Layton had started dropping hints about a coalition. The 26 per cent of voters who supported the Liberals were led to believe that such a coalition was out of the question. When Mr. Dion resurrected in November what he had rejected in September, he wrought a fundamental change in the political situation because it involved an entire potential government, not just this or that policy.
Bringing in the Bloc as a supporting partner with an effective veto over government policy is an even more radical step, for which Mr. Forsey's phrase of "a great new issue of public policy" is an apt description. The Bloc is not a party comme les autres. It rejects the Canadian constitutional order and is devoted to achieving the separation of Quebec from Canada. Our Constitution wisely protects the Bloc's freedom to advocate the breakup of the country as long as it does not resort to violence. Bloc members are duly elected and thus have a right to sit in Parliament. Because they cast votes in the House of Commons, other parties must at times make common cause with them on particular issues; otherwise, nothing would get done in a minority Parliament.
But it is another thing altogether to ink a long-term agreement that makes such a party a pivotal supporter of a coalition government. Any politician who says he cannot see the difference has just demonstrated why he should not become prime minister. Ordinary people intuitively grasp the difference. That is why Conservative poll numbers are surging and there is so much outrage reported in the media. And that is why it is preposterous to install a Bloc-based coalition in power without giving voters a chance to discuss it. If, after hearing the pros and cons and knowing what they are voting for, voters give approval to such a coalition, so be it."
Further... By Paige Aarhus - Red Deer Advocate, Published: December 08, 2008 7:17 AM:
"The newly-elected MP [Dreeshen for Red Deer who replaced Bob Mills] blasted Liberals for striking a deal with a separatist party. “During the national anthem, the entire Bloc Quebecois does not come into the house. They cannot even find it in themselves to sing O Canada, they walk in after we’ve finished singing with smirks on their faces. And this is the party that will have a permanent consultation mechanism with the coalition government,” he said, to boos and shouts from the crowd.
Dreeshen later defended a letter sent by Harper to then-governor general Adrienne Clarkson in 2004, asking her to consider letting him govern— supported by the Bloc and NDP— should the minority Liberal government of Paul Martin lose a confidence vote in the House of Commons.
Dreeshen said the situations are different because a formal coalition was never created. “This time the Liberal party made the decision to put your vote aside and ignore the election,” he said."
Charlie,
I SAY:
It should be crystal clear... to any Canadian with Common Sense... what is going on in this Country.
The liberal and nd parties betrayed Canada. The Bloc simply did what they were elected to do... split Canada wide open.