[mtbr]

The real motivation of the opposition.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... itics/home

Ghosts of leaders past return for a political longshot .



JANE TABER AND GLORIA GALLOWAY

Globe and Mail Update

November 29, 2008 at 12:50 AM EST

OTTAWA — Jean Chrétien's phone rang in his downtown Ottawa law office Thursday morning. Ed Broadbent, his old friend and political foe, was on the other line.

NDP Leader Jack Layton has asked the party's elder statesman to call the Liberal Party's éminence gris about a Conservative initiative that had angered him and other opposition MPs.

“This is a major attack on our parties and we have to do something about it,” an insider said Friday, characterizing the telephone call between the two political veterans.

Word had begun to leak that the Harper Conservatives were ending the $27-million annual taxpayer subsidy to political parties. The $1.95-per-vote subsidy was introduced by the Chrétien government in 2003 as an attempt to clean up political financing by weaning the parties off big corporate and union donations.
Former prime minister Jean Chretien, an architect of a coalition proposal that threatens to bring down the Tories, fielded calls from a number of Liberals.
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Former prime minister Jean Chretien, an architect of a coalition proposal that threatens to bring down the Tories, fielded calls from a number of Liberals.

Mr. Chrétien, who had also been receiving calls all day from MPs and other Liberals – which always happens to him when there is a crisis – was clearly engaged, said a long-time friend.

His advice to MPs has always been to stay disciplined. He has always said that being in opposition means to “oppose” not “appease,” the friend said.

Mr. Chrétien was upset that legislation he introduced was being undone. And so the two men, who sat across the aisle of the House of Commons from one another for more than 30 years and battled each other in the chamber, talked it out.

“What do we do?” was one question they mulled over question, according to an inside source.

“If we decide to bring down the government is it by [forming a] coalition [government]” was another question they pondered.

Mr. Broadbent and Mr. Chrétien spoke several times on Thursday, but did not meet face to face. They were not tasked to negotiate a coalition but rather to with looking at the situation “from a higher level” to see where common ground might be found, according to a senior New Democrat.

The two men kept in touch with their camps, passing along their recommendations and advice.

As of late Friday, Mr. Chrétien had not spoken to Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion. Rather, the former prime minister, who was on his phone all day at his office, spoke to senior Dion staff.

Mr. Broadbent, meanwhile, spent the day in Mr. Layton's Parliament Hill office, providing advice.

Separately, the three opposition party leaders – Mr. Layton, Mr. Dion and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe – held their own conversations. While there was no three-way discussion, the leaders met in the hallways of Parliament and chatted one-on-one on the phone. Mr. Duceppe even sought out Mr. Dion on Thursday afternoon when both men attended the “lock-up” for the fiscal update.

In relatively short order, the three leaders determined there was both a willingness and an opportunity to overthrow the Harper Conservatives.

As this was happening, there was growing tension within the Liberal ranks as to who would lead a coalition government. The Liberals are in the midst of a leadership race to replace Mr. Dion, who was blamed for their devastating losses in the October general election. Should Mr. Dion be allowed to serve as prime minister until the leadership convention in May?

Cracks began to show inside the party amid reports of a move to replace Mr. Dion with one of the leadership candidates, perceived front-runner Michael Ignatieff. Mr. Ignatieff played it cool, travelling to Newfoundland Friday to meet with potential supporters and refusing to be drawn into any talk of interim leadership. Even his own people acknowledged that it would be the death knell for his leadership if he tried to make a play to force Mr. Dion to step down.

Besides, replacing Liberal leaders is not easy; constitutionally, there is no mechanism to remove the leader (other than a review at a biennial party convention), said party spokesman Daniel Lauzon.

Should the leader resign, the Liberal constitution states that the national executive, in consultation with the caucus, must appoint an interim leader. This leader would serve until he is replaced or confirmed at a formal leadership convention."

all this before they heard any of the economic update.

[ryan29]

if this coaliton were to ever happen it would be the most undemocratic thing to ever happen in ottawa , the liberals and ndp did not win the last election and never campaigned on creating a coalition if they were to lose . the average canadian is not interested in such undemocratic plans and would prefer that the opposition work and make parliamnent work not try to find ways to grab power .

there is also no recent history of any coalition governments being formed in ottawa immediatley after an election so they can't claim this has happened before or that they have any right to do this .

[hurley_108]

ryan29 ryan29:

if this coaliton were to ever happen it would be the most undemocratic thing to ever happen in ottawa , the liberals and ndp did not win the last election and never campaigned on creating a coalition if they were to lose . the average canadian is not interested in such undemocratic plans and would prefer that the opposition work and make parliamnent work not try to find ways to grab power .

there is also no recent history of any coalition governments being formed in ottawa immediatley after an election so they can't claim this has happened before or that they have any right to do this .

There is no recent history, either, of a PM spinning what he himself termed the most serious economic crisis in decades into a brutal ploy to destroy the opposition, and risking the confidence of the house over it, just 48 days after an election. The blame for this political crisis is ALL on Harper.

[Thanos]

hurley_108 hurley_108:

ryan29 ryan29:

if this coaliton were to ever happen it would be the most undemocratic thing to ever happen in ottawa , the liberals and ndp did not win the last election and never campaigned on creating a coalition if they were to lose . the average canadian is not interested in such undemocratic plans and would prefer that the opposition work and make parliamnent work not try to find ways to grab power .

there is also no recent history of any coalition governments being formed in ottawa immediatley after an election so they can't claim this has happened before or that they have any right to do this .

There is no recent history, either, of a PM spinning what he himself termed the most serious economic crisis in decades into a brutal ploy to destroy the opposition, and risking the confidence of the house over it, just 48 days after an election. The blame for this political crisis is ALL on Harper.

Twaddle. The machinations for this usurpation of the political proces began during the election when the Liberals began to figure out how badly they were going to get beaten thanks to the collosal ineptitude of Stephane Dion. If it weren't the election funding issue then the treacherous little opposition creeps would have behaved exactly the same over any other issue that the PM had raised.

Speaking of the economy, which the traitorous opposition rats claim to care so much about, how well do you think the markets and economy in Canada are going to respond to the antics of the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc? Does it all fall into the new math that economic stability will result from political instability? If you guys actually believe this sort of stuff then you all should have spent the the last eight years of composing fresh Orwellian newspeak and doubletalk for someone like George W. Bush.

[Zipperfish]

Harper made a bad move. He forced the oppostion to do this. I don't know if he was just being an idealogue or whteher he saw an opportunity to mortally wound the Liberals with his "budget update," but he made the mistake of allowing his enemy no room to maneouvre.

The best thing to happen now is that Harper backs off and continues to rule as a minority government.

[westmanguy]

I can tell you this...within the Conservative Party there is mumblings about Jim Prentice for leadership...

Members of the party in public are supportive, but behind the sings are PO'ed...

Harper miscalculated big time.

I'm almost beginning to think, he's had his turn as CPC leader, and our party needs to move on...

[mtbr]

westmanguy westmanguy:

I can tell you this...within the Conservative Party there is mumblings about Jim Prentice for leadership...

Members of the party in public are supportive, but behind the sings are PO'ed...

Harper miscalculated big time.

I'm almost beginning to think, he's had his turn as CPC leader, and our party needs to move on...

They would never pick another Calgarian to lead. Even Conservatives know they still have to kiss the ass of Ontario to get a majority.

[westmanguy]

Hmm, well, regardless, I think this is a major miscalculation on Harper's part...

I highly doubt this part of his Grand Scheme...

I think Harper thought the opposition would swallow the economic update, and didn't expect them to go out and have coalition talks.

[Scape]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

The best thing to happen now is that Harper backs off and continues to rule as a minority government.

The fear of god needs to be instilled into Harper so he doesn't get delusions of grandeur again. I think for the short term he now has that fear but I also think once talks have started they gain a momentum all their own. I don't know how either side is going to save face for very long at this point. Harper's position is untenable, he has backed off for now but he needs to lead or he falls. Once blood is in the water there is no going back and the threat of coalition is never an idle one.

[ryan29]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Harper made a bad move. He forced the oppostion to do this. I don't know if he was just being an idealogue or whteher he saw an opportunity to mortally wound the Liberals with his "budget update," but he made the mistake of allowing his enemy no room to maneouvre.

The best thing to happen now is that Harper backs off and continues to rule as a minority government.

its really up to the opposition to back off and realise that this coalition is not a good idea at all . it is not democractic and working with the bloc is not a good idea .
you think the liberals would be more concerned with there leadership race then this kind of nonesense .

[ridenrain]

From all indications, the general public supports the removal of this political welfare. Now they know even more of their money is being given to politicians, expecially in hard times, they wan't it removed.

Since this is proving so popular, will the co-olition govenment be doing the will of the people? I doubt it.

From the CBC poll.

[Thanos]

ridenrain ridenrain:

From all indications, the general public supports the removal of this political welfare. Now they know even more of their money is being given to politicians, expecially in hard times, they wan't it removed.

Since this is proving so popular, will the co-olition govenment be doing the will of the people? I doubt it.

From the CBC poll.

Polls don't sount unless the anti-Conservative side wins.

[StuntmanMike]

hurley_108 hurley_108:

I saw that too. Yep, they should just get rid of Harper. The Conservatives are rudderless without him. Give him a taste of his own poison medicine and begin the work of rebuilding the country's economy and politics.

So, if the Conservatives are "rudderless" without Harper, then why are you suggesting they should get rid of him?

I realize that from the point of view of an NDP ideologue, a "rudderless" Conservative Party would be great. But has it ever occurred to you that the Conservative members may not be interested in doing something that would please NDP members?

Maybe, the Conservatives will do what they need to do to remain a viable, effective political party. And cutting loose a leader whose brought them from obscurity to government in 4 short years because he made one miscalculation may not be the best strategy they could adopt.

[Robair]

ryan29 ryan29:

its really up to the opposition to back off and realise that this coalition is not a good idea at all.

Really. Maybe trying to run a minority government like it's a majority was the bad idea...

ryan29 ryan29:

it is not democractic and working with the bloc is not a good idea .

Whoever has the confidence of the house rules Canada. Harper has a minority government and therefore does not represent the majority of Canadians. It is very democratic. Working with the Bloc was OK when Harper did it during his first term, I guess.

ryan29 ryan29:

you think the liberals would be more concerned with there leadership race then this kind of nonesense .

Nonesense? It's a pretty big deal, actually.

[StuntmanMike]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Harper made a bad move. He forced the oppostion to do this. I don't know if he was just being an idealogue or whteher he saw an opportunity to mortally wound the Liberals with his "budget update," but he made the mistake of allowing his enemy no room to maneouvre.

The best thing to happen now is that Harper backs off and continues to rule as a minority government.

I agree. Although, I think it's too late now. The Tories have already agreed to back off on the contentious electoral reforms, and the opposition is still planning to vote non-confidence.

Obviously, they've managed to stitch together some type of coalition. And they'd look like hypocrites now if they backed off in light of the Tory offer to withdraw the reforms. Especially considering they've spent the last week arguing their move has nothing to do with those reforms.