Canada's Welfare
There he said it and he means it, Michael Ignatieff has no intention of forming a coalition opposition as soon as the election for the 41st Parliament concludes, if the Conservatives manage to garner only sufficient votes for yet another minority government. When Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Layton and Mr. Duceppe can present as a viable, unvoted-for-alternative to the voter preference, to the Governor General.
He said it, and he means it for the present. Because he has been pressed to state just where he stands. Knowing full well that his distaste for a coalition could very well fall into the wastebasket of intentions if push comes to shove. But of course stating it has saved him from appearing to be evading a reality. The reality being that the electorate is in no mood for yet another coalition of the willing.
Mr. Ignatieff stands firmly on his ground for the time being: "Let me make it more clear: If you vote for the NDP, if you vote for the Greens, if you vote for the Bloc, you'll get more of this and Canadians are saying enough", as he firmly stated to the press. He knows of a certainty that Canadians are saying enough, obviously, but enough of what?
Enough of the juvenile antics taking place in Parliament assuredly.
Canadians are, however, unwilling to allow Mr. Ignatieff to "...create a Liberal alternative to the Conservative government". Canadians have had far too many Liberal governments in the near past and they were fed up to the teeth with the elaborate corruption schemes of the Liberal governments feeding rich at the public trough.
Come to think of it, the NDP too have done likewise, given the exorbitant expense and travel claims of Jack Layton and Olivia Chow. A coalition-type government where the Liberals think they can govern with the NDP and the Bloc snapping at their heels, blackmailing for their agendas at variance with the best interests of the country isn't what most Canadians envisage.
Nor can they foresee a near future with Jack Layton and the NDP achieving the kind of success that the leader of the New Democrats sees in his technicolour dreams: "I'm running for prime minister. I'm running to lead the largest party in the House of Commons, and then to work with the mandate that Canadians give me, reaching out to other parties as required". In his dreams, only.
And not to be outdone, in chimes Gilles Duceppe offering the Bloc's version of what best reflects Canada's needs: "This government also presents a backward narrow ideology that doesn't represent the values and interests of Quebecers. The Harper government has turned its back on Quebec". Thank heavens the Harper government exercised the discernment to understand it was not in the interest of the country to fund a professional-level sport arena.
But there remain all the funding for other social welfare programs unique to Quebec, funded by transfer payments from the rest of Canada, like affordable (as in cheap, subsidized) day care, university tuition, dentistry, and other perquisites that people in the other provinces can only dream of.
None of which ever is perfectly satisfactory in the minds of the Bloc and those who consistently vote them back into office to sit in Parliament and lobby for Quebec.
For all these partisan-and-paltry reasons the official opposition saw fit to cast a non-confidence vote for Canada's 40th Parliament. It is not the welfare of the social contract for Canada that concerns them all, but the ouster of a political party that they detest. One that has, throughout its five years of governing, adopted many of the demands of the opposition, and which has acquitted itself very well indeed, overall.
But a committee that recommended that the government be found in contempt of Parliament for allegedly withholding the purportedly complete and entire costs associated with prison reform and the purchase of F35 military planes, trumped reason, thanks to the simple expedient of the opposition parties holding a majority on that committee.
So much for intelligent judgement, reasonability and concern for the welfare of a great country.
He said it, and he means it for the present. Because he has been pressed to state just where he stands. Knowing full well that his distaste for a coalition could very well fall into the wastebasket of intentions if push comes to shove. But of course stating it has saved him from appearing to be evading a reality. The reality being that the electorate is in no mood for yet another coalition of the willing.
Mr. Ignatieff stands firmly on his ground for the time being: "Let me make it more clear: If you vote for the NDP, if you vote for the Greens, if you vote for the Bloc, you'll get more of this and Canadians are saying enough", as he firmly stated to the press. He knows of a certainty that Canadians are saying enough, obviously, but enough of what?
Enough of the juvenile antics taking place in Parliament assuredly.
Canadians are, however, unwilling to allow Mr. Ignatieff to "...create a Liberal alternative to the Conservative government". Canadians have had far too many Liberal governments in the near past and they were fed up to the teeth with the elaborate corruption schemes of the Liberal governments feeding rich at the public trough.
Come to think of it, the NDP too have done likewise, given the exorbitant expense and travel claims of Jack Layton and Olivia Chow. A coalition-type government where the Liberals think they can govern with the NDP and the Bloc snapping at their heels, blackmailing for their agendas at variance with the best interests of the country isn't what most Canadians envisage.
Nor can they foresee a near future with Jack Layton and the NDP achieving the kind of success that the leader of the New Democrats sees in his technicolour dreams: "I'm running for prime minister. I'm running to lead the largest party in the House of Commons, and then to work with the mandate that Canadians give me, reaching out to other parties as required". In his dreams, only.
And not to be outdone, in chimes Gilles Duceppe offering the Bloc's version of what best reflects Canada's needs: "This government also presents a backward narrow ideology that doesn't represent the values and interests of Quebecers. The Harper government has turned its back on Quebec". Thank heavens the Harper government exercised the discernment to understand it was not in the interest of the country to fund a professional-level sport arena.
But there remain all the funding for other social welfare programs unique to Quebec, funded by transfer payments from the rest of Canada, like affordable (as in cheap, subsidized) day care, university tuition, dentistry, and other perquisites that people in the other provinces can only dream of.
None of which ever is perfectly satisfactory in the minds of the Bloc and those who consistently vote them back into office to sit in Parliament and lobby for Quebec.
For all these partisan-and-paltry reasons the official opposition saw fit to cast a non-confidence vote for Canada's 40th Parliament. It is not the welfare of the social contract for Canada that concerns them all, but the ouster of a political party that they detest. One that has, throughout its five years of governing, adopted many of the demands of the opposition, and which has acquitted itself very well indeed, overall.
But a committee that recommended that the government be found in contempt of Parliament for allegedly withholding the purportedly complete and entire costs associated with prison reform and the purchase of F35 military planes, trumped reason, thanks to the simple expedient of the opposition parties holding a majority on that committee.
So much for intelligent judgement, reasonability and concern for the welfare of a great country.
Labels: Canada, Crisis Politics, Life's Like That
posted by Pieface | 6:55 PM
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