Jordan Renaud – December 6th, 2008
Recently, yet after the election, Stephan Dion (leader of the liberal party) decided that Harper wasn't doing enough to help out the economy and was not pleased with the economic update given by Mister of Finance, good ol' Jim Flaherty on November 28th. Legally and constitutionally, a vote of confidence/no confidence is allowed to be passed by the opposition party(s) based on a large item of issue (for instance, a budget as it was). So, the Liberal party did exactly that: a vote of no confidence was expected (it has not taken place, yet) to be made. Just prior to this, Dion proposed a coalition with Jack Layton (leader of the NDP) and his party. So, when it came time for the motion of no-confidence against Harper's government, the GG would look to the opposition to form a government. Since Dion and Layton had already made a public and written (and legal) pact to form a government if necessary (a cabinet composed of 18 Liberals and 6 NDP), they would take power. If not, than Canada would by default be plunged into another election not nearly 2 months follow the last.
After learning of this, Stephen Harper sought out the Governor General to prorogue (cancel the session) and begin normally in January for the second session after the Christmas recess) so he and his party would have time to focus on what they can do for the economy. Now, only the GG has the authority to do this and she could have said 'no' BUT she did not, she said
yes and therefore the sitting of the House of Commons has been canceled until January. This decision in itself is constitutionally landmark and precedent setting for the office of the Governor General.
The thing about this is: obviously, everybody wants to avoid an election. This includes Stephan Dion too. His party was dealt a crippling blow in the recent election; his party lost 26 seats!
And if this isn't enough, the most recent polls, for instance from Ipsos-Reid suggests that if an election was held on December 5th, 46% of Canadians would vote for the Conservative Party of Canada and easily take a majority. This same poll also indicated that 56% of Canadians would rather go to the polls again, than allow a Liberal-New Democratic coalition to run the country. (http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE4B42X520081205)
My view: As much as I support the Conservative Party of Canada, I think Stephen Harper should have been ready for this. He should really be taking more drastic and more public measures to stimulate Canada's slowing economy. However, a coalition between to ideologically liberal parties: the Liberals and the NDP is a thoroughly disgusting prospect. The Liberal Party has been detrimental for Canada, most recently between 1990 and 2003. On the other hand, the NDP has never formed a federal government is the last 47 years of its existence. Not to mention this coalition is being supported by the Bloc Quebecois – a party whose sole concern is Québec and the sovereignty of that province. So clearly, a coalition is out of the question. Ignore the cliché but verily, only time will tell what happens here.
