Re: Canada election watch
Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 5:33 pm
Terror! Sports! Sex! Vote Harper!
Hava - I'm pleased I was as coherent as all that and doubly so that this helped to clear up some confusion regarding a really fundamental potential outcome of the Canadian federal electoral shake-down. I sense however, with one teensy little tweak, your apprehension of the matter would be as fine-tuned as any ardent maple syrup slurping voter - if I may...?hava1 wrote:wow, that was a very good explanation,thanks ! I guess the notion of "minority gov" is hard for me to grasp, but now I understand. Most likely its going to be a minority gov now, but the qustion is who gets more votes, and also, whether the 2 other parties dont form some 'bloc" or for once form a coalition. fascinating and I am sure that can be annoying to wait for the results. You can try tarot, for relaxation. Place 1 card for each party, see what you get))))))
Its quite similar to the Knesset, except, as I said, we always have a coalition gov, even if one party gets more then 50 percent. Usually the ruling party wants to cover corners ahead. and there are some traditional affiliations, but we have many many more parties and pieces in the puzzle. (which, I have to say, have recently all become identical, so I dont see why they need all those separate parties, except in terms of "clubs" and mafia clans to divide the loot respectively.).
Ahem:
Your analysis that we are headed for a minority either way and only waiting to find out what flavour - is most likely correct, in addition to which, the pundits will pundit over whether this is a strong or weak minority. This is where Jeff's very salient observations take on their full import - who will line up against whom? There are 'red' tories and then there are tory minded liberals - why, any of these gates might just swing both ways if the conditions are juuuuuuuuuuust right, so who among them will be moving to the front of the bus at the end of the night? (Actually - are there any 'red' tories or have they gone the way of the fabled unicorn ...?
) Whichever of the remaining two (excluding the Bloc Quebecois from the discussion for the moment) has the next best result will become the 'Official Opposition'.
The other two- have been - heretofore - the NDP and Bloc Quebecois respectively.
The Bloc sprang up out of a tale of two solitudes that really deserves it's own thread. Suffice it to say they run exclusively in Quebec, their primary stated objective being to lead la belle province to sovereignty. Their role in the House has evolved into a uniquely surreal one as they drift ever further from realizing their chief aspiration. It is arguably true that near blanket support within Quebec for the Bloc Quebecois has played a huge part in denying YOU_KNOW_WHO the absolute power IT so desperately craves and drools over when photographed petting those poor, possibly stuffed kittens!
It is precisely the sudden and utterly unpredicted willingness of Bloc supporters en masse to shoot the puck for *the Anglo they can't help but like (Uncle Jack) that has so turned the tide a cheery shade of orange.
Whatever number of Bloc members do win their seat tend not to be asked for more than a quiet - and I do mean quiet - assurance to vote with the Official Opposition [for no-c0nfidence/against a budget] when the time comes to topple a minority. Being SEEN holding hands in public with the Blocquiste MP's who would tear our 'great Canadian house' asunder for their own 'selfish' linguistic and cultural objectives is just not done. Coalition action - formally or tacitly arranged - is always principally undertaken between the official opposition and anyone other than the Bloc whom are - by virtue of their inherently anti-federalist position - the coalition partners of last resort.
It is in this very fishbowl of strange we may come upon the fact that mister COALITIONPOCALYPSE Harper got to where he is today by bumping uglies in a hotel room with the Bloc and NDP in order to defeat a Liberal government back in 2006 ...
... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Harperwikipedia wrote:Agreement with the BQ and the NDP
Two months after the federal election, Stephen Harper privately met with Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe and New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton in a Montreal hotel. On September 9, 2004, the three signed a letter addressed to then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, stating,
We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority.
On the same day the letter was written, the three party leaders held a joint press conference at which they expressed their intent to co-operate on changing parliamentary rules, and to request that the Governor General consult with them before deciding to call an election. At the news conference, Harper said "It is the Parliament that's supposed to run the country, not just the largest party and the single leader of that party. That's a criticism I've had and that we've had and that most Canadians have had for a long, long time now so this is an opportunity to start to change that." However, at the time, Harper and the two other opposition leaders denied trying to form a coalition government. Harper said, "This is not a coalition, but this is a co-operative effort."(and clinton did NOT have sex with that woman!
)
One month later, on October 4, Mike Duffy, now a Conservative senator (appointed by Harper), said "It is possible that you could change prime minister without having an election," and that some Conservatives wanted Harper to temporarily become prime minister without holding an election. The next day Layton walked out on talks with Harper and Duceppe, accusing them of trying to replace Paul Martin with Harper as prime minister. Both Bloc and Conservative officials denied Layton's accusations.
On March 26, 2011, Duceppe stated that Harper had tried to form a coalition government with the Bloc and NDP in response to Harper's allegations that the Liberals may form a coalition with the Bloc and the NDP.
Oh what a wicked web we weave, eh STEVE-O???!
Any-who ... thank you for having such an interest in our *little* democratic goings on. It IS exciting! I should have been studying all day today, but it was absolutely impossible to fix my mind to it. Your curiousity has certainly given me something meaningful to do with all this nervous energy.
Thank YOU for that! Your tarot card recipe for relaxation is a perfectly delightful one! As I haven't any though, I will have to settle for the beer my mister will be bringing home with him. I see by the clock on the wall - it is almost, NEARLY BEER O'CLOCK!!!!
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I'll take that as a gentle but firm suggestion to cool my jets.
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