Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Haldimand "Federal Election 2008 Harper not the only one to Blame for the Election Call"

I found an interesting article from December of 2007, that I think you should read, and the leaders of the main parties should have read again before they put both feet in their mouths.

What I am talking about is the calling of this election early and who is really to blame for that decision.

I have talked to several people about this and have applauded Harper for his call for an election. Harper stated that the government was dysfunctional and it was time to take the decision back to the people. In my opinion his decision was the right thing to do!

Now in saying that the leaders of the opposition have accused Harper of breaking his promise that an election would not be held until 2009. Layton states "Harper has quit his job and he is applying for the position". As though Layton had nothing to do with the calling of an election. Here is what was said in December 2007 "NDP leader Jack Layton -- whose party did vote against the throne speech, along with the Bloc Quebecois -- blamed Dion for letting Harper stay in government.

Dion obviously didn't want to force an election in 2007 as he stated, "Forcing an election on Canadians would have been detrimental to the party".

As far as I am concerned when a government stops working for the people drastic measures need to be taken. So my question to Dion and Layton, would you have had the courage to do the same thing if you were in Harper's shoes!

It is time that "ALL PARTIES" take the blame for the election call!


Opposition hints at 2008 federal election
Updated Sun. Dec. 23 2007 9:54 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff


Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and the other opposition party leaders say they don't think the minority Conservative government will last through 2008.

They suggested in interviews with CTV's Question Period on Sunday that the spring federal budget could be defeated by a non-confidence vote, thus triggering an election.

Dion said Canadians have become frustrated with the Conservative government's policies, specifically their mismanagement of environmental issues.

"After two years of this minority Conservative government, the psychological threshold will have been reached," Dion said. "People may not want, necessarily, an election, but they will not be surprised if there is one."

However, Dion also told co-host Craig Oliver, "If there is an election -- I know you will ask me the question, and I don't know the answer more than you."

Dion spent much of the fall dodging chances to force an election. Liberal MPs abstained from voting on the throne speech. If the opposition had voted the speech down, a federal election would have been triggered.

NDP leader Jack Layton -- whose party did vote against the throne speech, along with the Bloc Quebecois -- blamed Dion for letting Harper stay in government.

"He has been propping up Mr. Harper all fall, and abstaining on a throne speech that's explicitly said we'll stay in Afghanistan longer, we will abandon Kyoto and we'll give huge tax reductions to those doing well," Layton told Question Period.

Dion said he personally found it very difficult to not vote down the government, but after discussing it with his team, he decided Canadians did not want an election in 2007.

Forcing an election on Canadians would have been detrimental to the party, he said.

"I'm a team player, I'm very collegial, I work hard and I listen to the people and I make up my mind. Sometimes I don't follow the view of my advisers, and sometimes I do," Dion said.

A recent Strategic Counsel poll suggests the Liberals and Conservatives are neck and neck, which could signal the time is coming for Dion to force an election. A new budget to be announced some time before March 31 could be the trigger, but Dion wouldn't confirm anything.

"Polls are, for me, an indicator, it's not a master," he said. "We need to see the budget, we need to see the bills that the government is proposing, and then we'll vote accordingly."

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said he will set out his party's conditions for the budget, but doesn't hold much hope that the Conservatives will implement his suggestions.

"I don't see how their budget will be supported by any of the opposition parties," he told Question Period.

He said the major campaign issues in Quebec will be Harper's stance on the environment, Afghanistan and the economy - none of which he shares with the province's public opinion.
Layton said when an election is triggered, trust in Harper will be a major issue. He said the Conservatives have taken Canada down the wrong path in terms of environmental issues and the war in Afghanistan.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May said the biggest issue in the next election will be "whether we want a livable world for our children."

She told Question Period that the odds were an election call would come from the budget, unless Dion toppled the government first.

An opposition day -- a day when opposition parties can move any motion, including a vote of no confidence in the government -- could be scheduled first, she said.

In an earlier interview with CTV News, Harper said the budget will be introduced "fairly early in the spring."

In terms of an election's likelihood, he said: "I don't see anybody chomping at the bit to defeat us for the last two years, so I think we feel pretty good about things."
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071223/dion_election_071223?s_name=&no_ads=

6 comments:

  1. The problem as I see it is that I don't see how this election is going to change anything. I don't see an opposition party leader capable of defeating Harper and I don't see Harper gaining enough of the people's confidence to win a majority, at least I hope not. In my opinion minority governments are what keep everybody honest (relatively speaking of course, after all we are talking politics). There was a fellow on TV the other day who defined the word "politics", he said you had to break it down into syllables as follows; po (pronounced poe, slang for poor), li (pronounced lie) and tics (a small animal that sucks blood). In other words politics is about a bunch of animals lying to and sucking life blood from the poor. Sounds about right to me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Little confused how calling this election is an all party fault Donna, when parliament was not in session when that call occurred? I believe the PM did this on his own and that it is going to cost you and I the taxpayer $240 000 000, which could have gone a long way to fixing the health problems and the economy. Kind of hard to put your trust in this government to be economical, when it called an election the very first time a poll gave them the go ahead with a 40% majority. Now experienced political observers like you know that every poll has been wrong, forecasting elector winners, because a poll only records responses from around 1000 persons, ignoring the other 31 million who were not asked.Are you trying to pretend that the liberals are the only ones who place their party first? Nice try Donna. These 2 parties since Liberals went to the right of center, are pretty close in their policies and placing their party first. Both promise to be open and transparent, then when elected change their minds.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think you have to remember here that everytime the Conservatives wanted to have a motion considered,
    Jack Layton, Dion, and Duceppe all threatened not to vote it in and bring the government down. This occurred all the time in especially 2007. I don't blame Harper one bit for complaining that parllament wasn't able to function. Now all these guys accuse Harper of lying for calling the election earlier than in four years. They were all collecting their pay cheques quite nicely while threatening and admittedly doing nothing towards actually governing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. To the confused poster above. Did you read the article? The opposition has been trying to toople the government, they are the ones (Liberals) who have been waiting for the polls to say okay now is the time.

    Harper had a meeting with all leaders and asked if this government was going to work come fall session, they said no! They forced Harper to call an election, it is pretty simple.

    I also applaud Harper for his call on this one!

    ReplyDelete
  5. We need a majority government this time around. If we have another minority government and the opposition is Layton, we will have another election very soon after this one. Layton will do what he can to become PM.

    ReplyDelete