"Stephen Harper: Your time is up"

[Valdez]

The country could be plunged into yet another election campaign in as little as two weeks after Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff warned Prime Minister Stephen Harper: "Your time is up."

But no sooner did Ignatieff issue the bold statement Tuesday than an unlikely ally emerged who may help the minority Conservative government stay afloat.

The NDP, which has voted consistently against the government at every opportunity thus far, now says it may prop up Harper if he's willing to work with them.

The manoeuvring began minutes after Ignatieff delivered a fiery, campaign-style speech to his caucus, announcing that the Liberal party will no longer support the Tories in crucial confidence votes in the House of Commons.

"After four years of drift, four years of denial, four years of division and four years of discord, Mr. Harper, your time is up," Ignatieff told cheering MPs and senators in Sudbury.

"We will hold Stephen Harper to account and we will oppose his government."

Ignatieff said Harper has "failed all four" benchmarks set out by the Liberals last June for continuing to support the government.

"You've failed to protect the most vulnerable. You've failed to create jobs. You've failed to defend our health care. You've failed to restore our public finances."

An election-style partisan pep rally later Tuesday, Ignatieff was even clearer: "At the first opportunity, we will move a motion of non-confidence in this government."

Their first chance to move a confidence motion will come sometime between Oct. 1-7. But Liberals may not have to wait that long to topple the government.

The government could introduce a ways-and-means motion - to implement some aspects of last January's budget, including the popular home renovation tax credit - as soon as Parliament resumes Sept. 14.

A spokesman for Government House Leader Jay Hill said no date has yet been set but the motion will be introduced "early in the fall sitting."

That would be an automatic confidence vote and Ignatieff's spokeswoman, Jill Fairbrother, said the Liberals would vote against it. She hastened to add that, if elected, a Liberal government would quickly reinstate budget measures like the renovation tax break.

Ignatieff's declaration briefly seemed to seal the fate of the government - and set the stage for an October or November election. There seemed little chance either the NDP or Bloc Quebecois would prop up a government they've consistently voted against.

But New Democrat MP Thomas Mulcair quickly offered an olive branch.

"What I'm saying is: the last thing Canadians want is a fourth general election in five years and we'd better have a bloody good reason for forcing a fourth general election in five years," he said.

"So if Mr. Harper goes about being provocative as he has been in the past, going after key things that Canadians hold dearly like women's rights and the environment, then we'll throw him out of office because he'll have provoked it.

"If, on the other hand, Stephen Harper comes into Parliament with a willingness to work in the public interest, then we're going to take it on a case-by-case basis. Our caucus will decide."

Mulcair listed a number of issues on which Harper would have to bend to secure NDP support: pension protection, enhanced employment insurance, protection against exorbitant credit card and ATM fees, and halting the foreign takeover of Nortel assets.

"If Mr. Harper likes to pick up some of our themes, then perhaps Canadians could be spared their fourth general election in five years."

The Bloc had no immediate response to Ignatieff's hawkish new stance.

In Calgary, Harper warned that an election could disrupt the fragile economic recovery.

"I haven't met a single Canadian who's saying they want to see an election right now," he said.

"I think Canadians have been pretty clear they want Parliament to focus on the economy - that is what the government will be doing in the fall session."

At the rally, where party militants banged thunder sticks and chanted his name, Ignatieff accused Harper of trying to "scare Canadians into believing that only his government can offer stability."

"Well, Mr. Harper is wrong," he thundered.

Canadians weren't clamouring for an election last fall either when Harper ignored his own fixed-election date law and called a vote just before the country went into recession.

Many Liberal MPs aren't eager for an election this fall, having gotten cold feet over the summer as a Liberal lead in opinion polls evaporated.

One MP who heard a briefing Tuesday by party pollster Michael Marzolini, said the numbers for August gave the Tories a three-point lead nationally.

But combined numbers for July and August had the Liberals leading in the key battlegrounds of Ontario and Quebec, as well as in Atlantic Canada.

In Quebec, the Liberals were said to be ahead of even the Bloc, with the Tories trailing far behind. The Liberals also led in the vote-rich Toronto region.

However, a majority of respondents said the Tories were on the right track on the economy but are spending too much money, suggesting the Liberals must offer a clear alternative.

In his speech to caucus and again at the rally, Ignatieff began laying out the themes Canadians can expect to hear repeatedly throughout an election campaign.

He said the country is being presented with a stark choice between "two sets of values, two visions for Canada" - in effect, writing off the NDP and Bloc as irrelevant.

"We can choose a small Canada, a diminished, mean and petty country, a Canada that lets down its citizens at home and fails them abroad, a Canada that's absent on the world stage. That's Stephen Harper's Canada," he asserted.

"Or we can choose a big Canada, a Canada that is generous and open, a Canada that inspires, that leads the world by example, that makes us all proud."

Ignatieff said his goal is to make Canada "the smartest, healthiest, greenest, most open-minded country there is" by 2017 - the 150th anniversary of Confederation.

Ignatieff has so far supplied next to no detail about what a Liberal government would do. But he did disclose one nugget Tuesday. He said he'd introduce legislation making it illegal for the government to "pick and choose which citizens it protects" when they run into trouble abroad.

"This is at the heart of what every Liberal believes . . . A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian."

Ignatieff slammed Harper for presiding over the worst unemployment in two decades and plunging Canada back into a huge deficit.

There was some grumbling that Ignatieff announced his decision to stop propping up the government at the start of the national caucus meeting, before even hearing what his MPs had to say on the subject.

"As usual, as a professor he is dictating to us and lecturing us," groused one MP.

Ignatieff didn't take the advice of his own national campaign co-chair either, who last week suggested it would be "irresponsible" to force an election at the first opportunity.

Insiders said Ignatieff came to his decision in the past two weeks, the last straw being the government's refusal to negotiate in good faith on employment insurance reform.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090901/national/liberals_election

 

[Netto Azure]

Well...ANOTHER CANADIAN ELECTION?

My problem with that is Voter Turnout might be even lower than last time! >.>

And might actually give the Conservatives the Majority government they want.

I don't have much in the way of problems with that, but still the current line-up of the Conservative Minority is still causing the Conservatives to bend a little.

Heck the stimulus that was unveiled last spring would have looked very different if the Coalition wasn't breathing down their necks. XD

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Stupid NDP...
They don't care who and what they side with, they're just desperate... >_<

But meh, I suppose elections are fun, and if they have a chance of knocking out the Conservatives I'm all for it.
I just really hope that the Conservatives don't gain any strength this elections.
*sigh...*

Oh well, when's Rick Mercer starting again?

 

[Valdez]

The NDP? There's no way they'll end up working with the Conservatives. Yes they've said they're willing to work with the Conservatives, but there's no way it'll happen. Harper can barely stomach working with the centrist Liberals, there is no way he'll do anything that the far-left NDP propose.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

The NDP? There's no way they'll end up working with the Conservatives. Yes they've said they're willing to work with the Conservatives, but there's no way it'll happen. Harper can barely stomach working with the centrist Liberals, there is no way he'll do anything that the far-left NDP propose.

True, but that doesn't mean the NDP won't try to work with the Conservatives, which may end up just them working against the Liberals.
I don't know, I don't really like my idea of Jack Layton, I feel like I'm not giving him a fair chance in my views, but he just seems kind of childish, and getting a bit desperate to be one of the popular kids.

 

[Valdez]

I'd agree with that assessment, but I can't blame him for that; he thought he had a cabinet seat until Ignatieff backed the Liberals out of the coalition. It was really his one chance to push through the NDP agenda, and he lost it. Not to mention that the last election was their best chance thus far at gaining a lot of seats. I think that if Harper doesn't work with them and an election is triggered, this could well be Layton's last as leader of the NDP.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

I think that if Harper doesn't work with them and an election is triggered, this could well be Layton's last as leader of the NDP.

That would be pretty interesting.
How long has he been leader?
And there aren't very many well known people in the NPD to take over...
If it happened, and Layton was given the boot, I know that I'd definitely be watch the National regularly.

 

[Valdez]

He's been leader since 2003, which is longer than Ignatieff (2009), May (2006), and Harper (2004). Only Duceppe (1997) has been a current party leader longer.

I guess it all hinges on how well they do. Most of their seats are in Ontario (17) and BC (9). They need to really focus on the Praries and Atlantic Canada. If they can take some of the Quebec seats from the Conservatives (where they have struggled as of late), it would be a huge gain. They gained 8 seats in the last election. If they do better or stay around the same Layton will probably stay, but if they lose too many than I can't see him remaining leader for a particularly long time.

 

[Valdez]

Sorry for the double post, but...

Liberals resolve firm but election uncertain

Canada's opposition Liberals insisted on Wednesday they wanted to bring down the minority Conservative government, even as a smaller party offered the year-old government a possible lifeline.

"We're not in negotiations here," Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff told reporters at the end of a Liberal retreat in northern Ontario that decided to try to force what would be Canada's fourth election in 5-1/2 years.

However, the left-wing New Democratic Party said it was ready to try to find common ground with the Conservatives, even though the two parties are on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

"There's a difference between propping up the Conservatives and making a minority Parliament work," NDP national director Brad Lavigne told CTV television.

"We want to make Parliament work. We're willing to obviously look at issues as they arise. We're not going to predict how we'll vote on things we haven't seen."

Party leader Jack Layton had said last week that his party would be the least likely to support the Conservatives, and it remains unclear what terms the NDP would set as conditions for backing the government.

The Liberals, the NDP and the separatist Bloc Quebecois would all have to join forces to bring down the government.

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe was scheduled to discuss his plans at 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT), and Layton will speak about the issue on Thursday.

The Liberals say the government has mismanaged Canada's recovery from recession. The Conservatives -- in a sentiment echoed in many editorials -- say an early election could put that recovery at risk.

"Forcing an unwanted and unnecessary election at a time when Canada is beating back the global recession is what makes Michael Ignatieff out of touch with ordinary Canadians," said Dimitri Soudas, spokesman to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The Liberals had kept the Conservatives in power until now, but Ignatieff now says he will force a confidence vote at the earliest opportunity.

A new Canadian election is not scheduled before 2012, but if the opposition parties defeat the government on a major issue, the government falls and Canadians vote again.

Opinion polls show that it is risky to head into an election now. No party has a clear lead and Harper is generally seen as more competent than the other parties on the economy.

The most likely scenario is that the Liberals will move a motion expressing a loss of confidence in the government between October 1 and October 7. If all three opposition parties support it, there would likely be an election on November 9 or 16.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090902/n_top_news/cnews_us_politics_canada

Liberals won't raise taxes: Ignatieff

A Liberal government would eliminate the $52-billion federal deficit "hole" created by Stephen Harper's Conservatives without raising Canadians' taxes, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Wednesday, but refused to give details of how he planned to do it.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says a Liberal government would erase the $52-billion deficit 'hole' created by Stephen Harper's Conservatives without raising taxes. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
"Wait and see," Ignatieff told reporters at the end of a news conference at the Liberal caucus retreat in Sudbury, Ont.

Speaking a day after he announced he wouldn't support Harper's minority Conservative government in the fall session of Parliament, Ignatieff said there is nothing the prime minister could offer his party to change his mind.

"We're not in negotiation here. We did that in June," he said.

Ignatieff said he made a "clear decision after a great deal of thought" and it's now up to the other parties to decide what they want to do.

"In June, I said to the people of Canada that I was disappointed with the government's performance, and we had an agreement with the prime minister to work seriously on the employment insurance issue," Ignatieff said.

"The key thing was to determine whether we could work with the government on an important issue, an issue that's important to 1.5 million jobless in Canada, and we discovered after 10 weeks of very difficult work that it was not possible … that we had to go back to our principles."

On deficit spending, Ignatieff accused the Tories of "spraying around money like a kid with a garden hose" in reaction to the economic crisis with "no strategic purpose."

Ignatieff said the fact that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's $32-billion projection for the deficit this fiscal year has ballooned to over $50 billion raises serious questions about Flaherty and Harper's "basic competence."

When asked what the next election would be fought over, Ignatieff defined the ballot question as, "Who is best placed to lead Canada into the economy of tomorrow?"

He cited the Liberals' track record while in power of balancing the deficits of previous Tory governments in the mid-1990s as proof a future Liberal government would tackle the fiscal burden.

"We inherited a $42-billion deficit from Mr. Mulroney and we had to clean it up, and we did so without raising taxes," he said. "We’ve inherited a $52-billion hole with Mr. Harper — we will clean it up without raising taxes."

Harper has criticized opposition parties for having no plan to deal with the recession and has insisted a Liberal government would raise taxes and cut programs to deal with deficits.

'Robust' environmental plan promised

When asked about what his party's environmental platform would be in a possible fall election, Ignatieff made no mention of his predecessor Stéphane Dion's unpopular Green Shift strategy, instead promising a "robust" environmental package calling for a continental cap-and-trade system with absolute carbon-dioxide emission levels.

The Liberal leader also hit out at the Conservatives for waiting for details of U.S. President Barack Obama's strategy to battle the rise in greenhouse gases and climate change, saying the government has had three different environment ministers, three different plans and "no action at all."

"We are not going to wait for the United States; we are not going to wait for Mr. Obama," Ignatieff said. "Canadian climate-change policy gets made in Canada. It doesn't get made in the United States."

The Conservatives' detailed climate change plan will be released before a major UN conference at the end of this year.

Earlier Wednesday, Liberal MPs were given previews of election campaign ads that touched on themes of Ignatieff's campaign-style address to caucus members, while lambasting the Harper government for racking up record deficits, as well as the country's unemployment rate and the Tories' handling of the medical isotopes shortage, the CBC's Julie Van Dusen reported.

The Liberal campaign ads featuring Ignatieff will be posted on a website on Sunday, Van Dusen said.

For several months, Ignatieff has been the subject of the Tories' negative ads, which portray him as an elitist who has spent too much of his adult life abroad to understand the needs and concerns of Canadians.

NDP, Bloc don't rule out working with Tories

Parliament resumes Sept. 14 and the Liberals will have their first opportunity to present a no-confidence motion on Oct. 1. Speaking after Ignatieff, Liberal MP Bob Rae said the party would present the motion "at the first available opportunity."

There is a chance a vote could come even sooner. The Conservatives could introduce a ways-and-means motion to implement some aspects of last January's budget, including the popular home-renovation tax credit, as soon as Parliament resumes.

To survive a no-confidence vote, the Conservatives will likely have to reach out to the two other opposition parties that have voted against them in the past to prevent the government from falling.

NDP MP Libby Davies said Wednesday her party will take the next session on a case-by-case basis.

"We're not going to get into this game of election-fuelling or speculation. We will act in a very responsible way," Davies told CBC News. "Our first job is to make Parliament work, and when we head back on Sept. 14 that's what we intend to do."

NDP Leader Jack Layton is scheduled to comment on Ignatieff's strategy Thursday.

But speaking to a Calgary radio show on Wednesday, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said he didn't think it is possible for the government and the NDP to reach an agreement for support in a no-confidence vote.

"Look, we've always tried to demonstrate willingness to co-operate with the opposition parties," Kenney told host Dave Rutherford.

"We did in the last budget. But we're not for sale to the highest bidder, least of all the NDP. It's a party of hard-core, left-wing ideologues. …These folks, they drink their own Kool-Aid, right?"

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said Wednesday his party would continue to support the interests of Quebec in the House of Commons, but did not rule out supporting the government in a no-confidence vote.

"If it's good for Quebec, we're supporting it. If it's not, we're opposing it, and we will be facing the consequences," Duceppe told reporters in a news conference in Bois-des-Filion. "We are ready."

Duceppe also accused the Tories and Liberals of having the "same attitude" in ignoring Quebec's hard-hit forestry and manufacturing industries while pumping billions in aid into Ontario's auto sector.

He said the Bloc was the only party to submit costed economic recovery and employment insurance reform proposals to the government in the last session.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/09/02/opposition-election.html

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Wow, that was a huge post.
Sorry but I didn't read half of it.

I do have kind of mixed feelings about having another election.
On one hand, if the Liberals win then it would put Harper in his place, and hopefully put a bit of a halt on those pathetic ads they have all over the place.
On the other hand, It's almost getting sad how everybody if forcing so many elections when either the Liberals or the Conservatives think that they have the upper hand, and it just gives Harper more material to spin into propaganda about the Liberals.

Optimally the Conservatives would do a good job right up until their term was over, when everybody would suddenly realize how much of an ass Harper is, then vote the Liberals in. Lol

 

[Valdez]

Wow, that was a huge post.
Sorry but I didn't read half of it.

I do have kind of mixed feelings about having another election.
On one hand, if the Liberals win then it would put Harper in his place, and hopefully put a bit of a halt on those pathetic ads they have all over the place.
On the other hand, It's almost getting sad how everybody if forcing so many elections when either the Liberals or the Conservatives think that they have the upper hand, and it just gives Harper more material to spin into propaganda about the Liberals.

Optimally the Conservatives would do a good job right up until their term was over, when everybody would suddenly realize how much of an ass Harper is, then vote the Liberals in. Lol

If Harper introduces legislation prior to the non-confidence motion in October and continues to make it a confidence matter, then it will be the Conservatives who call the election, not the Liberals forcing it.

Harper has made everything a confidence vote. If he continues to do so and all three opponents vote against it, it is no one's fault but his own.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

If Harper introduces legislation prior to the non-confidence motion in October and continues to make it a confidence matter, then it will be the Conservatives who call the election, not the Liberals forcing it.

Harper has made everything a confidence vote. If he continues to do so and all three opponents vote against it, it is no one's fault but his own.

Ya, but that's not what it looks like in the eyes of the people. To a lot of uninformed people it will looks like the Liberals getting their "socialist and separatist" cronies to help push around the Liberals.
The gullibility of some Canadians makes me lose faith in humanity sometimes...
It's almost like we're Americans now! Heh
>_<