Freeway
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|  #1 Posted on 28.4.05 0012.33
Reposted on: 28.4.12 0014.15 | CBC.ca
Well kids, the Canadian Liberal government only has 132 seats in the House of Commons (154 are needed for a majority), and with the recent sponsorship scandal there was a risk of their budget not getting approved (forcing an election). So, in swoop the New Democrats (NDP) who made a deal with the Liberals: increase social spending in your budget and we'll vote for it. The deal's done...but the NDP only has 19 seats, leaving the Liberals 3 seats shy of passing the budget. The Conservatives (with 99 seats) and the Bloc Quebecois (with 54 seats) have 153 seats on their site, with 1 Parlimentary seat vacant and 3 held by independent members that will probably decide which way this thing swings. Unless they all vote with the government, it's election time.
Let the games begin. | Promote this thread! |             | Oliver
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| #2 Posted on 28.4.05 1151.14
Reposted on: 28.4.12 1151.59 | Isn't the Bloc Quebecois an offshoot of the old PC party?
This makes things really interesting; and as a supporter of the NDP, I applaud Layton for siding with Martin here. Elsewise, I doubt the NDP's wishes for the budget would have been heard.
I predict an election in a year from now...if not sooner. | Stilton
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| #3 Posted on 28.4.05 1311.47
Reposted on: 28.4.12 1313.50 | Originally posted by SOK
Isn't the Bloc Quebecois an offshoot of the old PC party?
Offshoot? Or parasitic twin?
When Lucien Bouchard created the Bloc, he effectively crippled the old PC party by taking pretty much all the francophone right-wingers in Quebec over the wall with him.
This could be a very interesting election. The only thing that disturbs me is that there isn't a single party leader who I like. Harper's an idiot. Martin's a crook, and what's worse, he's nowhere near as suave about it as Chretien was. And Layton, well, as much as I like the NDP, and I like them a lot, Layton has always struck me as somewhat insincere (but that could just be his far-too-polished media savvy)... and to top it off, he does have that 1970s porn-stache on his lip. | Freeway
Scrapple
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| #4 Posted on 29.4.05 0422.54
Reposted on: 29.4.12 0424.56 | Originally posted by Stilton
Originally posted by SOK
Isn't the Bloc Quebecois an offshoot of the old PC party?
Offshoot? Or parasitic twin?
When Lucien Bouchard created the Bloc, he effectively crippled the old PC party by taking pretty much all the francophone right-wingers in Quebec over the wall with him.
This could be a very interesting election. The only thing that disturbs me is that there isn't a single party leader who I like. Harper's an idiot. Martin's a crook, and what's worse, he's nowhere near as suave about it as Chretien was. And Layton, well, as much as I like the NDP, and I like them a lot, Layton has always struck me as somewhat insincere (but that could just be his far-too-polished media savvy)... and to top it off, he does have that 1970s porn-stache on his lip.
Mulroney's coalition fell apart after the bunch of compromises in the Charlottetown and Meech Lake Accords. Western PC supporters took their ball, went home and created the Reform Party (later Canadian Alliance). Quebec PC supporters felt abandoned by Mulroney and formed the Bloc. | BigVitoMark
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| #5 Posted on 29.4.05 2328.32
Reposted on: 29.4.12 2329.01 | The really funny thing to me is how fast Paul Martin is becoming this generation's Joe Clark, in that he'll be the laughable Prime Minister that is the punchline for every political hack's joke for the next 20 years. Here we have a man who took over a solid majority government with very little opposition within this own party, and now just over a year later it has effectively been pissed away to the point that he's gotta grovel to the irrelevant NDP in an attempt to salvage his Prime Ministership.
This deal will not save the Liberals. In fact, it will probably hurt them more than they realize. The CPC/BQ side still has them beat, while you have three independents none of whom are likely to side with the government (Parrish was booted out of caucus, Kilgour quit, and Cadman is on record as saying he will honour his constituents wishes and vote with the CPC).
In addition, they've given the Tories a legitimate reason to vote down the government by the substance of their legislation, an answer to the question of "why call an election now when polls say Canadians don't want one?" that they might have struggled to answer two weeks ago. Centrist and right-leaning Liberals, many of whom were already starting to waver, now have even more reason to do so if Martin is ready to be Layton's lapdog just to hold onto power.
Kudos to Jack Layton for seizing the opportunity to get his party's agenda in the headlines. This is probably the most significant thing the party has done in ten years, if not longer. It might win them a few more votes when we do go to the polls sometime in June. It's not going to help Martin, though...every time that man opens his mouth it's just another nail in his coffin. | Big Bad
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|  #6 Posted on 30.4.05 1504.57
Reposted on: 30.4.12 1507.11 | | And yet even now, polls are showing that the Liberals and Conservatives are once again about tied, after the Cons had as big as a ten-point lead in polls taken just a week ago. Face it, the Conservatives aren't going to do anything until they ditch the useless Stephen Harper. | BigVitoMark
Lap cheong
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| #7 Posted on 1.5.05 0227.35
Reposted on: 1.5.12 0228.38 | | Well, that or the unveiling of 70-odd spending programs in one week and dumping money into the NDP's agenda has given the Grits a small, immediate boost. Polls outside of a campaign period in this country tend to reflect what's happened in the last two or three days and not much more. | Oliver
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| #8 Posted on 2.5.05 1732.16
Reposted on: 2.5.12 1732.29 | | Funny thing is, there still isn't enough confidence in either the NDP or the Conservatives right now. Regardless of how evil the Liberals are considered, too. | | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
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