[kenmore]

Actually I would like to see an end to the bloc, but I do like Gilles Duceppe, wish he was a liberal

[OnTheIce]

Canadian_Mind Canadian_Mind:

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

Canadian_Mind Canadian_Mind:

He could also be trying to back himself out of a contradictory hole.

Even if he is against the deficit and wanted minister of fianance fired because the estimate was so far off, as I believe, his party askign for deficit with a report every three months could and is being seen as contradictory to that. So an election based on that premise could blow up in his face.

When his own personal adviser on economic policy, Don Drummond, one of the best economists Canada has to offer, was off by the same amount, it does seem quite contradictory.

Just as i wont shoulder the blame on Harper for being surrounded by incompetent people, I wont shoulder the blame on Iggy for being surrounded by incompetent people. However, I will hold it to both of them to find better people to advise them.

It's not a sample of incompetence. It goes to show that even Canada's top economists have a hard time predicting deficits and financial situations during a recession.

[Mowich]

July vote, not hardly. In the midst of a recession the idiots of the NDP and Bloc, not heard from Iggy yet, want to spend precious taxpayers money on an election!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, great way to endear yourselves to the voters. Jackie and Gilles will never hold power so what they think they are doing by calling for an election is beyond me.

[kenmore]

You are right the bloc will never hold power. the NDP is questionable,, they said that in Nova Scotia.. but those two parties have members elected by the people.. its those you have to convince that their vote is in your opinion wasted. they might not see it that way... but we do need to dump this government..

[ryan29]

Bodah Bodah:

ridenrain ridenrain:

So far the only ones I see who want an election are Liberal war room hacks like Cat Meat Kinsella and assorted other Liberal pundits who see that Iggy is fast going down the Dion road. No Trudeaupia for you!
Even in the secret bathroom confessions that are all the vogue these days, there's talk of Iggy being told what to do by the Canadian bankers who actually run the Liberal party.

Bring it on.

My true ire rests with the NDP and the Block regarding this issue, not the Liberals.

Once again it the NDP and the Bloc vote down something without even reading it. Its obvious in a minority government having two lunatic fringe parties is really starting to hurt this country.

I want them out.

but the ndp and bloc are not the ones who really want an election as there not at all ready or polls that good for them .
its the liberals who want an election and they have been trying everything possible to disrupt this parliament since the conservatives got re-elected and almost won a majority last fall . first they were all for a coalition then that failed , then they changed leaders in a desperate attempt to boost there support .
and its clear that every since the polls improved for them , they have been ploting an election so i feel there the true ones behind this recent threat , they just don't know how to sell a july election to a public sick of elections .

[ryan29]

ridenrain ridenrain:

So far the only ones I see who want an election are Liberal war room hacks like Cat Meat Kinsella and assorted other Liberal pundits who see that Iggy is fast going down the Dion road. No Trudeaupia for you!
Even in the secret bathroom confessions that are all the vogue these days, there's talk of Iggy being told what to do by the Canadian bankers who actually run the Liberal party.

Bring it on.

( yeah no one seems to really want one but the liberal hacks , there was this good editorial in the hamilton spectator today , it looks like even the media doesn't want one or buying into the oppositions reasons, not to mention that layton and duceppe will look like fools if they really try and force an unwanted election without even reading the report harper put out )

Lame excuse for an election

June 13, 2009
Robert Howard
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jun 13, 2009)
We've said it before in this space, more than once. We'll likely say it again. But once more into the breach: No election. Not now.

The Conservative economic update -- regardless of how much positive and negative spin envelops it -- is a lame excuse for an election.

An election in the midst of a generation-defining recession and a national economy in tatters is not about good governance or responsible opposition. It's about opportunism and grasping for power.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff appears to be the pivotal figure to decide if Canadians will go to the polls within months for the third general election in less than four years. At press time, he had not announced whether his party would vote against the Conservative government's economic update.

As for the economic update: It's all about who you believe. The government claims success because more than 80 per cent of the $35 billion stimulus program has been allocated and "is being implemented." The opposition says the government is failing because cheques aren't flowing to municipalities and jobs aren't being created.

(Let us note here that if 20 per cent of $35 billion is not allocated, both McMaster University and Mohawk College are deserving of a fairer share than they've got so far.)

But the current brinksmanship in Ottawa is not about the stimulus funds. It's about survey results and windows of opportunity. Ignatieff is buoyed by poll numbers showing the Liberals slightly ahead of the Conservatives nationally and strongly ahead in the crucial GTA/905 battleground. And the Liberals are worried they may not get another chance to force an election before the economy starts to recover, which could boost Conservative fortunes.

Jack Layton's New Democrats and Gilles Duceppe's Bloc Quebecois have said -- without looking at the Harper government's economic update document -- that they will vote against it. That puts only the Liberals between the current government and a summer election.

But there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip, or in this case between media scrums and toppling the government: Each opposition party has its own agenda, issues and concerns. Should Ignatieff announce he will not support the update, no one should be surprised if the NDP or BQ wring a minor but face-saving concession out of the Conservatives to avoid an election that could cost them more, in seats and even leadership, than they will publicly admit.

The fact is that an election any time soon should cost all four parties: Canadians have indicated over and over again they don't want to go to the polls again now. The last two elections each cost taxpayers more than $300 million -- a 2008 vote would put the cumulative cost of political game-playing at close to $1 billion.

It used to be that minority parliaments produced progressive legislation: This one is about jockeying for position and power.

We'll keep saying it until the games stop: Canadians need leadership, not another election

http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/582909

[OnTheIce]

$1:

It's about opportunism and grasping for power.

[Bodah]

ryan29 ryan29:

but the ndp and bloc are not the ones who really want an election as there not at all ready or polls that good for them.

I'll have to disagree with you there, just based on the fact that they voted down the report last week as soon as it was tabled. They don't care about Canadians and just want to tople the Conservatives for any reason.

ryan29 ryan29:

they just don't know how to sell a july election to a public sick of elections .

They can't sell that pig no matter how sexy that lipstick is. Unless something drastic happens, and nothing has happened yet.

[kenmore]

Oh, I don't know the public seem to be willing from what you hear on the news.. Monday will tell I guess.. now or 10 months from now harper is dead meat.

[RUEZ]

kenmore kenmore:

Oh, I don't know the public seem to be willing from what you hear on the news.. Monday will tell I guess.. now or 10 months from now harper is dead meat.

Isn't it interesting how just 8 months ago the left was decrying the upcoming election as a waste of money. Now they are threatening to waste 300 million more. I guess it really is about the power and not the people.

[ASLplease]

all minority governments come to an end, so whats the big deal.

Kenny, if you consider the average life of a minority government, you wouldn't be so smug about Harper going down.

[Bodah]

kenmore kenmore:

Oh, I don't know the public seem to be willing from what you hear on the news.. Monday will tell I guess.. now or 10 months from now harper is dead meat.

Just listening to the CBC and TVA doesn't count.

[Canadian_Mind]

Realistically, 300 million is 1/10 of a percent of this years budget, and .25% of our GDP. So the only inconvinience to me is the 12 dollars it costs me personally out of my taxes, and the fact that I have to go to the polls.

[Kerozine]

kenmore kenmore:

It is justified.. the stimulus package stinks and they really haven't released funding for much. Have you heard of one job being created by it? no! and there are a long list of reasons to dump this government..

I haven't read the 234-page report, so I'll let Ignatieff go over it and decide accordingly what course of action the country will take.

I find it odd that it will be the opposition leader and not the PM that will be briefing Canadians on the specifics of the stimulus package..

[tritium]

I VOTED NO ELECTION!!!

I think we should just make Stephen Harper King of Canada and be done with it.

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