Our federal parliament currently has a majority that is not the existing government ready to vote against a ways and means budget proposal. The existing Conservative government has brought this on themselves. It was not the opposition that brought forward a budget that effectively destroys all three opposition parties in any future elections. The current budget does not really address the economic situation in Canada and it introduced the following as part of its budget.
The Conservatives presented the plan, which would eliminate 30 million Canadian dollars in annual public campaign financing, to cut the budget. But their opponents and many outsiders argue that it is an attempt to undermine other political parties, which rely on the financing system much more than the Conservatives do.
Taken from the New Your Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/world/americas/28canada.html?ref=world
The above mentioned excerpt from the New York Times article really brings forward what has driven this sudden push to amalgamate the opposition parties against the Conservatives. The recent election, the fact that Canadian's really do not want to go back to the polls and the sheer cost of another election so close to the last one really leaves the opposition no other option but a coalition government. Seriously, what respectable party leader would vote for a budget that would effectively destroy the finances of their party and make it impossible for them to compete let alone potentially win in another election? Given the prospect of destroying their parties, going back to the polls and costing the Canadian taxpayers yet another 650 million dollars or coming up with a workable alternative between the three opposition parties and creating a coalition government.
I would say that out of the three options the coalition one would be the most workable for the opposition and might just work. Based on the action of the current government they are obviously not interested in Canadian's best interests only ensuring that they gain a stranglehold on the federal political scene. Voters did not give Harper the majority that he wanted, so Harper has come up with a way to ensure that there is not opposition in future elections.
It seems Harper is counting heavily on Canadians really not understanding their own political system. It appears that he would like us to believe that our democratic systems is similar the the American system. Canadians do not elect a prime minister during elections the elect a member of parliament for their riding. The US system allows voters to directly vote for their choice of president, ours does not. It is a sad reflection on the Conservative party policy that instead of enlightening Canadians, they choose to take advantage of them by using scare tactics and propagating misconceptions to motivate votes by using fear.
...Nelson Wiseman, political science professor at the University of Toronto, dismissed the Harper's attacks on the coalition, who reportedly called it an "undemocratic seizure of power."I find it interesting that the Conservative argument against a coalition government that is "an undemocratic seizure of power" when the entire budget was designed to ensure that Harper gain an unfair advantage over all opposition to the Conservative party. It is amazing to me that the general public is getting lost in the details of parliamentarians trying to make the best out of a very difficult situation and panicking over a perceived slight in their voting preference.
The Conservatives are arguing it's undemocratic, but actually elections don't elect governments," said Wiseman. "They elect Parliaments. Parliaments make a government. Parliaments can break a government." More details can be found here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/02/gg-return.html?ref=rss
What is the worst possible thing that can come out of a coalition government? We end up back at the polls. That is it kids, the worst thing that can happen. So parliament has a choice polls now with a vote of non confidence, polls later worst case scenario for the coalition government, or the destruction of democracy in Canada by giving an unfair financial advantage to one party over all the others by voting the proposed budget in.
It seems that the Conservatives stand for the same kind of "what we want no matter what the cost" politics that the Bush Republicans stand for. This latest Conservative proposed budget has made this observation quite apparent.
