Canadian coalition government

VR6

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OTTAWA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Canada's opposition parties are finalizing their plans on a coalition government as they prepare to bring down the newly-elected ruling Conservatives, after a political crisis sparked by the government's policy on the economy.

The biggest opposition party, the Liberal Party, and the leftist New Democratic Party (NDP), have agreed on a detailed plan to form the government, supported by the Bloc Quebecois, the third biggest party in the Parliament, officials and media reports said Monday.

Under the proposed deal, The Liberals would take 18 cabinet seats and the NDP would get six under a Liberal prime minister. The positions of finance minister, treasury board president and deputy prime minister would be also held by Liberals. The deal would reportedly last 30 months.

A high-profile, four-person economic council would guide the coalition government on finance matters, to insure that economy is well managed at a time of global economic difficulty. One is from NDP and three from the Liberal Party, with the most notable being former Liberal Finance Minister and Prime Minister Paul Martin.

The coalition government would introduce an economic stimulus package worth 30 billion Canadian dollars (about 24 billion U.S. dollars) and roll back 50 billion Canadian dollars in planned corporate tax cuts as a measure to counter the current economic crisis. The oppositions have accused the government of being negligent to workers' difficulties at a time of global economic crisis.

The current political storm erupted last week after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty unveiled his annual economic update. The oppositions denounced the update as containing no major economic stimulus package to fight off the current global crisis. But they were particularly angered by a plan to slash public funding for political parties, which could see them go to bankruptcy.

The three opposition parties have tabled a non-confidence motion on Stephen Harper's government, which has been scheduled to go to vote in the House of Commons next Monday. If the vote happens, the government will be toppled and the governor general may ask the oppositions to form a coalition.

However, Prime Minister Stephen Harper could still block coalition efforts by proroguing Parliament. That would mean his government could not be defeated in the current session of the House of Commons.

The Conservatives have slammed the opposition's moves as a back-door power grab while trying to stave off the crisis by backing away from some of its plans. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty promised to deliver the budget on Jan. 27 about a month before planned. The government has also said it would shelve its plan to eliminate political party subsidies.

The Conservatives, first elected in a minority government in 2006, won a strengthened minority government in the federal election in October. It needs support of at least one opposition to survive. (1 U.S. dollar = 1.25 Canadian dollar)

My 2 cents is this is just aweful! jack layton is an economic idiot and stephan dion can not possibly become the deputy prime minister. I'm just so irate right now, i've been watching the news all day and this s**t is just rediculous, anyone else care to weigh in?
 
I agree, this is complete BS. Jack Layton is a complete Douche and he would ruin Canada if he got anywhere near power. The Canadian people voted in the conservatives for a reason, they beleive that they will do the best job to preserve the economy in times of need. The oposision can't just decide that they don't like not being in power and all decide to take over.

I don't like that I have to pay for fuel, and that I can't afford all the cars I want... so I'm going to take over the government in a military coupe and demand that I don't have to pay for gas and that any nice car I see, I can have it if I want. BS. I'm mad too. this is the first I've heard of this though.
 
The Canadian people voted in the conservatives for a reason, they beleive that they will do the best job to preserve the economy in times of need. The oposision can't just decide that they don't like not being in power and all decide to take over.

Sorry mate, but that's not true. More than half of Canada voted against the Conservatives in October. The opposition parties have the right to bring down the government in a no-confidence motion.

Harper is calling this move undemocratic... what the hell? Just because coalitions aren't common in Canada's governmental history doesn't make it undemocratic.

What I do think is retarded is Dion being the leader of the coalition, given he has already resigned to the fact that the Liberals don't want him (and that he's a useless turd). This means if this coalition comes to power, we will have a new PM two months after the election and another new one in May after the Liberal leadership convention.

It's Harper's fault, period. I didn't buy into the whole thing about him being evil and keeping the media away, but wanting to seriously limit the opposition parties' ability to raise funds with the new budget does lead me to believe he's not a very upfront politician.

His reaction to the political crisis isn't helping his image either, threatening that all options are being considered to try and sideswipe a totally legit move by the opposition.

In any case, this should be interesting. We got a minority government after decades recently, and now we might have a coalition government for the first time since WWI.
 
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I agree that it's a bad move for Dion to be the leader, but I still don't like the fact that 2 months after the election a new government is coming to power (maybe). I think that this will create more problems than solutions... ie. instability. I think our governments should pull up their socks and work through the resession together. Stop trying to power your way into leadership. I'm weary of shitty polotitians. Canada is full of them.
 
Just because coalitions aren't common in Canada's governmental history doesn't make it undemocratic.

It also doesn't make it a bright idea. The last coalition gov't was in 1917 IIRC, and it was a massive failure and let to the least effective governing period in Canadian history. The mere fact that the fucking Bloc now controls the swing vote should tell you whether this is a brilliant idea or just a desperate grab for power.
 
You crazy Canadians and your crazy Parliament system!

It's their right to form a coalition govt, so hopefully they don't screw it up. That's all I've really got, I know @#$% all about domestic Canadian politics.
 
The mere fact that the fucking Bloc now controls the swing vote should tell you whether this is a brilliant idea or just a desperate grab for power.
Someone give Quebec their independence, then they can leave the Canadian Parliament and become French - Canada's problem solved!
 
http://caiti-online.blogspot.com/2008/11/harper-is-nothing-if-not-hypcrite.html

Harper's letter to the Governor General of September 9, 2004

As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the Prime Minister to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government?s program. We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority. Your attention to this matter is appreciated.

-From a letter to then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson signed by all three opposition leaders: Gilles Duceppe, Jack Layton and Stephen Harper
(September 9, 2004)
 
so I'm going to take over the government in a military coupe and demand that I don't have to pay for gas and that any nice car I see

A military coupe would be a camouflaged Nissan 350Z with a gatling gun on the roof.

A military coup is what you're after :)

I'm sorry, I know this post isn't very useful, but I couldn't let your typo pass
 
It also doesn't make it a bright idea. The last coalition gov't was in 1917 IIRC, and it was a massive failure and let to the least effective governing period in Canadian history. The mere fact that the fucking Bloc now controls the swing vote should tell you whether this is a brilliant idea or just a desperate grab for power.

I didn't say it was a good idea... although, nobody can know that at this point, things have certainly changed since 1917. Coalitions work perfectly fine in other countries with a system of government very similar to Canada.

What I was responding to was the calls of undemocratic and even traitorous actions from the Liberals and NDP. This is just so untrue... for one thing, Harper should be one to talk.

He planned to cut the parties' fund raising abilities through curbed subsidies, which is just a bitch move. Sure, the Tories would have suffered from this but they are already in power. The opposition parties would stand to lose much more.

As you can see from the letter Mischief posted, Harper himself wrote to Adrienne Clarkson and asked her to consider all options with regards to Paul Martin's minority government. Talk about a douche bag hypocrite.

Fact of the matter is, we all learned in social studies in grade 10 that coalition governments are just a routine part of the Westminster system. Calling this move undemocratic or un-Canadian is a false accusation... more Canadians voted for the Liberals/NDP than the Conservatives, which means more Canadians will have representatives in this new possible government.

Sorry, I'm just rambling, but my point wasn't to say this coalition government was a good thing - we need to wait and see how this plays out. I'm just furious at people who are jumping on the bandwagon even though they should have learned in high school that this is perfectly democratic.

Edit: It's kinda funny, more people are showing interest in this coalition thing than voted in the October election. This is what pisses me off... almost half of us didn't vote, yet we're up in arms that somebody is putting Harper in his place. I agree with the post below, when you have a minority government you make sure you don't get voted down on confidence issues. That's just arrogance on Harper's part. There's a good reason parties try so hard for majority governments, because otherwise they have to tend a bit to the opposition groups.
 
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Good. Its about time the Liberals finally showed they actually have a spine! I was worried they would back off...just like almost every single time a confidence motion was put into a vote.

If anybody wants to blame someone for this occurring, it is Harper's government alone. To begin his second term with an extremely partisan and really poorly thought out economic statement from Mike Harris moron Jim Flaherty. The Harper government is in a minority position, it was sheer arrogance and the belief they could steamroll over the Liberals like they have time and time again, failing to consider that if they push too far it will spark the Liberals into action.

Sigh...the more I think of it, regardless of what side of the political spectrum your from...Canadian politics only does one thing...make you angry.
 
Sigh...the more I think of it, regardless of what side of the political spectrum your from...Canadian politics only does one thing...make you angry.

Too true.

I think that I'm just going to wait this out and see what happens, because I keep changing my opinion on this thing, I still don't think it's a great idea, but we'll see.

PS. Shawn, I know your comment probably wasn't directed at me, but I don't think I ever said that a coalition government wasn't democratic... (just wanted to make that clear. I learnt just as well in high school about this stuff :lol:)
 
Shawn, I know your comment probably wasn't directed at me, but I don't think I ever said that a coalition government wasn't democratic... (just wanted to make that clear. I learnt just as well in high school about this stuff :lol:)

No, it wasn't directed at you. I thought it might come across like that, but I wasn't replying to your post.

Harper himself called this undemocratic, and I've seen a lot of people on Facebook throwing this word around. There's pro-Conservative protests planned already.
 
If the Liberals pull this shit off, I don't think they'll win another seat in Alberta for 50 years.
 
If the Liberals pull this shit off, I don't think they'll win another seat in Alberta for 50 years.

Because the Liberals have done so well in Alberta up until now?

Maybe all this is just a ploy by the Conservatives to saddle the Liberals and NDP with the economic problem. I don't think things will go well enough that the Liberals or NDP will make great strides in the next election. I'm guessing this will end up working in the Conservatives' favour come election time.

If all this goes through, Canada's next PM will likely be Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff. Weird.
 
Because the Liberals have done so well in Alberta up until now?

Maybe all this is just a ploy by the Conservatives to saddle the Liberals and NDP with the economic problem. I don't think things will go well enough that the Liberals or NDP will make great strides in the next election. I'm guessing this will end up working in the Conservatives' favour come election time.

If all this goes through, Canada's next PM will likely be Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff. Weird.

The Conservatives could probably make this go away quickly if they knife Harper and someone else (most likely Prentice) takes over the job.

What really gets me here is that our economy is doing quite well given the situation. Most of the economies in the world are circling the drain, we're in a relatively good position here, but the Libs and NDP want to throw my money around to fix a problem we can't fix.
 
So he got his prorogation, what do you all think about that?

I don't understand why he's delaying the inevitable. Is he going to retool his budget? He should have done that sooner, he's just wasting time and resources at this point.

He was blasting the Bloc pretty badly today. :lol:

It really is funny, considering they should have sided together like usual against the Liberals and NDP. This whole thing is so sordid. It's never happened before, but Harper is the first minority leader in a long ass time and he governs as if he has a majority. Last one was Joe Clark 30 years ago, and if I remember right they got voted out on their first budget.

I heard Harper's put up almost 50 confidence motions since taking office in 2006. It's also the opposition's fault for not having the balls to do this sooner. They sat around and went along with the Conservatives for two years, and they pick now of all possible times to finally say something - 1.5 months after the election and right before Christmas.

I really don't know what I think about all this... it seems all of Parliament is at fault.
 
This whole thing is so sordid. It's never happened before, but Harper is the first minority leader in a long ass time and he governs as if he has a majority. Last one was Joe Clark 30 years ago, and if I remember right they got voted out on their first budget.

Paul Martin had a minority for a year and a half back in 2004.
Anyways, the reason I think there was such a backlash to this coalition idea is that we just had an election and the Liberals lost. It looks to a lot of people like they're bitter about the election and and are making a stab at power against the will of the people.
 
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