The G&M is reporting that Iggy has laid down the law for those unruly Cons:
"he will judge the Conservative government's budget on whether it protects those most vulnerable to the recession, creates jobs quickly through infrastructure spending, and invests in productivity and competitiveness."
This comes on the heels of Flaherty's heartfelt warning that some jobs may be lost in the coming months. You think?
The problem is that now that he's the leader of the federal Liberal "governing party of Canada" Party, Ignatieff will be feeling as though he has to do something to make up for Dion's wet-blanket showing over the past two years. Hence the non-committal promise to take action about an unsatisfactory budget following the Speech from the Throne on the 26th. I'm a little torn on this. The Liberals and the Conservatives are neck-and-neck in the polls right now, and there's a chance that the race will be close (again) if there were to be another election.
It's no secret that I don't like the Conservative Party of Canada. I think that Harper has a terrifying agenda to weaken the federal Canadian government and devolve powers to the provinces, I don't think he cares two tosses for Canada's overseas reputation and involvement, and I believe that during a recession he will allow the existing social safety net to erode. I really, really wish that the CPC were not the government in power right now.
However. An election is an expensive endeavour. It also means another month or two months or whatever of politicians talking about what they'll do to save jobs and boost the economy instead of actually DOING it. Finally, turnout in the last election was the lowest ever, and given the great political debacle of the past few months I'm unsure that Canadians will be willing to head to the polls again for what will be an incredibly important decision, given the circumstances. I'm also a good little student of Canadian politics and therefore terrified of a majority government with Harper at the helm. Funnily enough, the Canadian PM has more power in his or her own government than the American President. Minority governments are crucial to the survival of Canadian democracy.
If I were Iggy, I'd let this budget pass. I obviously haven't seen it, and my opinion may change if those fucking Cons pull another stunt like cutting party funding. However, I really think that the Liberals will be more effective in the coming months as an Official Opposition with a spine, rather than an opponent in a federal election. I'm not big on Ignatieff either, but I do think that he has the cojones to stand up to Harper and force the Liberals to work together, if not unite them. The opposition parties have a tremendous opportunity to pressure the CPC to pass legislation that is influenced by their more liberal ideologies, I think that it would be detrimental to Canadians to pass up that opportunity now.
Posts
Have any polls been done on how the Canadian public as a whole is responding to the whole crisis? That is more importantly, who most people feel are to blame for this? Do people view the coalition attempt as illegitimate or, on the whole, have people responded to the "I'm going to shut down government until my face turns red" strategy with the appropriate degree of contempt and bafflement? Or are views on the issue just falling along traditional party lines?
ReplyDeleteI guess what I'm getting at is, if the vote were held today, would this whole crisis have hurt or helped the current government? I guess, based on the neck-and-neck polls you mentioned, it may be impossible to say. But I was wondering if any survey had been conducted specifically in regard to this issue.
People who actually care about the whole federal mess right now (which is few, most people I've talked to don't even know what prorogue means) are split right down their political persuasions - my conservative Albertan friends see this all as an attempt by the liberals to hang on to power illegally, and my eastern liberal family members see it as Harper overreaching, acting undemocratically, and so on. I don't know many people who have changed their political preferences as a result of all this post-election nonsense.
ReplyDeleteAs for Ignatieff, I think (hope) he's smart enough to let the budget through, but I fear that Harper is smart enough to know the budget will have to pass and therefore will cram it full of your typical deregulating decentralizing bullshit.
In the immediate aftermath of the crisis, before it became clear that it would be Ignatieff, I think that it gave Harper a HUGE boost in the polls - many people felt that the coalition attempt was underhanded and slightly ridiculous (the inclusion of the Bloc, however minimally, probably didn't help).
ReplyDeleteBut I think that Joe or Sue Canadian (although I hate the term) look at this and wonder what the hell the Liberals are doing, rather than questioning the constitutionality of Harper's actions.