Thoughts on a Canadian Coalition Government crisis

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I'm having a hard time these days and its tricky focusing on less-than-immediate stuff, so I appreciate you bringing up this topic again. It gives me something to dwell on other than my own problems.

Mini update topic

I had been following the First Ministers' Conference and the gist of it is that Stephen Harper is hoping his government does not fall flat. I think he is waiting for Barack Obama to say something as soon as he is inaugurated as US President on January 20. The Harper budget is due on January 26.

Still staying tuned in.

if the canada i knew, the canada that i grew up in and am proud to call my home, and VERY SPECIFICALLY because it is one of the few (if any other) nations in the world where french and english have lived as neighbours for so long and not been at war with each other --if that canada ceased to exist i don't know what i would do. that would be the saddest day of my life, i think. i love my country and am proud of it because of the ideals that were taught to me growing up, that were taught to me as part of our national identity to be maintained and cherished --ideals like our tolerance and our multiculturalism, and our attitude that we extend to each other and the world, that we are all brothers and just learning how to live together on this planet, and must try to respect each other.

i love all of my fellow canadians equally, whether they be french, or first nations, or new to our country, or all the other plain old white anglophones like me. i try to celebrate what we represent to the world, and i pray we can continue to be an example of a place where people can have their differences and still live together in peace. this is a precious precious thing we have here, this delicate balance that is our nation. we must preserve it, and continue to try to make it a place where everyone can be different but still equal.

Artist's rendition topic

Wow, SA, that was beautiful. I would like those words to reach Steve's ear. I know Iggy would listen (at least until he is PM )

Obama and the global economic crisis are on everyone's mind right now. I am just waiting for the inauguration and that budget. The Governor General is in Haiti (her birth nation) right now and I hope she can be back for the budget.

I guess she needed a breather.

Welcome back to the topic sartresue! I was thinking about reviving it too.

Its really all quiet on the news front, isnt it?

Yes, SNAFU topic

True, Fuzzy. And the budget date set by the PM is January 27, not January 26, as I wrote in a recent post. Maybe they made it a day later because of Barack Obama's inauguration and his subsequent visit to Canada. But I have no idea the exact date of that.

The Mideast crisis, the global financial crisis...Same old same old.

If anything workable came out of that First Minister's conference it is that we all must work together on coming out of the cold this country is weathering at the moment (pun intended ).

So last I heard, the Liberals and conservatives were neck and neck in the polls. Maybe its changed now though?

I caught a snatch of dialog from Jack Layton saying that the NDP would vote against the bill. But thats to be expected, right?

Currently, Liberals dont want a coalition, but stand equal chances with the Conservatives of forming a minority government. It probably doesnt make sense for them to collapse the government when they stand an equal chance of still not getting elected.

I think it most likely that the two big parties will maintain the government with some concessions to the Liberals. Sorry Jack and Gilles. You are out in the cold again.

If there is hope for real change, it is as sartresue says: the first ministers must work together and leech some power back from the feds.

Co-operative Canadians topic

Iggy was heard to say on CTV Newsnet On January 18 that any Conservative budget must take into consideration the Canadian people. How original. But as you stated, Fuzzy, we must all work together, and for this reason I do not think Iggy will rally a coalition to defeat the government at this time. Not enough money in the Liberal war chest and too much going on in the States right now. Steve played his king right and is still on the board.

Guess who is coming to visit? topic

President Obama is coming in February!! Then we can have an Obama Day!!

For security reasons I suppose we will not know the exact date until late January at the earliest.

I am ususually not excdted about visitors, but this is a political/historical thing and so has value. Maybe he will have some impact on Steve, and the relationship will be genuine and beneficial, not like the Mulroney-Regan fakery in the eighties.

Excellent. I quite like the cut of his jib. Even if I dont think he will be the wunderkind president that people hope he will.

The relationship that he cements with Steve will enhance or hinder Harpers reputation. I think its a very important visit for Canadians.

Is it protocol that the loyal opposition meets the US president as well?

Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition topic

Layton and Iggy say they would like to meet President Obama. No word on Duceppe.

Of course the Governor General, Michaelle Jean will be there. and I hope the First lady Michelle Robinson Obama will be there as well. I do not know about the kids.

And an Obama Day is better than a Rae Day!! !

Non-Coalition governments in Europe are not just "normal", one party governments are the big exception. The most European countries (with the exception of the UK) have any form of proportional representation. So it is very unlikely that one party gets a majority in parliament and could form a government without a partner.

This would need a new US-Constitution. A North-American Union, modelled after the EU, would strip Congress and the US-Supreme Court of so much power of making law and decision making that such a transfer of power would be not possible. The "Acquis Communautaire" is much more far-reaching than even the US-Code and the treaties forming the EU give the EU more law-making power than it is vested by the US-Constitution in the Congress. An adoption of the Art. 234 of the EC-Treaty would mean that the US-Surpeme must ask the Court of a North-American Union prior any decision which may involve an interpretation of the treaties and must follow this option.

If anyone like to get an overview about the current EU-Legislation:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/legis/20090101/index.htm

This idea comes from the English tradition that the King, aka the government, calls in Parliament only if the King needs more Money or needs a decision which needs a Act of Parliament. Elizabeth I - for example - called in her reign of more the 40 years parliament only five or six time.

The only reason why the parliament in Westminster is nearly permanently in session is the fact that most issues are regulated via an Act of Parliament and therefore the government needs both houses. Also Parliament reserved the right to review the most Statuary Instrument and therefore the Whitehall machinery would come quite quickly to a stand-still without Parliament in session.

I cannot see the kids going.

Aw, we dont have rae days out west!

Days of Rae topic

Rae days are unpaid days off that were mandated by the former NDP Rae provincial government in the early 90s. This was a big reason Rae was not returned to office, and Mike Harris was elected. The nasty things he did in the name of conservatism were reminiscent of Maggie Thatcher and Reagan.

There has to be a middle ground between the welfare state and its opposite, the fiscal conservative one in which marginalized citizens fall through the cracks. This has always been the challenge for responsible, representative government.

I do not think leadership coalitions can work in our country, and certainly not in the way Hurricane_Delta has proposed. Disagreements are worked out in the parliamentary system without the bureaucratic nightmare of a coalition. A free trade agreement is one thing, but free politics is another. Too many leaders spoil the political broth.