(no subject)

[jaala]

Stephen Harper: "I'm tired of playing games."

Oh, that's rich coming from you.

For non-Canadians: the Conservative Party, led by Mr. Harper, in cooperation with the separatist Bloc Quebecois have been using every trick in the book to bring the House of Commons to a standstill. They claim they're doing this because the motions they keep passing are votes of non-confidence (which, going by the rule book and historical precedence, they aren't). But they simply could have waited until the budget vote next week for a proper vote of confidence instead of causing this deadlock and doing all this posing.

I agree that the Liberal Party (roughly the equivalent of Labour for you Brits) has lost the ability to govern, but I think all this palaver is stupid and just supposed to make the Liberals (and the New Democratic Party[1] who are voting with them) look bad.

Argh.

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[1] roughly analagous to the Liberal Democrats, I gather

Comments

[gridlockjoe.livejournal.com]

I think the NDP is going to come out of this smelling like a rose, because of the scandal (which will probably be the Conservatives' main campaign message) and annoyance with the Conservatives.

[jaala]

Yes, I can't deny that the NDP will probably end up looking pretty good... that is, if people don't dismiss them as irrelevant while following the power struggle between the Conservatives and Liberals.

[forget-my-fate.livejournal.com]

I can't stand the Harper and the conservatives... Harper genuinely frightens me and I am really worried about what will happen if there's an election this year. Go NDP go!

[jaala]

Harper doesn't so much frighten me as piss me off, but I can see your point of view because I really disagree with some of the proposed Conservative policies.

[jjloa.livejournal.com]

Don't you just want to slap his smarmy face everytime he's on the tv?

I have had to settle with 'shut up jerkface', which isn't quite as satisfying.

He'd be bad enough on his own just with this. What I've heard from someone who lived in his home riding makes me even more scared of him.

sigh. I would love the NDP to get in. Not because I have faith in them, but I figure it's their turn to massively screw it up in the tradition of politics forever and ever amen ;)

(and because I don't want the conservatives in. period *L*)

[jaala]

Yeah, I've been muttering variants on, "shut up jerkface," most of the time. And I usually turn off the radio or television after a few minutes of Parliament coverage because I get annoyed. In all fairness, though, Jack Layton displayed his share of smug behaviour when the NDP made their budget deal.

sigh. I would love the NDP to get in. Not because I have faith in them, but I figure it's their turn to massively screw it up in the tradition of politics forever and ever amen ;)

Hmm. Good point. In an ideal world with more funding available, I would probably support the NDP unconditionally. But when it comes down to it, I generally support Liberal policies as both socially aware and fiscally sound; however, they've gotten complacent, lazy and corrupt and need to be kept in line

But if the NDP formed the government (which is highly unlikely, of course) I'd be worried that the NDP would piss people off so much that it would decimate the party (cf: Ontario, BC). So I think my ideal situation would be with the NDP as an opposition party--not necessarily the Official Opposition, just a strong opposition voice.

(and because I don't want the conservatives in. period *L*)

Agreed.

[madrigalia.livejournal.com]

The Liberal-NDP deal was the best of both worlds for me. That was great, although smugness resides in Layton's genes. To be fair, I thought that Goodale's original budget was an excellent piece of work too, but I have different priorities than the Liberals.

It's quite interesting here; I've never seen so many beaten-looking civil servants. Normally, they look rich and happy...ah. Right. As far as the election threats go, people in Ottawa have a perverse love of elections. In my opinion, it's a substitute for the Cup playoffs this year, but that's conjecture at best.

I think the NDP could pick up a few seats, but I'm worried about the survival of smaller parties in largely solid Liberal areas, like the Maritimes. There's little to no chance that these seats will flip to a minority party in an average election, and they could be decimated by the Liberal machine if it turns into a rallying cry for Canada.