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Thursday, June 18, 2009
Harper, Ignatieff reach deal to stave off summer election
I sometimes get the feeling that Canadian politicians haven't quite figured out this minority government thing yet. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff brought the country to the brink this week in an attempt to gain some last minutes concessions from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
And why not? It's worked so well in the past. Our opposition parties started using this strategy—of extracting concessions from the government whenever a confidence vote is looming—after Jack Layton successfully pressured then Prime Minister Paul Martin into putting $4.6 billion worth of NDP demands into the budget. The NDP then ran on this success during the 2006 election, as it is the only thing the party has ever accomplished.
Harper was largely able to avoid this type of blackmail during his first term in office. He didn't take crap from the opposition and, for the most part, was able to run the country as though he had a majority. Yet, after last fall's coup attempt by the opposition parties, Harper realized that his minority government was in jeopardy of destabilizing, just weeks after the election. Ignatieff was able to use this apparent weakness to secure massive spending increases from what used to be a fiscally conservative government. This has since led to a projected $50 billion deficit, the largest in Canadian history. Are you starting to see a pattern here?
Ignatieff's latest attempt to score points at the government's expense should not have come as a surprise. Harper has shown that he is willing to sacrifice his principles in order to stay in power. Without a budget in the works, however, Ignatieff was forced to largely manufacture an issue by adopting an NDP plan to get more people on Employment Insurance (EI). Luckily, Harper stood his ground and the Liberals were forced to accept the creation of a committee that will review possible changes to EI over the summer. Yet, Ignatieff still got some movement on the EI issue and was able to secure another confidence vote at the end of September. The Liberals are likely to play a similar game in the fall and don't be surprised if they use the opportunity to force Canadians to go back to the polls.
It would appear as though Haper won this round by not caving into Liberal demands. The agreement, however, could lead to EI reforms that will place further burdens on Canadian taxpayers, or cause another election, which also does not come cheaply. While I am generally a fan of checks and balances, this minority government experiment does not seem to be working out so well.
The problem is that the opposition's real power in a minority parliament comes when there is a money bill on the line. So, despite the fact that the Conservatives were given a mandate to repeal the long-gun registry, we have seen very little action on this issue, while we have been forced to accept billions of dollars worth of budget increases. With Canada's national debt now sitting at just over $472 billion, I'm not sure we can afford another minority government. At least Harper was able to fend off the Liberals for the time being. If only he would reconnect with his inner-conservative, we might be able to get this country's financial situation back in order.
Posted by Jesse Kline on June 18, 2009 in Canadian Politics | Permalink
Comments
It all smells of appeasement. One should never make deals with the Liebral Party. Look at what happened to the NDP and Green Parties - sold for a bag of magic beans.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2009-06-18 8:13:02 PM
A Liberal government "by proxy". Has anyone seen a conservative with a backbone lately?
Posted by: The original JC | 2009-06-18 8:42:02 PM
We have TWO Liberal Parties in Canada. One of them masquerades as "Conservative." Is it any wonder over 40% of the people don't vote? Perhaps they realize it's a political farce and the political actors on stage are not worth their time of day.
Posted by: Stephen J. Gray | 2009-06-18 9:07:17 PM
Nice piece Citizen Kline, snappy funny and to the point.. a light touch as billions of tax dollars roll past.. and the machinery of government whines, grinds and overheats
Posted by: 419 | 2009-06-18 9:40:46 PM
Despite my misgivings, I'd rather have a Harper government which does not live up to my expectations, than an Iggy government which will do everything wrong.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2009-06-19 9:31:57 AM
Despite my misgivings, I'd rather have a Harper government which does not live up to my expectations, than an Iggy government which will do everything wrong.
I agree. At the moment, the Conservatives are the only viable option for anyone who doesn't want to screw up the country by implementing even more socialist policies. If the Conservatives are on the right, I'd hate to see what the left would do.
Posted by: Jesse Kline | 2009-06-19 1:17:51 PM
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