Update on recent political events
Since I was out of the country from October 21-26 and in the last few days busy buying stuff for my new apartment in Toronto, I haven't had much time to blog and likely will be less frequent until I am fully settled in my new place. However, for my viewers, I am now in Toronto and will be living here for the forseeable future.
In terms of major issues, on the issue of Peter MacKay calling Belinda Stronach a dog, I believe he should apologize. Even if it was not his intention to do this, an apology would put the issue to rest. Quite frankly I believe there are more important issues to deal with.
On the issue of calling Quebec a nation, I wish the Quebec wing of the Liberals never brought this up. This is a divisive issue that will not help us no matter which way the party votes. Whether one agrees with the idea or not, I believe we should focus on issues that unite Canadians such as reducing wait times, a stronger economy, a cleaner environment, and lower taxes. Divisive issue should only be discussed if absolutely necessary. If we defeat this motion, it will only re-enforce that we are insensitive to Quebec, but if we pass it, it will kill any hopes of making gains in Western Canada and could even harm us in Ontario and Atlantic Canada as they will see this as weakening federalism and giving special status to Quebec. I fully agree with Stephane Dion's response to this. Unlike Ignatieff who has been out of the country for 30 years, Stephane Dion was there during the Charlottetown and Meech Lake Accords and saw how those tore the country apart. He knows that opening up the constitution again is a recipe for major problems.
On the issue of parliamentary deadlock, I believe this is mainly due to the highly partisan nature of our system. I believe MPs ought to put their country first and party second, but unfortunately too many from all parties put partisan interests ahead of serving the country, which is really too bad. I am glad to see the Liberals have agreed to pass six of the 11 Tory justice bills, while hold up five of the more controversial ones. This how the opposition should be. Oppose what it thinks is flawed, but not blindly oppose every bill just for the sake of opposing it. As for Harper's attitude, all I can say is once again he is showing his arrogant attitude. He only got 36% of the popular vote and a minority government so he has to realize it is his job to cooperate and work with the opposition. He is dead wrong when he claims he is representing most Canadians, he is not. Now I know some will say Jean Chretien never got over 50%, but for good or for ill, under our Westminster parliamentary system, if you win the majority of seats, you can do what you wish, if you don't you have to cooperate with opposition parties. If Harper is so confident he has the numbers to win a majority, he should call an election now. Otherwise he should quit complaining about the opposition holding up his bills and start working with them. In Nova Scotia, their PC minority government lasted three years since John Hamm was willing to work with opposition parties, however from what I've seen from Harper, he doesn't strike me as this type. In fact he strikes me as very inflexible and a control freak, which I believe turns off many people he might be receptive to his agenda. He should stop it now and if he cannot, step aside and let someone take over who can.
In terms of major issues, on the issue of Peter MacKay calling Belinda Stronach a dog, I believe he should apologize. Even if it was not his intention to do this, an apology would put the issue to rest. Quite frankly I believe there are more important issues to deal with.
On the issue of calling Quebec a nation, I wish the Quebec wing of the Liberals never brought this up. This is a divisive issue that will not help us no matter which way the party votes. Whether one agrees with the idea or not, I believe we should focus on issues that unite Canadians such as reducing wait times, a stronger economy, a cleaner environment, and lower taxes. Divisive issue should only be discussed if absolutely necessary. If we defeat this motion, it will only re-enforce that we are insensitive to Quebec, but if we pass it, it will kill any hopes of making gains in Western Canada and could even harm us in Ontario and Atlantic Canada as they will see this as weakening federalism and giving special status to Quebec. I fully agree with Stephane Dion's response to this. Unlike Ignatieff who has been out of the country for 30 years, Stephane Dion was there during the Charlottetown and Meech Lake Accords and saw how those tore the country apart. He knows that opening up the constitution again is a recipe for major problems.
On the issue of parliamentary deadlock, I believe this is mainly due to the highly partisan nature of our system. I believe MPs ought to put their country first and party second, but unfortunately too many from all parties put partisan interests ahead of serving the country, which is really too bad. I am glad to see the Liberals have agreed to pass six of the 11 Tory justice bills, while hold up five of the more controversial ones. This how the opposition should be. Oppose what it thinks is flawed, but not blindly oppose every bill just for the sake of opposing it. As for Harper's attitude, all I can say is once again he is showing his arrogant attitude. He only got 36% of the popular vote and a minority government so he has to realize it is his job to cooperate and work with the opposition. He is dead wrong when he claims he is representing most Canadians, he is not. Now I know some will say Jean Chretien never got over 50%, but for good or for ill, under our Westminster parliamentary system, if you win the majority of seats, you can do what you wish, if you don't you have to cooperate with opposition parties. If Harper is so confident he has the numbers to win a majority, he should call an election now. Otherwise he should quit complaining about the opposition holding up his bills and start working with them. In Nova Scotia, their PC minority government lasted three years since John Hamm was willing to work with opposition parties, however from what I've seen from Harper, he doesn't strike me as this type. In fact he strikes me as very inflexible and a control freak, which I believe turns off many people he might be receptive to his agenda. He should stop it now and if he cannot, step aside and let someone take over who can.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 5:20 PM
3 Comments:
enjoy Toronto and come back and visit us real soon Miles
I agree Miles. The fact that Harper says that his agenda is "what Canadians voted for" shows how out of touch he is with the facts. Many more people voted for someone other than their Conservative candidate and I am hoping that this arrogance goes a long way to having him promptly booted out.
Opinionater- I'll let you guys know when I am in Vancouver, although it won't be on a regular basis due to my work.
Mike - I fully agree. Harper is making the same mistake Joe Clark did, governing as if he had a majority even though he doesn't. And at least Joe Clark was a decent man, unlike Harper.
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