So Canadians will be going to the polls yet again. Yes this is now clear because Parliament has been dissolved. But how did that all start? For people who are keeping up, you must have heard leaders of the major political parties of Canada say that Steven Harper's has been found in Contempt of Court. What does that really mean? Actions which can constitute a contempt of Parliament vary, but typically include such things as:
- deliberately misleading a House of Parliament or a parliamentary committee;
- refusing to testify before, or to produce documents to, a House or committee; and
- attempting to influence a Member of Parliament, for example, by bribery or threats.
Following the budget, the three opposition parties were part of a sub-committee that released a report on ethics. The report recommended the Harper government be found in Contempt of Parliament for failing to disclose the price of new F-35 fighter planes and its failure to disclose the cost of some of its crime bills.
So the report on Contempt of Parliament led to the motion of non-confidence by the Liberal Leader and supported by NDP, and Bloc Québécois. This just means that majority of the members of parliament do not have the confidence in the ability of the Government to run the country.
Now to me its pretty obvious all the monkeys in parliament were just waiting to jump on an opportunity to throw the Conservative Party out of their throne, and this is their chance to do it in a legitimate way. That is not to say that what the Harper government has done is right in any way.
So now lets talk about the speeches that were given by the Leaders of the major political parties. I personally think Steven Harper gave a very powerful speech. Things that he said that were the highlights were (somewhere along the lines of): Harper was calling a coalition after being defeated in the elections as illegitimate, and then later corrected himself and used the words 'not principled', and that whichever party comes in power, whether as a majority or minority should be allowed to form government. And I agree with what he is saying. What the NDP, Liberals and Bloc tried to do in 2008 was just wrong – you cant lose and then try to form a government. The constitution of Canada does allow you to do that, but you it simply is against normal principles to do so.
Harper also added that having a party whose sole purpose is to divide the country (the Bloc) to be part of a government is just wrong, and I think is quite dangerous. He also added that the Ignatieff cannot be trusted and it's his hidden agenda to form a coalition government if Conservative's form a minority and was urging Canadians to vote for the Conservatives so that they can form a majority parliament.
Ignatieff seemed like he was taking the whole thing as a joke. Either that he was tried to cover up for something. Reporters repeated asked him about his stance of a coalition and although, he said that he was not going to form a coalition, he still was not clear enough. He kept saying that they will form a Liberal government and he kept saying that. He even said that if there is a minority Liberal government, he will not form a coalition, however he was not clear on what is going to happen if the Conservatives form a minority again. Will Mr. Iggy want to form a coalition then – just to not let the Conservatives rule? Ignatieff also argued that Canada is in a much better economic state then rest of the world because of the Liberal government that ruled previous to the Conservative government.
Jack Layton, did something that was quite smart and political. He took no questions, and took the role of a Hero. There was a huge crowd of NDP supporters, chanting, "NDP, NDP, NDP" and "Jack Jack Jack" in brief moments throughout Layton's speech. He is running for Prime Minister, and he has made that clear. Both the Liberal and NDP leader commanded that cutting taxes for giant corporate companies was not the way to go. Layton used all the buzz words – health care reform, eduction, pension plan etc… Layton said that he is going to be providing support for small businesses and better opportunity for post secondary education. I personally agree to both of those. I being part of a small business myself believe that it will definitely benefit me. Also because of a job losses, many people have started small businesses. And small businesses need support to keep the competition going, because if can get difficult to compete with larger corporate companies.
I also agree to having lower taxes for larger corporate companies so that they can ultimately create more jobs. But what about the general public? He keeps cutting taxes for corporate companies and increases taxes for the general public.
But is Layton ready to be Prime Minister? I think not! He did have a Heroes moment today, but where does he plan to get enough support? And I sure do no want to see a coalition government, because 2 years down the road we will see another election,.. then what?
And then a turn of events when Douchebag..err.. I mean, Duceppe, the leader of the Bloc party called Harper a liar and showed the press a letter which he said was waving a 2004 letter signed by Harper, NDP leader Jack Layton and Duceppe, addressed to then-governor-general Adrienne Clarkson, which the three opposition leaders proposed a coalition government in the event the Liberal minority government of Paul Martin lost a confidence vote. Could that be? I actually think Harper is capable of doing that.
And there is the Green party…or should i say "the Green Party?". Are they even a real serious political party? No one from the party even won a seat in the last election. I am all for the environment, but we need real leaders to run a government and to lead a country not tree huggers.
There's more to come in the following days and weeks leading to the election on May 2, 2011!
