In a previous post about annoying, and near continuous fundraising emails many readers were surprised by my annoyance at this, and my desire to see a more conciliatory Conservative government.
They mentioned that the Conservatives were better then the Liberals. (doh)
They mentioned the the Prime Minister's role was to advance the Conservative's agenda. And they mentioned that part of the Prime Minister's role is to defeat his political opponents.
Prime Minister's role is to govern the country in the best interests of Canadians, doing his best to look out for everyone. Of course he is a Conservative, and will propose Conservative ideas. That I agree with. And I agree with cutting the subsidy, but it is a minority government, and we have to be aware of that.
The impetus of this coalition was the fundraising debacle in the economic update. Had the government proposed to phase out the subsidy rather then cut it out cold turkey this whole thing might have been avoided.
This whole debacle could have been avoided, and while Canadians soundly rejected a coalition government led by Stephane Dion, Canadians are also mad at Stephen Harper for his handling of the whole thing. Had the Governor General denied the Prime Minister's request to prorogue, we could now be looking at a coalition government led by the hapless Dion. We Conservatives were lucky. We Conservatives must not forget that.
This isn't to say the coalition was right, but it was technically proper. And while I don't agree with taking power via procedural wrangling, it was legal, and it could still occur in January. We Conservatives must not forget that.
I for one, do not welcome new Liberal/Socialist/Separatist Overlords, and would prefer to see the Prime Minister make a honest effort at reaching out towards the parties. Obviously we will not agree with many of their ideas, but there is common ground to be found with the Liberals. Even now the government is considering stimulus packages that are not very Conservative.
The mere act of publicly reaching out, and find this common ground will neutered the coalition. If the Conservatives don't act properly, and turn all partisan again Canadians may well support a coalition under Iggy. Public opinion polls have a Liberal party under Iggy very competitive with the Conservatives.
The Prime Minster must take responsibility for his actions. That is what a leader does. The Prime Minister must lead from the top, and set the tone of parliament. With a new Liberal leader (and by accounts a strong leader), we will not be blessed with an absent opposition.
Take aways from this whole debacle:
1. Don't be partisan all the time.
2. Consult the opposition on issues that have the potential to severely weaken, or even destroy your opponents.
3. Govern with all Canadians in mind.
4. Try to find common ground with the opposition parties. Be public about this, perhaps invite the opposition leaders for a weekly meeting to discuss the budget preparations, make sure the media knows about it.
5. Not everything has to be a wedge issue.
And for the record, I for one want to see the Liberal and other parties survive, a single party system is not democracy.
And yes, I am still a Conservative, but we must learn from our mistakes so we don't repeat them. The path to our majority lies in earning the trust of Canadians, and despite the public's reaction to the coalition, we didn't earn any trust from Canadians.
10 comments:
Canada First.
The LPC stopped a train wreck today, and punted the Dippers.
Things should cool down now.
PMSH had nothing to work with, Iggy should be a huge improvement.
PMSH made the first step forward to Iggy.
The interest rate drop will help alot stimulus wise. The auto union dude seemed pleased after his meeting with Minister Clement.
Small correction AC, Iggy as leader of the Libs was 5% lower than Cons,
another poll of Iggy leader of the coalition was only slightly better than the Dion coalition.
Thanks Wilson :)
5% is competitive, that ground can be made up in an election. The other poll I didn't see.
I agree, the coalition for now is dead weight around the Liberals. Hopefully, it will stay that way.
I wonder what affect the coalition has had on the Liberal brand? And if that damage would be long lasting.
I agree with your article. Contrary (sorry spelling?) to what the media & the oppostion says this political crisis was brought on by the opposition as the coalition was planned right after or even before the election. Canadians are furious.
Refer to this petition for right to vote on the coalition, but the most interesting are the comments beside the signatures (in the view signature area) The number of signatures are growing rapidly...now at 319,651 !!! Canadians from coast to coast have been signing it including Quebec.
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?CANADIAN&1
On the other hand this is the petition for the Coalition LOL
http://www.progressivecoalition.ca/form.php (32,465)
Not to mention all the Facebook groups.
The coalition won't fly. Canadians won't allow it to happen. If it is forced upon us. The opposition parties will never be forgiven.
The government just has to be careful...let the opposition hang themselves...present a budget that we know Canadians will like and govern for Canadians. The reward will be a majority.
Thanks Liz. I too suspect that the Liberals/NDP/Bloc starting making the coalition hammer weeks ago, but we still stuck our thumb out. :)
Ditch the partisanship, govern well, get read for the majority :)
The NDP and LPC just don't get it, it was they themselves that ran on a campaign of "leadership" to steer canada into the future.
BUT....when canadians made a free-will choice to re-elect Harper's team to run our democratic U.N. member Nation , these same yahoos didn't like the results and don't like it when a leader actually makes choices that they don't agree with.
Basically, the 3-Stooges think they must rescue us voters from ourselves because we're not as smart as a Liberal and be trusted with a democratic Election.
Iggy was for Iraq until he was against it
Iggy was for Israel's measured response to Hezballah until he was against it
Rae was for deficits until he was against it
Rae was for the NDP until he was against them
Rae was for the Cross-country Coalition Tour until he was against it
Do you really want these Elite eggheads in charge since Rae drove Ontario into a massive Debt and deficit to appease Unions , and Iggy left canada for about 28 years and now wants to be PM even though he attacked Dion before he supported him and now attacked him again.
Watch the CTV interview where Iggy talks about the "Neccesary Coalition" but not a "Coalition Neccesaryly" .
BTW,the 3-Stooges and 160+ MP's are said to have inked the Document to de-throne Harper and take power.
So if any 1 of them back out, can they be trusted for anything else in the Future that they may Sign , just ask Ontario about Dalton McFibber's pledge to NOT RAISE TAXES and then bring in a health care tax he later gave to GM and FORD to bail them out in Oakeville and Oshawa.
A vote for the Liberals is a vote for separatists, right?, or is it a vote for the Ndp is a vote for the Liberals??, or is it a vote for the Separatist a vote for the Liberals or Ndp..Boy am i confused now.What a campaign slogan the coalition is going to have.VOTE FOR ONE IS A VOTE FOR ALL.Libs ,NDP,Separatists..Vote for anyone of them and get the other two for free.
"Had the government proposed to phase out the subsidy rather then cut it out cold turkey this whole thing might have been avoided."
It has become obvious over the past week that this "coalition" was in the planning for weeks, if not months (I have a theory that it was being planned before the election and THAT is the reason Harper called the election).
So you are saying that by putting in the subsidy and strike clauses, the three oppositions got together and formed a government alternative in four days???? You should get together with the adoring Rosemary Thompson, because she was gleeful at that thought.
The Blame Harper crowd in this whole fiasco is trying hard to shift the blame from themselves given the stunning poll results and public backlash to what they thought would be a very popular move.
This coalition was a foregone conclusion - it was a matter of when they were going to spring their little trap. Harper just forced their hand, and therefore the planning behind it. Thank god he did, because if they had more time for planning, it would have been sprung on the Canadian people when it was too late to stop it.
Alberta Girl, that is only theory and conjecture. But you are missing the point. Harper goofed and allowed them to play that card.
Again, to make it painfully obvious, you can neuter the threat of the coalition by being less partisan, and more conciliatory. Govern as a Conservative, but not as overtly partisan Conservative. If we do this, then regardless of whether or not this coalition will survive, the coalition will lose even more public support, as the Conservatives will be looked to as governing in the best interests of the country.
Public opinion is fickle, and polls show that a plurality Canadians blame Harper. Let's be the clear choice, not the choice that angers Canadians less.
Anon@1:43, I never said I did.
anon cow...Canadians blame Harper??? You've been drinking the CBC propaganda water cooler again haven't you...
Any Canadian that watched the Harper interview, can recognize these hings take months to put together, and realizes parliament was going to shut down for Christmas 5 business days after Harper shut it down anyways will put 2 and 2 together and come up with the rotten apple being J Chretien, Ed Broadband, Boob Ray, and witless wonders Dion, Jack and Gilles who constructed this deal over the last several months... Harper got wind of it and called the election. They drafted that plan in <4 days....come on... Dion couldn't even conduct an interview in 3 attempts, Jack is still waiting in the kitchen for all those upset women Harper has been abusing and exploiting to show up and Gilles was still busy counting up his 1.95 a vote from the last Quebec election...er I mean Federal election.
here's a thought....if we won't eliminate the $1.95 we raise the money to an even $2 ... but you only get 0.20 per province your party actually campaigns in...and maybe you need to run in at least say 51% of the seats across Canada to qualify as an actual Federal party... that would put an end to the Bloc if they had to raise their own money...
if they're serious then the million people who voted for them can pony up $20 each and they'll live on forever with 20 million in the bank to run the big peacock blue machine...
Mr. Ed, go back and read the blog post. I am not disagreeing with any of the policy planks in the economic update.
Also, by your CBC comment are you assuming that I am a Liberal plant in the BTers?
In one of the polls I have seen, over 40% of Canadians blame Harper for this whole mess. That is not to say that they support the coalition, or want Harper to resign.
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