So this has been a very interesting few weeks in politics for Canadians, at least those who take time from their busy schedules to bother watching or reading the news. The formation of a coalition Government seems to have Canadians across the country split into two factions, those for the possibility of change and those against. In the current volatile economic climate where as of Dec 5th we reported the biggest job loss since 1982, it seems the general agreed upon undertone from both camps is anger.
With so much turmoil going on in this Country what has our government decided to do?, Why close the doors of Parliament for two months of course!.I may not be an economist but seeing as every other country is sitting down and trying to enact some form of damage control I cant readily believe this is whats best for our Country. So what has occurred in the past few weeks to take Canada from an economic crisis to a political one?.
Our tale begins with the November 27 economic update in the house of commons. It was here that Jim Flaherty revealed the fiscal update and the Conservative Governments latest "plans", which included banning civil servants from striking for the next 3 years, preventing women from fighting for pay equity, selling off some of Canada's government assets and of course removing public funding to the opposition parties of this country. It was here the conservative government waved the red flags of war. The Conservative governments current fiscal update had no economic stimulus package and it seems the only plans revealed that day were plans to set back labourers rights, women's rights and eliminate opposing parties for pure corporate and political gain . Unlike previous "I dare you to call an election" fear tactics used by Mr. Harper this time the opposition chose to rally the troops and face these issues with a responding battle cry "COALITION GOVERNMENT". The three opposition parties then decided to call for a vote of non-confidence, Which Mr. Harper managed to have delayed from December 2nd to December 8th.
After this announcement the following few days were filled with Conservative Propaganda claiming the formation of a coalition government is an undemocratic coup( apparently Mr. Harper doesn't realise that this is not American Politics). Critics of Harper believe he has intentionally attempted to play on Canadians lack of political knowledge as opposed to American politics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_parliament
In fact Mr. Harper himself had been in talks with both the NDP and the Bloc to form a coalition government in 2004.
http://renaud.ca/wordpress/?tag=canadian-flag
As well as attempting to mislead Canadians about our own democratic system he also played the divide and conquer card, attempting to turn this situation into a Separatist Conspiracy to bring down Canada, Mr. Harper even went so far as to claim that the coalition would not sign their agreement in front of the Canadian flag(Lie).
"Yesterday, as part of the culmination of the machinations of the leader of the NDP, we had these three parties together, forming this agreement, signing a document and they wouldn't even have the Canadian flag behind them, They had to be photographed without it because a member of their coalition does not even believe in the country." ~Stephen Harper
The Governor General was summoned from overseas to help to settle this mess for concerned Canadians, she ultimately decided after a two hour talk with Mr. Harper that a proroguement of Parliament was what was best for Canada at this time. Therefore the doors of Parliament were closed until late January and Mr.Harper was able to dodge the vote. For a man who pulled the undemocratic card out first it seems hypocritical that he would attempt to bloc a democratic vote of the house. One can only hope that the coalition is ready and able to make the vote in two months time. That is if the Liberal party can learn to keep their emotions in check and take a page from the conservatives book-stand united and support your leader no matter how much you may or may not agree with him. Several Liberal Mps began to shoot their mouths off after the Governor Generals decision and that may have ultimately hurt the coalition in the eyes of the public, we know Mr. Harper is sure to use their moments of weakness as a way to discredit the Coalition in the new year.
Why do I support this coalition government? Because 62% of the voting public chose parties that were not the conservatives. These parties are opting to work together therefore the majority of Canadians elected officials are going to be the ones making the choices for this country. Rather than the 38% who only had one right wing party to throw their vote at in the first place. Lets remember that your vote went towards your local Mp not to one Prime minister, therefore its your Mp that is fighting for you and your needs, I would love to see the majority of Canadians Mps out there making a difference for them. It seems more democratic to me that the majority of Parliament work together to make positive change and keep the other parties in check to avoid corruption rather than have one party act as chief and commander for the entire country. It is a system that works well all over the world (including Israel, so if their parties can make peace in Parliament I doubt the Bloc and the Liberal/Ndp will fair any worse).
