Dion threatens to fall on election sabre;
The Canadian Press reported Thursday that the Conservatives have drafted a throne speech aimed at forcing the Liberals into a politically embarrassing abandonment of its Kyoto accord commitments.
Sources told the news agency that the Mr. Harper government believes the Liberals are so desperate to avoid an election that they’ll accept a speech describing Kyoto climate-change targets as unattainable.
The throne speech will have to be put to a confidence vote in the House of Commons that could trigger an election if Mr. Dion joins other opposition leaders to defeat it.
One option for Mr. Dion to sidestep the issue would be to have the entire Liberal front bench vote against the speech while the backbenchers abstain.
Mr. Dion didn’t rule out such tactics Friday.
“We will read the throne speech and we will discuss about it between us, taking into account only the interest of Canadians,” he replied.
So, if putting his precious Kyoto pooch out of its misery isn’t a glove thrown hard enough for Dion to step up and vote down the throne speech, then what is?
Here’s where our trusty readers come in. In the comments, share your suggestions as to what juicy bait Stephen Harper might include in the throne speech guaranteed to draw the rats out into the open.
For example; “In recognition of the constitutional right of provinces to control their resources, along with the critical need to secure reliable sources of energy for Canadians, the Government of Canada will exempt oil sands development from federal environmental and regulatory oversight.”
That should help get you started.
Wow! This could be called ‘Sleepless in SDA-land”!
Totally agree with sf@3:17am.
And as a reluctant ‘union payer’ (I do not call myself a member because I did not choose to belong)I also agree with shawn @9:24 even tho I don’t see Dion getting invoved in that since he probably has no clue about unions.
Check out the “Working Families Coalition” who presented many ads praising McGuinty during our recent provincial election. Their funding was traced to the teachers and other unions.
This is going to be fun watching the Libs and Dion squirm….again.
Good point Shawn on the unions. I was just typing that as my first point when I got a phone call. Always one of my pet peeves with the heavy public unions both provincial and federal.
My second request would be to pay each Native currently on a reserve a fixed sum of money say a $100k and eliminate the Bureau of Indian Affairs. No further payments of any kind to reserves.
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=3679
Ipsos-Reid commentary on their result.
The CTV graphic looks good, but check out the 2 graphic breakdowns on ipsos’s site 🙂
I noticed CTV did not report the poll on the 11pm news BUT spent minimum 6 minutes praising the Goracle, ending with the cheering squad begging him to run for prez.
What does the ‘C’ in CTV stand for???
ET, you make an interesting point about from moving from “hidden agenda” to “bully.” Anyway, here’s a thought – let’s respect the BNA and Constitution Act, where provincial juristictions are spelled out – health, education for instance. End the usurpation of provincial powers by the federal government. Federal input should be simply consultative, not giant bureaucracies and duplication. Dept of Finance is one of the most powerful ministries yet has very few staff comparatively.
I would caution Mr Harper to be careful not to “jump the shark” on this. My advice – govern, govern, govern. Act like you are in an election campaign, except you get to enact your promises immediately. Go with you program Mr Harper and let the opposition bluster, cry, whatever.
IMHO, if Dion goes ahead with his plan to have backbenchers abstain from Throne Speech vote, he will be severely criticized as basically agreeing that he is unelectable. Interesting times ahead indeed; can’t wait for gnashing of teeth of opposition right up to point vote passes.
1. The right to keep arms of all kinds (particularly firearms).
2. The right to own property trumps all government powers of expropriation.
3. Castle doctrine. As in, a man’s home is his castle.
4. My personal favorite, across the board tax cut. Biiiig tax cut.
If Dion still won’t budge, we can start going with things like term limits for MPs, elected Senate, no government money for lobbyists, repeal the Canada Health Act, dissolve the Ministry of Indian Affairs, no more equalization payments, revive the Avro Arrow for the pure hell of it, triple the military budget, fire every Liberal appointee in the entire government, and maybe even buy some freakin’ helicopters.
Put it all in the throne speech and then start a mega 24/7 parliament session, confidence vote on every single bill. Get ‘er DONE!
Man, they should be paying me a consultant’s fee for this stuff.
All great suggestions here, especially gutting the funding to CBC. I’d love to see them run a “beg-a-thon” with the dollars barely coming in.
Please add strong language affirming economic and cultural ties to the USA and promoting continued robust trade across the longest undefened border.
I’d love to flush out all the anti-american snobs currently in line at the Peace bridge to by stuff at Target!
oops! Mt bad.
That is undefended border!
Phantom:
One thing I’m expecting is a HUGE income tax cut as a cornerstone of the throne speech and an emphasis that individuals know best how to spend their hard-earned dollars.
There’s going to be a huge surplus and with an economy running at near full employment, the best social program, worthless wealth transfer programs can now be scrapped.
Let the big-givernment opposition run AGAINST tax cuts and see how far it get them.
Much talk about bilingualism and CO2. But ALL WRONG.
The increased CO2 has produced an increase in bilingualism; this has a positive feedback term as we all know that it takes 50% more breaths to say the same thing in French, thus a 50% increase in CO2, therefore more French, more CO2.
Oh NO!! We are all going to die of CO2 poisoning in an incoherent babble of Francais! Runs around in circles waving les bras dans l’air.
Unions: In case you don’t know this, in Vancouver the outside workers are evidently all employed in the private sector while they “strike” and are making more money than before the strike. How’s that for a bad incentive structure.
Public sector unions: No right to strike, pay and benefits set in accordance with average gains in the private sector on an annualized basis. Just as government bonds have lower yields than corporates due to their lower risk, public sector remuneration should be set slightly below that of the riskier private sector.
There should never be a union in a monopoly government service provider.
Back on topic, I’d like to hear:
The Government therefore will implement a universal day care program, which will provide care and support to all Canadian citizens and refugee claimants, irrespective of race, religion, age or gender.
Be it resolved that all public sector unions, and their management, refer labour disputes to binding arbitration, without need for strike.
It used to be that way until Mike Pearson needed to win an election and gave civil service right to strike, which they didn’t have before.
Like returning provincial powers to premiers, just putting things back the way they were intended in the first place before Louis St Laurent left office (I know the fifties were such a bad time, what with communities helping each other out, with compassion from other than government programs, with people acutally having high regard for politicians).
I’m looking forward to the next few months, politically. Especially seeing lala citroen boil alive in front of everyones eyes. And the entrenchment of property rights. And the Ecubed senate.
maybe mcguilty will trump it all and star in mcpsycho V
Let’s allow families to file joint income returns.
Oh, and grant human rights to the unborn.
That should do it.
These are all fantastic suggestions. I join the rest of you in your joy at the current situation that the opposition (particularly, the Bloc and the Liberals) finds itself in.
I’d like to see formal restrictions on federal spending power; Tax cuts; greater tax breaks to families, and couples who choose to start families, in particular; Extension of the Afghan mission.
In all, I would like to see an end to all programs, bureaucracies, etc. that represent the myth that Canadian values are tied to bloated, expensive, inefficient government programs. So, basically, the CBC, CWB, Canada Health Act, Gun Registry…the list goes on, and on, and on.
Things NOT to spend the money on…
1. Lieberal-style Ad Campaigns
2. A Long ***Knife*** Registry
3. More Free Drugs for Addicts
4. David Suzuki / Al Gore
5. Liberal-friendly NGO’s / friends
6. A National Identity Card system (like the UK)
7. Anything with the word Trudeau on it
8. Jack Layton’s return fare from Kabul
9. Media misinformation outlets
10. Changing Stephane’s name to Celine, so that all the Liberals can sing from the same songbook…
A little insight and reality into Dion’s simplistic “my corporate tax cut is bigger than Harper’s corporate tax cut” : This is a good read:
http://www.jameslaxer.com/2007/10/stephane-dion-champion-of-corporate-tax.html
Throne speech suggestions to box in Dion:
1) Any MP who misses 2 confidence votes without a verified medical alibi will forfeit their seat, salary, benefits and pension. The seat will be reassigned at the pleasure of the PM.
2) Toronto will henceforth be known as “Harpertown”.
3) “Neuter Kyoto” bumperstickers mandatory on all government vehicles.
4) Preston Manning to replace the Queen on the loonie. Tom Flanagan on the fiver.
piperpaul @ 4:42, that is a good idea.
Leave the option as “Yes” by default to ensure that people making the choice have actually decided to do so. OMG! This would never work!
Lorraine:
James Laxer? Waffle NDPer?
The payoff came near the bottom when he used the term ‘progessive’ Canadians.
We all know what that means, don’t we? Like the secular progressives in the US, who are NDP wannabes and are hijacking the Democratic Party.
It’s the moral relativist, anything goes, if it feels good do it crowd.
Gotta admit, that philosophy of no personal responsibility seemed attractive in my younger day.
Thankfully I’ve matured.
I agree with spicydoc that MP’s should not be allowed to miss work any more than joe citizen.
Ryan: You’d need 3 carriers; one for each coast (“coast-to-coast-to-coast” makes me want to throw up in anger) and one in refit/maintenance.
The current CF-18s are carrier-capable, unless I’m mistaken.
The only thing news such as this will accomplish is to wake Canadians into the reality of what the words majority government and Harper mean.
From Garth Turner
–>My name’s Garth Turner, and as a former lifelong Conservative, I know Stephen Harper better than most people. Like Tom Flanagan, I know where he’s headed.
Flanagan has been Mr. Harper’s main strategist for years, and his new book – which I’ve just finished – should be required reading for all Canadians worried about honesty and truth in government.
It confirms a concept called ‘incremental Conservativism’ – a plan for a right-wing government to hoodwink voters by making popular, moderate promises and then, once in majority, to unleash a pure, hardcore fundamentalist agenda.
Why would Tom Flanagan admit this in print? Because he’s telling Mr. Harper’s social conservative supporters to be patient, to lie in the weeds, and wait for unsuspecting Canadians to give this minority government a majority mandate.
My opposition to this agenda that the majority of my constituents do not want is what drove me from the Conservative caucus. I joined Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party to stand up for the agenda of tolerance and moderation and ethics in Ottawa. And now we need you.
All Canadians need to be told what the stakes are in the next election.
Hey alby..Loser Turner even made Taber’s “NOT Hot” list for that garbage..gotta be bad for Jane to throw down on a good Lib like Garth…weasel!
My two cents: collapse all taxpayer funded, public sector pensions as one other item in a long list, already mentioned above.
I would like to see PMSH offer nothing but good government and when the Libs, NDs and Bloc bring the Conservatives down the Conservatives will have all the ammo compared to the empty mags of the opposition.
PiperPaul at October 13, 2007 9:49 PM / Ryan at October 13, 2007 10:24 AM
What exactly do you imagine that we need these aircraft carriers for that coastal patrol aircraft and land based aircraft can’t do. Other than to waste tax dollars that is?
and Ryan what is so significant about the number 100,000? You must have a reason for picking this particular number. Why not 90,000 or 110,000?
PiperPaul, just why would we want to use the F-18s on carriers? These are getting a bit to old for throwing onto carrier decks, don’t you think? Let’s face it the CF-18 is now older than the CF-101, CF-104 and the CF-5 that the F-18s replaced. Do you remember the Conservatives of the late seventies screaming how our ageing fighters needed replacing? Today the CF-18 pilots wouldn’t stand a chance against the newer fighters of the US or Russia.
So why isn’t Harper seeking to replace the F-18s now? Yes Harper keeps saying we need to protect our sovereignty, but who is it exactly are we protecting our sovereignty from? It seems it’s the Americans are the greatest threat, as they have proven by openly sailing warships through Canadian arctic waters without bothering to give us advanced notice.
Without effective fighter aircraft our coasts are open to whoever wants to violate our waters on all coasts. So why isn’t Harper looking for new fighters? Maybe he doesn’t want to offend the nation that is the greatest threat to Canada, the United States?
A look back http://www.pugwashgroup.ca/events/documents/2006/2006.02.22-Griffiths.article.htm
So what happened to those icebreakers? I guess S.H. just doesn’t want to anger George.
Lorraine: I see why you linked to that particular column, because Laxer is correct that the Liberals aren’t going to win any votes by moving to the right.
The article caught me off-guard though, because I wasn’t familiar with James Laxer, I thought he was a conservative. Anyway, that was an interesting read. Laxer sounds like he’s butt-hurt because Layton is trying to position the NDP to actually…you know…win elections sometime in the future.
Sean at October 13, 2007 12:54 AM
Bwhahahahaha!
Lorraine: I see why you linked to that particular column, because Laxer is correct that the Liberals aren’t going to win any votes by moving to the right.
The article caught me off-guard though, because I wasn’t familiar with James Laxer, I thought he was a conservative. Anyway, that was an interesting read. Laxer sounds like he’s butt-hurt because Layton is trying to position the NDP to actually…you know…win elections sometime in the future.
albatros39a said @ 10:24 PM “…a plan for a right-wing government to hoodwink voters by making popular, moderate promises and then, once in majority, to unleash a pure, hardcore fundamentalist agenda.”
Let us, for arguments sake, grant that this is true. So? If the electorate does not like the results, another “Kim Campbell” episode will occur and the Libs will be back in power again for a long time. You got a problem with that?
Or do you think Harper’s going to do a “PM for life” on us?
My, my…what passes for thinking on the sinister end of the politic spectrum is truly amazing.
“I joined Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party to stand up for the agenda of tolerance and moderation and ethics in Ottawa.” Garth Turner
Give me a bloody break!
I think some kind of resolution that all USA-bashers like Albatross, Farley Mowatt (is he still living?), Maude Barlow and the Council of Communists, all heads of Unions and the rest of the smug, “we’re kinder and gentler than them, and we don’t carry guns” crowd, be forced to go live near the Israel/Lebanon border, instead of the safe haven of Toronto.
Actually, now that I think about it, the Israel/Lebanon border may be safer, and definitely more interesting….
Lorraine: I see why you linked to that particular column, because Laxer is correct that the Liberals aren’t going to win any votes by moving to the right.
The article caught me off-guard though, because I wasn’t familiar with James Laxer, I thought he was a conservative. Anyway, that was an interesting read. Laxer sounds like he’s butt-hurt because Layton is trying to position the NDP to actually…you know…win elections sometime in the future.
“The federal government passes a law which allows us to retroactively prosecute people who — while in an esteemed position of trust in society like university professors — had sex with 15-year old male prostitutes.”
Bill Graham said: “That is unfair”.
When I said Canada needs two aircraft carriers, I suggesting Canada needs two small carriers along the lines of those owned by Spain and Italy and under construction for Australia and South Korea. They carry around 10 VSTOL fighter aircraft and 15-20 helicopters.
This will give Canada a small ability to project power in conflicts, and these vessels would serve as excellent platforms/command ships during disaster relief operations. Base one on each coast and have one at sea usually or ready to go to sea within a few days.
These things could be used in the Arctic in ice free waters since they would definitely give Canada a presence.
It’s not just the winning, it’s the tearing apart.
Trudeaupia must die in such a way that it can never raise its ugly head again.
The best suggestion so far on this thread is what Phantom said:
“confidence vote on every single bill.”
Okanagan…I get your point but saying ‘safe haven of Toronto’ needs to be clarified. I know you meant in relation to living in Israel, but have you read the murder stats on that city lately?
The ‘Ban the knife’ crowd is gathering as we speak.
Or not…city folks need their knives, and know how to use them responsibly.
Bluetech,
Exactly…Toronto politicians refuse to acknowledge the huge ethnically based violence problems, and there will be more to come as the city evolves into more and more ethnic ghettos.
Muslim only neighbourhood up in Vaughan? Give me a break.
BINGO!!! SF…you hit the nail on the head. I would start giving money to the conservatives again if Harper did this.
More seriously, Dion’s four demands were (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070926/throne_speech_070926/20070926?hub=QPeriod)
“Dion said the Oct. 16 speech must include Bill C-30 on climate change, make strides on ending poverty and helping families, address international economic concerns and provide clarity on Afghanistan”
Therefore, in the throne speech:
-abandon Kyoto
-do not address poverty and family specifically, but instead cut taxes immensely (income and corporate and one more point off the GST) and devolving spending power to the provinces and restrict federal intervention in provincial jurisdictions
-kill the wheat board and the gun registry
-end the subsidy to the CBC
-reform the senate
-more crime bills
-address measures to affirm sovereignty of the north
-measures to address cross-border issues with the US
And I would add increase provincial autonomy as Harper has already alluded to.
Only two of the many options above would meet the criterion necessary – that is they would truly smoke out the LP and the other opposition parties to vote against them or actually let meaningful change happen, while not sabotaging the carefully constructed moderate path to a majority mandate that SH has constucted thusfar.
Things like kyoto and tax cuts Dion can dodge by having the back benchers call in sick and nothing of consequence will actually have happened.
Destroying the CBC, terminating the Indian Act etc., while all things of great merit, would also bring about the trouncing of the CP at the polls in Ont and/or Quebec.
The two items that might be substantive enough to be designated worthy of a confidence vote would be the termination of the Wheat Board and a re-introduction of the election of senators bill – this time with more teeth and the express tone at its introduction that the the senate will not be a allowed to sabotage its passing reading in that house.
The Wheat Board termination would bring with it the delicious uncovering of yet more scandalous liberal doings and pork.
The CP has to tread carefully here so as not to avoid the label of being a bully. Pulling the wings off of liberal flies might be a pleasant diversion, but it looks cruel and juvenile to many of those who witness it.
And why not this whole global warming is based on junk science and pure speculation as well as computer simulations and our senate refused to ratifi the kyoto treaty we dont need the treaty its a lie and afruad and turn us over to the control of liberal big goverment leftists