Kevin Laliberte
Editor, Smoky River Express

The political doo-doo has hit the fan in Ottawa. And the Harper government is pulling out all the stops to halt a radical, Liberal-led coalition which threatens to topple the present Conservative minority government as early as next month. Yes, as ludicrous as it sounds, Canadians could be heading back to the polls yet again. That’s one of the distinct possibilities facing Governor General Michäelle Jean, who opted to suspend the current parliamentary session last week in an effort to suppress what most people are calling a political meltdown in the House of Commons. Talk of a coalition government was triggered when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered a controversial fiscal update Nov. 27, which didn’t sit well with oppositions parties. It resulted in the Tories being blasted for a financial plan which included ended public subsidies to political parties (a move that could have severed the fiscal jugular of all opposition parties) and failing to provide a stimulus package for the slumping economy. What we’re really looking at when one reads between the lines is the start of a parliamentary turf war spurred on by Liberal leader Stephane Dion. The end result has seen the Liberals and New Democratic Party attempting to bully their way into the picture by trying to seize the reins of power from Harper with the help of the separatist-led Bloc Quebecois. Dion has advised the Governor General he has the confidence of the Commons to form a government. What he doesn’t have, however, is the confidence of the Canadian public – something which isn’t exactly sitting well with many Canadians. Oh, there was plenty in the form of varying comments from opinionated voters last week about this most recent federal fall-out. Some Canadians referred to the new alliance of the Liberal/NDP/Bloc and its plans to topple the Harper government as democracy at its best, while others say it smacks of high treason. Dion was recently quoted as saying “In the past, as much as Liberals may have disagreed with the Conservatives and the NDP, at least we knew that we shared a common belief in Canada. Today... this is not the case.” He couldn’t have been more right. On the flip side of the coin, most Western Canadians supporters of Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada are livid with the recent parliamentary uprising, referring to it as a significant slap in the face. Many Conservative-minded Canadians feel that taking time away from their jobs and family to vote this past October was a complete waste of time given the end result. They’re also sick and tired of their hard-earned tax dollars being wasted on elections (especially during the present economic crisis) when the country’s Members of Parliament can’t seem to play nice together in their political sandbox. The last thing they want to see is a Dion jump into the saddle as leader of this nation by assuming power – a process which they argue completely ignores the will of the people. The harsh reality of the situation, regardless of which side of the political fence you stand on, is the Conservative Party of Canada was NOT elected by the majority of Canadians in this past October’s federal election and, as a minority government, MUST maintain the confidence of the house in order to remain in power. That’s clearly not happening right now. By getting his wish for prorogation in the House, Harper has essentially bought his minority government some time to take a second kick at the cat in terms of coming up with effective spending strategies which meet majority approval in the House. Failure to achieve that support, however, could mark the end Harper’s rein as Canada’s Prime Minister whether we like it or not.

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