The Canadian Rant

WILL THE AFGHAN MISSION TOPPLE THE GOVERNMENT? Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said yesterday that if there aren't any serious changes made to Canada's efforts in Afghanistan than he will put forth a non-confidence motion and attempt to topple the Conservative minority government. If they do manage to table a non-confidence motion than they are obviously going to need some help in order for it to pass. The Bloc would need 155 votes in order for it to pass of which they would only hold 51 assuming that all Bloc members voted against the government. Jack Layton and the NDP, who have repeatedly said they are against the Afghan mission, would probably support the Bloc adding another 29 votes to their count, now at 80. They are going to need to persuade Stephane Dion and the Liberals to join them on this effort, at least 75 of them anyway. Dion has said he will not make up his mind on the issue until he actually sees the motion that Duceppe has proposed. Earlier on this year wh...

THE NDP: TRAPPED IN THEIR OWN IMAGE Party images are very important in regards to Canadian politics. Different parties bring different issues or problems to your mind just by hearing their name. And these party images are very important in determining who will win a given election and what issues are at the forefront in Canada and which are on the backburners. The New Democratic Party, just like other parties, has always had a party image which has both positive and negative connotations for them. The problem with the NDP in particular is that it seems to be trapped in its particular image and will not be successful until it is able to shake it off. In the essay, “Perceptions of Party Competence in the 1997 Election” in Party Politics in Canada Nadeau, Blais, Gidengil, and Nevitte argue that certain parties are associated as being able to best deal with certain issues. Some of these are easier to recognize than others. The Bloc Quebecois has the ability to best defend the interests...

THE LONGEST CONSERVATIVE MINORITY GOVERNMENT... EVER As I pointed out the other day, as of October 29th, the current Harper government is the longest Conservative minority government of all time. That is not a fact that any Conservative should be bragging about by any means. Harper became Prime Minister on Feb. 6, 2006 making this past Wednesday the 10 month mark in his reign. When the Conservatives first took office someone told me that it would only be for 18 months. And while it may be less than 8 months before the next election is called Harper will be in office for much longer than that. I know that back in October I posted a rant about how Harper's time as government was going but today I just wanted to talk about what they have actually done so far in the ten months they have been around. Say what you want about the whole Quebec being a 'nation within Canada' and the same-sex marriage issue, I'm talking about everything else that the Conservatives have done since...

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE MOTION VOTED DOWN IN A MOSTLY FREE VOTE Yesterday, as promised, a vote was held in the House of Commons on a motion introduced by the Conservatives on whether or not we should reopen the same-sex marriage issue. This was a vote that was promised during the Conservative election campaign. It was a vote that was supposed to be a free vote where all MPs, government and opposition, could vote however they felt. For the most part this was achieved yesterday as the Conservative motion was voted down by a count of 175-123 in the House of Commons. I think that the only thing that would have made this better was if the NDP and Bloc Quebecois would have let their members vote freely as the Conservatives and Liberals did. Harper has said that he accepts the decision and will not revisit the issue in the future because all he wanted was a free vote in Parliament unlike the votes that occurred in 1999 and last year. Stephane Dion, who of course voted against the motion, was still ...

INSERT RANDOM FACT HERE... Did you know that Stephen Harper's current Conservative minority government is currently the longest Conservative minority government in Canadian history and it has been since October? Doesn't say a whole lot about Conservative minority governments of the past but does say something about the current one. - DCM

DION BUCKLES UNDER THE PRESSURE Well it seems that Stephane Dion has said that he will allow the Liberals to freely vote on the upcoming same-sex marriage issue. This is good news because that means that there will be more MPs who are voting freely on the issue. The problem still lies that the NDP and the Bloc are probably both going to vote against it and will not have a free vote but if the two major political parties are voting freely it is better than just one. My problem with Stephane Dion is still that he doesn't want the issue to even be reopened saying that by reopening it we will be defying the Charter. This is not the case at all because when the vote occurred last time it was not a free vote as I have pointed out many times before which I think is horrible democratic practice. I don't particularly care so much about the outcome of the vote but as long as the vote does take place and is a free one. Of course I have my own opinions on the whole same-sex marriage issue ...

A FREE VOTE ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE... NOT IF DION CAN HELP IT One of the campaign promises that Stephen Harper made leasing up to the recent federal election was that there would be a free vote in the House of Commons on the issue of same-sex marriage. Some people are thinking that a vote has already taken place so why revisit the issue and think that Stephen Harper is trying to stop same-sex marriage from happening. However, all that he is really trying to do is have a free vote on the issue, something that was unable to happen during the reign of the Liberals. When the vote took place the last time parties were forced to vote along partisan lines and may not have been able to truly vote their own conscience or that of their constituents. I think that the most ironic thing here is that in 1999 when there was a vote on same-sex marriage under Jean Chretien, Stephane Dion voted against it. My, the times have changed. While Harper may be opposed to the idea of same-sex marriage I still thi...

WHO IS STEPHANE DION? When you look at the 8 candidates that entered the Liberal leadership convention over the weekend you could see a vast array of backgrounds. You had a former Progressive Conservative, a former NDP premier, a political newbie, etc. It looked promising for the Liberals that they were finally going to be able to initiate some change at the helm. So why in the hell did the choose Stephane Dion? Out of all of the possible options Dion is the closest to the old Liberal ways under Jean Chretien and Paul Martin. Dion is no newcomer to Canadian federal politics. He has served as a cabinet minister for both Chretien and Martin and knows a thing or two when it comes to the House of Commons. The big focus of the leadership campaign that I saw was a focus on change. They wanted to choose a new leader who would help rebuild and unify the party and to give it a new look as it goes up against Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. But than they go and choose more of the same. Dio...

STEPHANE DION, LEADER OF THE LIBERAL PARTY OF CANADA

AND THE WINNER IS... STEPHANE DION The votes have been cast and the results are in. Stephane Dion has been chosen as the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. After going all the way to a 4th ballot to determine a winner Dion has emerged on top of the heap as the replacement for Paul Martin as leader. Dion ended up with 54.7% of the votes on the 4th ballot beating out front runner Michael Ignatieff with 45.3% of the vote. After barely placing 3rd in the 1st ballot Dion was able to overcome clear favourites Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae and now has the reigns of the party. So what does this mean for the future of the Liberal party? It means that Stephane Dion has become the face of the Liberal party and probably has inherited one of the toughest jobs on the planet. He now faces the task of trying to rebuild the Liberal party and contest the Conservatives in the nest election, whenever that may be. The common theme that I saw come out of the leadership convention is that no matter w...

A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER It has been awhile since my keystrokes have graced this page, not since Oct. 17 I believe. It is now December and I assure you now it will be a December to remember. And not because of that present that you did, or didn't get on Christmas morning. The month starts off with the Liberal leadership race which is taking place as I write this and I promise there will be more on this in a moment. Following the leadership convention there is new life in the same-sex marriage question in Canada. As well we have already seen the recognition of Quebec as a 'nation within Canada'. It is December 2nd and until things settle down for Christmas there will be a lot to say. The Liberal leadership convention is taking place as I write in Montreal. It started yesterday with the 1st ballot. For those of you not following I will recap what has happened up until now. There were 8 candidates on the 1st ballot on Friday night. To clarify for everyone a candidate must receiv...