Friday, December 05, 2008

torn

Yesterday, prime minister Harper asked the Governor General of Canada to prorogue parliament, despite the bad image it gives him. As he said, he was willing to take any legal measure to keep the government going. But on the other hand, in my opinion, the opposition coalition tried to stir things up a little too soon. I mean at the least the economic situation is tight and we just spent millions on an election!
Think of it, there's the Bloc Quebecois who basically supports mayhem and Harper just calls them the separatist although they have somewhat softened that tone. I can't say I disagree with him on that.
Then there is the NDP, who until yesterday were friends of the Conservatives and gave Harper the confidence of a majority government. I really don't understand Layton's move in getting with the coalition because he was a lot closer to Harper before and after the recent election and then he woke up on Wednesday and was buddies with Dion!
But the biggest and baddest of them all are the Liberals. I admired Paul Martin both as a minister and as the prime minister. When he stepped down there was no one to step into his position, the Liberals had no leader. On the other hand Steven Harper, despite the fact that I don't trust him, emerged as a strong leader. I think the quality of the televised messages from Harper and Dion (without even listening to the content) showed how much more organized and able the Conservatives are at this point in time.
The recent election showed the lowest level of Liberal support and of course everyone knew who was to blame. Now don't go blaming it on the accent, didn't everyone love Chrétien? It's his lack of leadership and his poor communication skills that repel people, even the Liberals themselves have admitted it time and time again. Dion is the type of guy you would put in charge of a museum, not a government.
So as far as the coalition goes, I don't support it at all. Two parties who have different objectives along with the separatist and no leader to pull them together isn't going to do Canada much good. Especially with the difficult financial situation we are facing. They might have had a chance if Dion was wise enough to let Layton lead. It goes without saying that I have never and will never approve of Harper and his politics, but right now he is the lesser of two evil.
All of this being said, suspending parliament seemed like a very extreme measure to me. My initial reaction was that Michaëlle Jean will not approve of it. After thinking about it a little more though it just seems very unconventional but most likely the correct move ... all of the controversy goes to show that even old Canada can stir things up a little. Now all we have to do is wait until the end of January to see what will become of Harper's government ...

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