CanPol: Gomery and a Looming Federal Election

[Agathon]

Not so soon, comrade.

Do you think the 4 billion for social programs is to be spent in the next fiscal year? Harr, harr, oh ye of little experience with Canadian federal politics...

You think I care about that crap. It's pissing in the wind.

I couldn't care less about what the NDP gets as long as Harper is kept out. And didn't he spit the dummy today.

By the end of the year when the enquiry absolves the present government of wrongdoing, the Liberals will sweep back into power, and life will get back to normal.

[notyoueither]

I'm not sure how this is all going to play out.

Layton may score points for trying to keep things going, or he may lose them by getting himself tangled up in trying to preserve a government that more and more Canadians come to detest with every passing day of testimony before Gomery.

The Conservatives may get caned in Ontario for forcing the fall of the government when they move non-confidence next week, or they may be selected as the only possible option left as more and more people come to detest the Liberal Party of Canada with every passing day of testimony before Gomery.

Either way, suggesting that the Liberals are anywhere close to back to normal within six months should take serious quantities of substances that divorce the mind from reality.

[Agathon]

Either way, suggesting that the Liberals are anywhere close to back to normal within six months should take serious quantities of substances that divorce the mind from reality.

Martin is right. Everyone should wait for the enquiry to finish. Then people can have their say.

[notyoueither]

And damn. Federalism seems to be becoming a casualty in Quebec.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/04/27/sovereignty-poll050427.html

Poll finds sovereignty support rising in Quebec
Last Updated Wed, 27 Apr 2005 22:40:52 EDT
CBC News

MONTREAL - A new poll shows support for sovereignty among Quebecers has surpassed 50 per cent, the highest level in the province in seven years.

But the leader of the Bloc Québécois said he is not taking anything for granted.

"It is our duty to convince Quebecers on a daily basis that the best people to defend their interests in Ottawa are members of the Bloc Québécois and that the best solution for the future of Quebec is for Quebec to be a country in its own right," Gilles Duceppe told reporters in Montreal on Wednesday.

"But polls will not give us that," he added.

The poll conducted by Léger Marketing for the Globe and Mail and Le Devoir newspapers showed 54 per cent of decided respondents supported sovereignty if it included an economic and political partnership with Canada.

That's the same question asked during the Oct. 30, 1995 referendum that saw Quebecers reject sovereignty by a slim margin – 50.6 per cent to 49.4 per cent.

However, it appears the rise in support for sovereignty is a reflection of anger towards the Liberals, the Globe and Mail said.

Roughly 37 per cent of people who answered said the government's role in the sponsorship scandal contributed to their decision to support sovereignty.

An inquiry by Justice John Gomery is looking into allegations that the government of former prime minister Jean Chrétien funnelled millions of public dollars to Liberal-friendly ad firms to raise Ottawa's profile in Quebec following the 1995 referendum.

"We are not responsible for the Liberals' lack of morality or the lack of strength of the Conservatives," Duceppe said. "Quebecers will make their own choice and we will respect their choice. We will not impose anything on Canadians and Canada has no reason to impose anything on Quebecers."

According to the survey published Wednesday, 76 per cent of people felt betrayed by the actions of the federal Liberals and Chrétien in the wake of the close referendum.

The latest polls suggest support for sovereignty is at its highest in the province since 1998. Similarly worded polls over the past year have gauged support for separation from 44 to 49 per cent.

When asked if voting for sovereignty meant they still wanted Quebec to be part of Canada, 56 per cent said yes. Forty per cent said no, while four per cent didn't reply.

Almost half of respondents – 49 per cent – said they believe Quebec will someday be a sovereign country, while the same amount support holding another referendum.

Léger polled 1,008 voters between April 21 and 24. The results are considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Freekin' Tories better get their act together in Quebec, pronto.

I've heard some rumblings about high profile people joining the Tories. Is that true?

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Agathon

Either way, suggesting that the Liberals are anywhere close to back to normal within six months should take serious quantities of substances that divorce the mind from reality.

Martin is right. Everyone should wait for the enquiry to finish. Then people can have their say.

Pfft. This is a parliamentary democracy.

The people will decide when they need to have a say.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by notyoueither
And damn. Federalism seems to be becoming a casualty in Quebec.

Yeah. I've been nervous about this for a while.

My hope is that it's fickle separatism that will peter out pretty quickly.

[Agathon]

Pfft. This is a parliamentary democracy.

The people will decide when they need to have a say.

What kind of crap-ass school did you go to? Parliament gets to say if there will be an early election, not schmucks like you, KH or Ben.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Agathon

Pfft. This is a parliamentary democracy.

The people will decide when they need to have a say.

What kind of crap-ass school did you go to? Parliament gets to say if there will be an early election, not schmucks like you, KH or Ben.

But elections are FUN!

If owned my own country we'd have elections every year.

[KrazyHorse]

It seems like we might just get your wish, Jimmy.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Agathon

Pfft. This is a parliamentary democracy.

The people will decide when they need to have a say.

What kind of crap-ass school did you go to? Parliament gets to say if there will be an early election, not schmucks like you, KH or Ben.

Yeah, but it sounded good when I said it...

Seriously though, if the constituents of the Bloc and Tories were not screaming for an election, there would be none.

Public opinion does have a very large place in the deciding of these things.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


Yeah. I've been nervous about this for a while.

My hope is that it's fickle separatism that will peter out pretty quickly.

Hopefully they will vent their spleen during a handy invention known as an election.

[KrazyHorse]

Federal, please. When they elect a PQ government I have to vote in another referendum...

[KrazyHorse]

We need to keep piling the immigrants in. They hate separatists.

[notyoueither]

No doubt. I don't think we want this fury carried into a provincial election *** referendum.

I understand many people wanting Parliament to sit and get business done. I would prefer that.

However, I also think that other people should recognise the outrage that has been caused across the country and in some places more than others.

[KrazyHorse]

Parliament does have some pressing business to get on with. It's not likely that another election will bring about any majority, and a Conservative minority can only be less stable than the current arrangement, so we'll be seeing little real progress in the next little while.

The country's not all that ideologically fragmented, so there's no excuse for the current situation. The Liberals are to blame for being corrupt ****wits, and the Conservatives are to blame for being incompetent ****wits.