Canada's Opposition Parties Vow to Bring Down Government, 1 month into its term...

[Sharpe]

My biggest surprise actually was that Martin didn't try this in the aftermath two elections ago or Dion as an alternative to going into the last election

Well re Martin - I don't think any of the opposition parties would have been interested in working with him - it was felt that the Liberals had been in power for a long time - and they would have been worried that Martin would have eventually gained his footing and gained an eventual majority government.

Don't forget that one of the major reasons about why the right finally reunited was a fear of being crushed by Martin in the elections and one or both parties facing extinction (as hard as that is to believe now).

As for why Dion didn't last time, who knows - probably the Liberal "we're the government in waiting" attitude...

[Wezil]

It also takes a fair amount of collective animosity to pull this off.

[Ben Kenobi]

The opposition has had 2 years to try to pull this off. The only reason they did so now, is because Harper tried to take away their goodies.

This means the extinction of the Liberal Party of Canada.

60+ percent of the population is against the coalition, which means that Harper will just about double the size of the Conservative party in one fell swoop.

I'm glad to see Dion with some fighting spirit, but this is going to end in disaster for the Liberals, the same way it ended for Arthur Meighan.

[Asher]

Where are those polls Ben?

[Ben Kenobi]

Harper will try to stall as much as possible, possibly until January - maybe even until January 27th, 2009. It isn't impossible that he manages to survive this situation, however unlikely that is.

Survive? The conservatives are going to be stronger then they were last election.

You have to remember, 1+1+1 does not equal three. It might not even equal 1.5.

[Ben Kenobi]

Where are those polls Ben?

Red Star.

[Ben Kenobi]

Looks like Dion is going to give DUCEPPE a veto.

Meech Lake III

[Victor Galis]

This has been a rude awakening to me just how ****ing childish the politicians are, how flawed our governmental system is, and how ****ing stupid Canadians tend to be in general. As ****ed up as the US democrat/republican system is, you'd never see this kind of bush league **** go down.

One word: Bush. I would probably vote for Gilles Duceppe over Bush if they were running in the same election.

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by Richelieu
The only question of importance here is: Do i keep this avatar?

Yes. Unfortunately, it was decided that the avatar would be kept, even if Harper is toppled quickly.

[Ben Kenobi]

How is subverting a somewhat undemocratic process to obtain a more democratic result "undemocratic"?

How is the process 'undemocratic?' By any measurement the people of Canada overwhelmingly rejected Dion.

I'm not asking for a moral judgement on the action, I'm asking how giving control to parties representing a greater share of the electorate is undemocratic.

You don't change the rules when you lose. You have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Changing the rules just because you lost is poor sportsmanship. Changing the rules in the middle of the game is also wrong.

[Sharpe]

This means the extinction of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Sigh, no it won't. Liberals are too well concentrated in Ontario and the Maritimes. Similarly, I knew during the Chretien era that the right would either eventually merge or that one of the Reform or PC would eventually win out as they were strong in the West.

Parties are more likely go up and down than become extinct. The Tories survived RC Bennett's debacle mostly but it took them over 20 years to regain power.

Same with the Liberals, they survived after being reduced to 40 seats during the 1984 election and took power 9 years later.

[Ben Kenobi]

Sigh, no it won't. Liberals are too well concentrated in Ontario and the Maritimes.

Sure they will. Why would you vote Liberal over the Green Party, or the NDP, now that they are in coalition with the NDP. Might as well vote for the NDP, since they have just as much power as the Liberals.

Similarly, I knew during the Chretien era that the right would either eventually merge or that one of the Reform or PC would eventually win out as they were strong in the West.

Exactly. The Reform party destroyed the PCs and formed the Conservative party. Right now, we are seeing the Liberals who are weaker then the NDP, get destroyed by the NDP.

Parties are more likely go up and down than become extinct.

When a party that is weaker is overtaken by the stronger party, then the weak party dies, and the stronger one takes over. The NDP is stronger then the Liberal party, and will destroy them, all this coalition does is make them far stronger then they were before.

The Tories survived RC Bennett's debacle mostly but it took them over 20 years to regain power.

The PCs were exterminated after Mulroney.

Same with the Liberals, they survived being reduced to 40 seats during the 1984 election and took power 9 years later.

That was before the NDP was a force. Now they are down to 60 some seats, which is very small, and they have poorer organisation and poorer finances.

[Wezil]

Thanks for showing up again Ben.

[Flubber]

Ben

I will not try to refute you but lets just say that I have a great deal of difficulty a number of the assertions you are making about the Liberal party. I don't think the result of this coalition on teh respective parties is in any way pre-ordained or certain

[Asher]

Ben just cheered me up with this nonsense.