04-22-2005, 08:48 PM
ShadowHM,Apr 22 2005, 07:13 AM Wrote:What I would like to know is what you think? Should we have another election right now? Or should we wait for the results of the Gomery Inquiry? Do we let our Prime Minister (and, by extension, the Liberal Party) off the hook for now? And do any of the Opposition parties have a creditable platform for replacing the Liberals right now?
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I say we have an election. And I'd be all for a Liberal majority.
As regards the Liberals, of course I'm unhappy. I - like most Canadians, I'd imagine - think it's horrific that the corruption reached that far and that they took that much money. On the other hand, I'm disgusted by the politics of the Opposition to date. Harper's assertion that the Conservatives have tried to work with the government is a lie; the CPC's been engaged in brinksmanship from the moment Parliament convened. Layton, though he tries to paint it differently, is just leaning on the government's weak position to extract concessions, and I've never been fond of the concessions the NDP likes to get. Duceppe and the Bloc have been trying to bring down the government from the very start.
Currently, I don't believe any of the three national federal parties could govern effectively. Of them, however, I prefer the Liberals. The CPC is not my Progressive Conservative party; their obstinate stance on social issues like gay marriage will never win them votes in Quebec. Regardless of how anyone feels personally about the issue, they need to realize that there needs to be some room to talk about the issue within the party if they ever hope to be truly national.
That isn't to say I don't have serious issues about how the Liberal party's been governing. A number of them, I believe, are due to the minority situation. The opposition parties have shown themselves to be manifestly incompatible with the spirit of compromise, and their constant threat is forcing the Liberals into bad moves. Even so, the Liberals are far from ideal, but to me they're as close as it's going to get.
In any case, there isn't any governing going on now. The Liberals are too busy playing defence, and the other three are circling it like vultures. I'd like Parliament to get to the business of being the government again, and waiting for the end of the Commission will only extend the period of institutional paralysis.
One more thing. I'm incredibly annoyed at Dalton McGuinty and his newfound inclination to take cheap shots at the federal government. He's taking shots at Canadian federalism, though he probably doesn't realize it, and his harping on the issue of the revenue gap is making things significantly worse while not increasing the chance of a resolution. He's trying to score points like Danny Williams, and his narrowminded self-interest is exacerbating the problem of government. The unbelievable stupidity it takes to make such a move at a time like this makes me wonder how he managed to make it into office in the first place. Regardless of what happens federally, McGuinty must go down.