Posts Tagged by liberals
Letter to Ignatieff
| 9/29/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Last week I was having lunch with a friend and briefly the subject of politics came up. I expressed some of my views on Ignatieff to which she responded that I should write him a letter about my views. My response was, I would but it would not likely get anywhere near him. I thought about that and decided that be damn if it gets anywhere near him, I’ll write my letter here on my blog. So here goes:
I joined the Liberal Party of Canada in July of this year. While I’ve spent a lifetime reading and thinking about politics and how our leaders (or lack), shapes my country, I’ve never before made the decision to commit myself to a political party.
I’ve always leaned towards liberalism, largely because I have a deep-seated belief that one of the great strengths of this country is our social safety net which provides a level of support for those at the lower socioeconomic levels of our society. That sense of social responsiblity balanced with fiscal responsibility has always come from the Liberal Party of Canada.
So, why did I join in July? After a few years of what appeared to me as utter chaos within the party due to their infighting and weak leadership, there appeared to be a leader with some integrity and vision. I still think you have the integrity, but to be frank, I’m having a lot of trouble with discerning your vision.
Where’s the vision?
You seem to be spending a lot of energy and air time reacting to Harper. Canadians know what Harper is, the problem is they don’t yet see a viable alternative to him. True there are aspects of Harper the Canadian people don’t fully realize or appreciate how wrong he is, but they still don’t see a viable alternative. Why do you think Canadians haven’t yet given him a majority government? (more…)
Election on Hold — For Now
| 9/16/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
After months of railing against the ‘separatists’ and ‘socialists’ bringing this country to rack and ruin by aligning with the Liberals to defeat the Conservatives, Harper is being saved from a non-confidence vote by those very same separatists & socialists. The NDP in particular (those dangerous socialists) have had a pretty easy ride in the last couple of governments by being able to vote against the government with impunity knowing the Liberals would likely end up giving grudging support to the government.
Ignatieff turned those tables around with his declaration that the Liberals would no longer support the government and in fact would bring the government down at the first opportunity. The declaration placed the Liberals back where they belonged, opposing the government instead of running scared while trying to look tough. Now Layton and/or Duceppe has to either step to the plate or we head into an election. That is the way it should be. (more…)
So Where is Your Accountability Harper?
| 3/4/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Remember back in 2006 when Stephen Harper ran on a platform of transparency and accountability in government? When the Liberals tried to paint him as having a hidden agenda to which he countered the Liberal dominated courts and the Senate would keep him in check? What a pipe dream that was for those who voted for him.
To date, he has run one of the most secretive governments in history and things don’t look to be getting better any time soon. In light of the stunning lack of transparency and accountability that Harper has brought to the House, is it any wonder the Opposition parties are not about to support a spending estimates bill that contains provisions for a $3billion dollar fund which can be spent without accountability until after the fact?
Harper in an not unexpected return to the arrogance of trying to govern as though he has a majority has said the bill will be a confidence motion and failure of the Opposition to support it will provoke an election. Either Harper has decided he doesn’t want to govern any longer and is looking to get his butt kicked out or he’s hoping the coalition will raise its head again and he can divert attention away from his attempt to create a Conservative slush fund. (more…)
OK, Who Let the Other Harper Out of His Cage?
| 2/27/2009 | Posted by Patti under General |
After weeks of there being just a bit of a semblance that maybe the boys and girls on Parliament Hill were capable of playing nice and getting the business of government done — someone let the other Harper out of his cage. Mayhem threatens, again.
Is Harper completely clueless or does he just prefer to negotiate with a baseball bat? He gained the conditional support of the Liberals to get his budget through the House, a support that can be pulled at just about any time. One would think he’d move to show some respect for the Opposition and them doing their jobs by trying to reach out to get other things through.
He managed to do so when his government hung by a thread…. oh wait, first he ran to the Governor General to prorogue Parliament. The signs have been there in the last 2-3 weeks when his pet bulldog Flaherty was making demands of the Opposition to pass measures immediately, without further debate. The ‘tude showed up in all it’s glory yesterday when Harper demanded that MPs pass an interim supply bill which includes a $3billion fund to be passed out by departments as ‘stimulous’ projects and bypass the usual approval process. (more…)
Government Will Survive
| 1/28/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Well the budget has been read, what hadn’t already been ‘leaked’ is now known. Ignatieff and his caucuse has had time to review it and made the call on if the government will stand, for now.
From what I saw of the tax cuts, they have hit some areas where tax relief should be like low income earners and seniors. The cuts for the middle income people was more about Conservative idealogy and vote buying than any true benefit. While middle income earners will save a bit (and I do mean a bit) on their income taxes each year, that collective ‘bit’ will mean we stay in deficit longer.
For the most part, Harper brought in the budget he had to bring in if he wanted to stay in office. The Liberals have said they will support the budget but with amendments. The primary part of those amendments is that the Conservatives will have to report to parliament with details of how much of the budget funds have been distributed by specific dates. (more…)
Budget Time Approaching
| 1/24/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
All eyes will be on Ottawa for the next few days leading up to Tuesday’s budget reading. It’s been a bit of an odd path to this budget. First we had an election that Harper called because he claimed that Parliament had become dysfunctional, which was true but largely because he and his people chose to make it so.
During that election, Harper either was blind to the fact that an economic tsunami was bearing down on the world or was deluded enough to actually believe that it would miraculously wash itself around Canada while engulfing our largest trading partner, the USA. He belittled the opposition when they spoke of the need to take immediate measures to offset the coming storm. He did note however that the stock market meltdown that was underway did provide some excellent buying opportunities. He didn’t seem to notice that those losing their shirt to create those opportunities, included Canadians.
More out of an inability of Dion to present himself as a viable alternative to Harper than anything else, Canadians, that is the 49% who decided to turn out to vote, once again gave more Conservative candidates their vote. Basically we gave what appeared to be the lessor of several evils the benefit of the doubt. (more…)
Harper’s Election to Lose
| 10/10/2008 | Posted by Patti under General |
You know, two weeks ago, I would have been willing to bet that Harper was going to manage to hoodwink the Canadian people enough to win the majority he has lusted after and that Dion would do well to elect a handful of MPs. How quickly things can change.
Here we are two weeks later, two debates and world markets in a tailspin, it looks like Harper will not get his majority and if the current trend continues, he may even end up where he belongs — in the Official Opposition. The last part is a bit of a longshot but then so was Harper being held to a minority two weeks ago.
Yesterday Harper had balls enough to muse about how “Prime Minister Dion” sounds in an effort to scare people away from that prospect. He needs to be careful, that might start to roll of people’s tongues a lot easier than he wants. At best Dion could only pull off a minority government but would put Harper at minimum into the Official Opposition benches, if we got real lucky maybe not even there. (more…)
One Week Left in Election Campaign
| 10/6/2008 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics, Harper |
Today is the last day of the advanced polls in our election and then next Tuesday is vote day. I’ve not been posting much on the election but have been watching very closely. I tuned into and listened closely to the English language debate last Thursday. I was glad that I did, as it is likely one of the very few times that Harper has been forced out of his ‘bubble’ in this election and it was long overdue.
Until now, Harper has managed to appear only at well staged events with only pre-registered attendees. When the press started to blow the whistle on the fact that Harper was keeping a bubble around him, and avoiding any unexpected outbursts by the electorate who have the right to answers from him, his campaign claimed that it was necessary due to security issues. Yeah right.
Anyways, back to the debates. Harper provided no surprises, he was the smug, arrogant individual he always has been. Talking around every issue put before him and beating hell out of the truth about the other leaders. He was nailed not badly a few times by the other leaders but it rolls off of people like Harper who really doesn’t care when it comes to others.
He’s not wanting to be Prime Minister to see a better Canada, he’s wanting to be PM to alter the country to his liking. For a guy who chose to call an election on a trumped up excuse, one really has to wonder why his party remains the only one which hasn’t produced a platform for the public to examine. What’s he hiding other than the fact that he really doesn’t have a plan beyond wanting to get a majority government. (more…)
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