Sunday, Bloody Sunday

So will this Sunday go down in history for the day in which the leaders of the Canadian opposition parties collectively schemed together in order to form a leftwing government that had no hope of election on it’s own? I think it will. Here’s a few pieces left from the unfinished puzzle:

Will Stephen Harper prorogue Parliament?

Ultimately could even this save the Conservatives from being overthrown by the coalition government now that the Liberals and NDP have come together?

Where’s your false sense of moral outrage now?

It’s one thing to call Stephen Harper a dirty, underhanded, manipulative control freak by trying to “crush” the opposition by threatening to remove election subsidies, and then frightening Big Labour by calling for a freeze on civil strikes. But that it’s been revealed the NDP and Bloc Quebecois were in secret talks days after being soundly defeated in a general election that increased the power of the Conservative mandate, smells just as bad.

Prime Minister Michael Ignatieff the unelected leader of the Liberal Party?

For a man who was absent from Canada for almost as long as I’ve been alive, it seems strange to think about him as Prime Minister. But it would make sense that bringing him onboard in this manner would be the only way to convince him. It must be nice, though, to live in Britain for 22 years, the U.S. for five more, waltz into Canada three years ago, and then become Prime Minister without being elected leader of a party.

How far will Harper sink in order to retain power?

The pundit-o-sphere has spent the last 12 hours in a frenetic state of hypotheses. So far the best answer to defeat that has been come up with is asking to prorogue Parliament. Does the man have anything else up his sleeve short of complete and total surrender and the tabling of a concession bailout?

There’s already the dropping of the two most “provocative” parts of the motion. Is there any hope of surviving to January 27 to release this budget?

Why is it that when big business is mentioned in politics, the country is aghast, but none blink at the candid admission of Big Labour being involved in the machinations of the overthrow of the Conservative government?

But instead, there’s a golden opportunity today, for you to provide input on the policy matters, you can be assured that we have looked at our program, we’ve looked at our platform, we’ve looked at what I’ve been saying about economic stimulus, we’ve been in close consultations with the leadership of the labour movement around some of their key ideas and they’ve been providing terrific support, including at a high-level early morning meeting this morning, so much of what you would have want to see, it’s probably already there, you’ll hear a bit more about it later, but there’s an opportunity to touch base with all of you, because in the end, you’re going to be intimately a part of the delivery of all of this, and so that’s why we’re having this meeting at this point in time.

Many people were critical of Stephen Harper for going to the elections in October, including myself, but how can we possibly justify this usurpation of power 6 weeks after an election that increased the physical strength of the Conservative mandate in the government of Canada?

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Remember the knives that came out for Dion after he and his carbon tax got the big boot? The knives are coming out for Harper, too, and I for one would be on board with it. After this mess is settled, we need an ideological conservative to lead the party, not a populist neo-liberal who concedes and weakens and falters in the face of opposition to clearly conservative principles. This is a matter of fiscal conservatism Mr.Harper.

Mike Brock: The Party Never Really Started

Frank Hilliard: Dear Prime Minister

Jarrett Plonka: So, um…

MY “SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN BED AN HOUR AGO” UPDATE

Bob Rae says it’s not Iggy. And he’ll be damned if he steps aside for him either.

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Done Deal. The Coalition Government Has Been Formed

This is breaking news [20 minutes ago]:

According to the CBC, via National Newswatch, via Kady O’Malley, our new Liberal-NDP overlords have come to an agreement on a coalition government:

The NDP and Liberals have reached a deal to topple the minority Conservative government and take power themselves in a coalition, CBC News has learned.

A deal has been negotiated between NDP Leader Jack Layton and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion that would see them form a coalition government for two and a half years, the CBC’s Keith Boag reported, citing sources.

The NDP would be invited into cabinet and get 25 per cent of seats, Boag said, adding that the party wouldn’t get the position of the finance chair or the deputy prime minister’s post.

The only thing left to decide, it seems, is what drapes Mr.Dion will pick out for 24 Sussex Drive.

Prime Minister Dion, quite possibly the first man to govern a nation beginning with an 11% approval rating.

Update:

The question of the moment now is being shouted from the rooftops! Can and will Stephen Harper prorogue Parliament to stave off the coup d’état, and is it something the Governor General would allow? How did so much power end up resting in the hands of a vice-regal representative of Canada to the Queen of England?

Also: Paul Wells is saying some Libs may be balking, particularly leadership hopefuls like Iggy.

Most interestingly insane idea yet: Adam Yoshida suggests how Harper could keep it together, by firing the GG.

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What Coyne Said

Trust Andrew Coyne to be the voice of reason in a wind of fire-breathing outrage from all the other pundits. Yes, certainly the Conservatives have realized and backed off from their mistaken partisan gambit, but what seems utterly absent from analysis is spelled out clearly by Mr.Coyne:

Absolutely no one pins even a sliver of blame on the Liberals, the NDP or the Bloc. Of course not. Faced with the unreasonable and extreme proposal that they raise funds in the same way as the Conservatives have been doing for years — by asking people for their money, rather than taking it from them — they really had no alternative but to seize power. What on earth were they supposed to do? Revamp their moribund fund-raising organizations? Find a message and a leader capable of motivating large numbers of Canadians to click the “donate” button on their websites? Get off their collective duffs? What were the Tories thinking?

No. No, the sensible, restrained, pragmatic thing to do when threatened with the loss of subsidy is to take down the government. The sober, reasonable, moderate thing to do in this time of economic uncertainty is to provoke a constitutional crisis — to cobble together a coalition without a prime minister or a program, propped up by a separatist party, and demand the governor general call upon it to form a new government, replacing the old one we just elected. It’s been six weeks, after all.

[...]

While this laissez-faire, do-nothing government contents itself with spending more than any government in the history of Canada — 25% more, after inflation and population growth, than at the start of the decade — and pumping tens of billions of dollars into the banking system, what Canadians demand is “stimulus.” And stimulus, we all know, in a sophisticated, 21st century economy, can be delivered in only one way: by hiring large numbers of unionized men to dig holes in the ground (see “infrastructure.”) Loosening monetary policy doesn’t count. Tax cuts don’t count. It only counts as “stimulus” if the government spends it.

The fact is that the NDP plan has been exposed with the Bloc separatists and the Liberals for what it is: a transparent grab for power when the lion is seen as weakened. The Conservatives have backpeddled on the election subsidies, the suspension of public employees’ right to strike, and promised a moderate stimulus package in January, but that isn’t good enough. As Scott Reid writes openly in the Globe and Mail:

This becomes relevant because suddenly, he is weak. In fact, at this particular moment, he is almost unable to defend himself. Owing to a ridiculously ill-considered act of hubris, he has laid himself vulnerable to his opponents. Their imperative could not be more clear: kill him. Kill him dead. Do not, whatever you do, provide him with an opportunity to extend his hold on power. Because you can be damn certain he will never again be so reckless as to give you a chance to finish him off.

Yes, of course. That sounds like the voice of reason for the Liberal woes. Uninstall Prime Minister Harper at any cost, regardless of detriment to country or to economy. As Mr.Coyne points out, it isn’t as though Canada is going through a particularly difficult time at the moment. We’re four-tenths of a percentage point above the recent 30-year low for unemployment, and only Quebec and Ontario are struggling in manufacturing while the West zips along undeterred. And this transitional coalition government of the opposition would provide what, in terms of economic “stimulus”? A bailout of Ontario’s failing manufacturing sector, and a promise to secure the unionized public sector their immunity from the expected recession? Is that the grand idea?

Even Liberal supporters believe it makes sense in the wake of the Conservative concessions and backpeddling to give the government a chance to respond to the concerns of the opposition without grabbing for power:

The Conservatives won the election so they certainly have a right to respond to this crisis as they see fit. And there’s something to be said about co-ordinating our stimulus package with the American one.

Unfortunately, as we’ve seen that the NDP and Bloc are preparing the way for a coalition government that would prop up the Liberal Party, there may be no other option for the government but to prorogue until January and then offer something up more palatable in their budget. Stephen Taylor also has the YouTube recording up of the NDP caucus meeting on his website right now.

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