It’s way past my bedtime but I can’t believe whats going on in the Canadian goverment! 6 weeks ago we had a national election and the Conservatives won. Granted it wasn’t a landslide victory but it was a convincing win over the other 3 parties. Yet today these three parties have decided to join forces and have decided to topple the currently ELECTED minority Conservative government.
This is nothing more than a power grab by these UNELECTED LOSERS and there really is no other way to describe it. I understand that Harper (the ELECTED Prime Minister) isn’t exactly Mr. Charisma but he did win the election fair and square. I should also say that I did not vote for the Conservatives so it’s not like I’m biased. Rather, I’m just pissed.
Look at the three parties who are going to share power. One is separatist party, another has a leader who lost so bad in the last election that he had previously announced his resignation(yet now he’ll be our new Prime Minister), and the last party could only get a tiny percentage of the vote. I mean what sort of backroom deals did these guys cut with each other in order to make this happen? Especially in regards to Quebec, call me crazy but I don’t think Duceppe(the leader of the separtist party), is going to act in Canada’s best interest here. Oh well I guess we are going to find out in the next few months aren’t we???
The bottom line is how does this serve the interests of Canadians? This will only cause more political uncertainty and since we are supposed to be headed for tough economic times, is this really what the country needs? 3 UNELECTED parties are now in charge. I’m sure this will provide us with great leadership. NOT!!! The best part is that none of them will take responsibility when things go inevitably wrong cause they will just end up blaming it on each other. It’s like electing the three stooges to run the county. It boggles my mind that these parties can take power away from a democratically elected government and really shows how much respect these idiots have for the system and the voting public. It’s wrong, wrong, and wrong!!!
My name is Michael McKinlay and I live in Calgary, Alberta Canada. Although I was born here, I have lived in a few other places in Western Canada such as, Saskatoon, Regina, Medicine Hat, and Edmonton. I also spent time in Hong Kong and Japan. [
All I keep seeing on this story is “unelected”, “illegal”, “Commie”, and “backroom deals”.
A.) These guys were all elected as well.
B.) There’s nothing wrong or evil about coalition gov’ts. They’ve been working in europe and asia for a long time.
C.) There’s a big difference between mildly socialist and communist, unless apparently, you are a right wing canadian. D.) Sorry the three parties involved didn’t simply tell everyone what they were planning, because that’s obviously how politics works, parties often sit in the open and tell every strategy they have to anyone who will listen.
I’m not saying I don’t have reservations about this little agreement, but at the same time Stephen Harper made his bed by assuming everyone but himself should compromise in a minority gov’t. You can’t have a minority and walk around slapping people and telling them how it’s gonna be. It doesn’t work that way, never has, never will.
Thanks for your comment Rory. Just to clarify though I didn’t say “illegal” or “commie.” While a coalition government is legal, I’m just frustrated with the fact that these other parties are willing to do anything to gain control. I don’t believe they have Canada’s best interests at heart.
I’m not saying that these guys had to agree to everything Harper wanted. Instead they have decided to basically reject what the Canadian public asked for 6 months ago. If were to ask the majority of people on the street today what they wanted, it wouldn’t be a coalition government.
Anyway in this case, I believe a clear direction is better than no direction at all and I think that’s what we’re headed for. Sigh…
How do you know they would say no? Because Harper has told them it is “undemocratic”. This is BS. The Canadian public did not decide this anyways. The other people in parliament still have the RIGHT to be there and to be heard. THEY ARE ALL REPRESENTING PEOPLE TOO. Only 34% of the people who voted, voted for the conservatives.
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You voted for your MP who looks out for your interests in paliament. YOU DID NOT VOTE FOR THE PM. Nobody votes for the PM. He is the leader of his party ELECTED by the party.
The public did not ask for this. Also 60% of people did not vote in Canada. That is a LOT of people who did not vote for Harper
Harper seems to be the one making the wild grab for power here, since he is outright lying to people and propagating ignorance by saying the coalition is illegal or undemocratic. They were all voted in too. Read my post further down for more info on how our system works.
Hey Mike,
Just another perspective from Australia, another Commonwealth country with a similar government, I can understand your concerns but echo the first commenter and add – a minority government is not an elected government (as you keep asserting.) Minority governments are incredibly unstable because they have to rely on exactly the kind of deals that you are concerned about just to get ANYTHING done and so you were up for the back room issue one way or another.
The only way to avoid such things is to have a definite majority government – something which we in Australia lived with for a decade until we finally ousted them earlier this year – and trust me you don’t want that because then there are no checks and balances and the most extreme philosophies of the party (the kind they always downplay at election time and never expect to be able to apply) can suddenly be enforced. As we discovered to our detriment – we still have laws on our books which would make the US Patriot Act blush (like if you are arrested on a national security basis – not charge mind you – you aren’t allowed to discuss your interrogation with anyone NOT EVEN YOUR LAWYER.)
Of course, I don’t know your guys but in theory they will never quite trust each other so everything will take longer but at least everything will be vetted by someone because deals HAVE to be made.
Thanks for your comment Danielle. I agree we need checks and balances but I just have a gut feeling that this new government is more interested in having power than it is in serving the best interests of Canadians.
I’m not wild about this apparent coup, either – I’d rather go back to another election than have Celine – err, Stephan – Dion as my prime minister.
Agreed… Celine is more of a man, AND a leader than Stephan…. Ooopps I hope Stephan, doesn’t read this as he’s liable to have his feelings hurt and then cry on TV like usual. Poor Stephan.
Re Rory’s “These guys were all elected as well.”, individually as parties, yes, as a coalition, no. The three parties do not have the same common philosophy, unless one considers that they all hate Harper. Put the coalition to the electoral test or it’s simply not a valid, democratic option.
As for the thought of a party dedicated to the destruction of Canada being an essential part of the government of Canada… oh yeah, that should end well.
Well, for everyone who doesn’t seem to understand our government system…
Our system works on the “first past the gate” principal. He with the most seats gets the first crack at it.
The PM was therefore given the first option to govern by the Governor General, if he does not have the confidence of the House then he is forced to resign and we either get an election or the Governor General gives the person with the next most amount of seats (aka the opposition) the chance to govern. Again, if he can’t get the confidence of the house, we have to go to election. This is why the coalition was signed.
This WOULD stand up democratically since they WERE all elected and they have decided to work TOGETHER to support their constituents.
As Danielle said, minority gov’t are not “elected” gov’ts. They are simply the people with the most amt of seats. Canada did not choose Harper. 34% did. The other people still deserve to be represented.
Wow Canada does seem to have a few problems at the moment. I’m sure it will work out in the wash and have been impressed by the comments on both sides!
Good luck to you all !!!!!
LOLOLOLOLOL
Just a thought to all those who commented here, while Mikes views may not be the same or you simply do not agree with him, one thing I do know about Mike is that his heart is very much in the right place.
He really cares about his country and is a generous and loyal person to his friends!