Coalition Government in Canada?

  • Canada is facing an interesting political situation at the moment. The Liberals and NDP's have decided to form a coalition government in the hopes to "oust" the Conservative minority in a confidence vote. So i'd like to hear other peoples opinions on whether they think it is a good idea, whether it will be good for the country, and why they think that.

  • Technically, more canadians want Liberals/NDP/Bloc then canadians who want PC, so.. perfectly just, maybe a bit odd, but fair.


    And.. if you voted for them, its their choice what to do with the party, heard people saying "Well I didn't vote for that" but.. you did. :D

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    Thread Starting:
    When starting a thread be sure the topic clearly reflects the subject being discussed. Do not start threads with just a short intro sentence and/or a news link with "Discuss"/"feedback pls"/"your opinions" tagged on.


    PM me if you want to beef if your first post a bit, until then


    :closed:

  • Re-opened awaiting up-beefing from accessgranter :)

  • In Canada, elections have been over since October 14th. In what seems to be a response to the recently unveiled financial plan, however, the opposition parties have taken a drastic move. The Liberal Party of Canada (the Liberals), the New Democratic Party (the NDP) and the Bloc Quebecois (the BQ) have formed a coalition, in hopes that they will oust the Conservatives. While the BQ aren't really in the coalition, which is mainly comprised of the Liberals and NDP, they are crucial to success, as their seats in the House of Commons pushes the coalition over the top. The whole issue here is that after the financial plan was shown to the public, it has some very controversial issues, one of which a decision (or a proposal) to change the method of financing political parties. Because it currently works in the fashion that for every vote a MP gets, the party who the MP belongs to receives a certain amount of money, that would all be changed if Harper's financial plan went through. Accused of trying to financially strangle the other parties, under the umbrella of the global financial crisis, the Liberals and NDP got the ball rolling on a vote of no confidence in the current Tory government. This is essentially the crux of the matter, and Stephen Harper is scheduled to speak to the Canadian people tonight, at 7 PM EST. And so here we are, with the question. What do you think of the current situation? Who are you rooting for, the Conservatives or the Liberal-led coalition?


    I PM'ed this to HRZ, I really think this is an interesting topic, so it was a shame to see it closed....so I beefed it myself >_>

  • Oops, sorry for the double post, but I had forgotten to check the latest news reels (http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/548382) before I posted that; apparently the Governor General has agreed to prorogue Parliament for seven weeks. This means that she's basically agreed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's request to suspend Parliament until such a time that the minority Conservative government can put out a new budget. He's basically just delayed the vote; it IS going to happen, however. What do you guys think is going to happen? I personally still think that the Liberal-NDP coalition is still going to win...the Tories have burned too many bridges with this version of the budget to rebuild in seven weeks >_>

  • Quote

    Originally posted by alex43
    Canada is facing an interesting political situation at the moment. The Liberals and NDP's have decided to form a coalition government in the hopes to "oust" the Conservative minority in a confidence vote. So i'd like to hear other peoples opinions on whether they think it is a good idea, whether it will be good for the country, and why they think that.


    I haven't heard anything about this until reading this post. Did this happen? What is this?

  • No, the prime minister basically declared martial law with the permission of the queen's representitive (yeah, our democracy is fake, we take orders from the queen) and has sent the entire parliment on vacation to avoid being unsurped.


    gay imo, I was looking forward to a red canada

  • Well, all this means is that Harper is buying time until January 26th, where he'll probably be defeated by the Coalition anyway, so it's all good. The only downside is that in Manitoba/Saskatchewan/Alberta (which is honestly comparable to Texas in the States, in the way that it's really rural, really conservative, and they always vote blue down there....whereas in the States they always vote red for republican, but still) will probably be painted entirely blue come the next election >_>

  • Meh, harper will have to get a majority to be safe, and I doubt he'll ever get majority after pulling that fast one on the people.


    I mean, more people voted for them then people who voted for harper, so why not? If they agree to think as a team, theres nothing wrong with the coalition.

  • He probably won't get the majority...at least not for a long time. But what "fast one" are you talking about? The only things I can think of are the public financing of political parties thing, and the fact that there wasn't an economic aid package outlined, either. One thing's for sure, though, come the next election, Quebec is not going to have a single blue seat >_>

  • Talking about shutting down the parliment to save his ass.

  • I suppose he's just trying to get a new financial plan put together over the holidays; still, it's not going to do him much good. He's only enraged the coalition even MORE, and if anything, it's just guaranteeing the death of his minority Tory government. He's definitely going to be hit by the Bloc Quebecois, and then he's going to be hit by the NDP and Liberals, as well. Oh well.

  • How did the Canadian government randomly fall apart again?

  • I think its funny how the Liberal/NDP coalition's followers say they should have the right to lead Canada. Combined they still are about 30 seats short of the Conservatives and will only assume power by catering to the Separtist Bloc Quebecois.


    No Canadian voted for a coalition government on October 14th, and actually the Liberals and NDP strongly stated that they were NOT interested in forming a coalition to topple the Conservatives. Canada has one of the strongest economies in the G20, so we aren't feeling the economic recession as bad as many of our trade partners yet, so introducing an economic aid program (which will mainly be to cater the East and its economy entirely dependent on US consumers) would be a potential waste if the US decides not to aid its industrial sector as well.


    We've already invested $75 billion into our banks by buying bad mortgages. We havn't given them blank cheques to celebrate with like the US did with Citigroup and the other American banks. Canada continues to invest in infrastructure like we should and we havn't mad a move that will come back to haunt us in the future.


    What the Liberal/NDP coalition would do is come into power, give the Auto Industry a few billion dollars, and pending on the US reaction to the Auto Industry deal, it could potentially all just be thrown away if the corporations go bankrupt anyways. This isn't just magical money the Federal Government has, its taxpayer money, and should be treated as such. I personally agree with waiting like the Conservatives are and seeing what the US does before we make a move.


    Also in my opinion having a Separtist party be your key to power in the Federal Government should be illegal, its my belief that the PQ should not be allowed into national politics since they want nothing to do with the national good of the country.


    Yours truly,
    Bloop33
    A westerner on the outside, a Canadian on the inside.

  • Well, while no one voted for a coalition, more Canadians voted for someone other than the Conservatives. I, for one, would much rather have the Liberals and NDP in charge, because it means true change will occur. The Liberals won't be able to get some of their ridiculous legislation passed (and I admit that some of their things ARE ridiculous, even though I would proudly call myself a Liberal) and same with the NDP. In this time of economic crisis, what Canada DOESN'T need is partisan politics, and having a coalition (tempered by the BQ, separatists though they may be) basically guarantees that. I'd rather have some real democracy, rather than the partisan politics of Harper and his Tories (lol @ trying to financially strangle other parties).


    Considering that the auto industry (or rather, the manufacturing industry) is one of Canada's largest money makers, I think it's quite a good thing that they're going to get some aid. We don't know if they're going to go bankrupt, we can only try and prevent it, since it would mean nothing but bad things for pretty much all of North America. Regardless if you live in the East or West, if the auto industry tanks even *more*, then all of Canada is going to suffer for it, not just Ontario and the rest of the East. Granted, the Western provinces might suffer *less*, but we'll all be in for some hard times. Having a coalition is the best route; I'd rather take the more advanced democracy of Europe than the plutocracy in the republic to our direct south.

  • Well, the Liberals and NDP aren't like Obama in the USA, they are making change for the sake of making change, not because we in Canada need it. Canada's economy is strong in relation to the worldwide conditions, we are leaving Afganistan in 2011, even though now many Liberals are jumping onto the Obama bandwagon and saying finishing Afganistan is vital (something they were completely opposed to before Obama). Most of all though, they are managing the money smartly, not screaming "The sky is falling" like the Liberals and NDP's, but are sitting back to see what would benefit Canada in the long run.


    Just remember they've never opposed helping the auto industry, they just notice that right now is not the time with the certainty of the companies longevity not there.


    I agree if the auto industry falls all of Canada will be hurt, but it will hurt more if we pay them billions of taxpayer money and then they fall anyways. Lets see what the US does before we toss around taxpayers money.


    PS- LOL at the financially strangling other parties, it affects the Conservatives just as much as the opposition.

  • from general opinions around here i could see harper gettign a majority just so this ends already



    Id rather go to the polls then have a coalition government, as tbh this join up of ndp, lib and bloc i doubt will last the seven weeks. I'd frankly be suprised if it does, layton is an idiot, always has been always will be, dion even on his way out, has caused alot of interal bickering within the liberals, and the bloc quebecois are seperatists, they really couldnt give a rats nickle for anything else other then what they want (another referendum).


    and tbh, neither lib ndp or bloc are in capable shape of governing, if this goes south and harper loses the vote, i want an election, and it will be either scenarios


    voter turn out will suck


    or well have an amazing turn out and see harper with a majority so this bs doesnt keep happening, I dont mind voting, but this is getting sickening.



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    I agree if the auto industry falls all of Canada will be hurt, but it will hurt more if we pay them billions of taxpayer money and then they fall anyways. Lets see what the US does before we toss around taxpayers money.


    PS- LOL at the financially strangling other parties, it affects the Conservatives just as much as the opposition


    lol..... in the usa the big 3's exec's flew to this meeting on their private company jets, and expensive 1000$ suits, if they can do that they arent in bad shape. I find that amusing.

  • I hope we do go to the polls and Harper gets a HUGE majority, mostly because that would show the opposition that Canada isn't into their take-over tactics and that we (unlike them) have confidence in Harper, and more importantly our country.


    Agreed, the Big 3 don't seem in as dire crisis as they say they are in. I do agree they should be given some money, but not too much, only enough to help them pay the workers.

  • Quote

    Originally posted by Bloop33
    I hope we do go to the polls and Harper gets a HUGE majority, mostly because that would show the opposition that Canada isn't into their take-over tactics and that we (unlike them) have confidence in Harper, and more importantly our country.


    Agreed, the Big 3 don't seem in as dire crisis as they say they are in. I do agree they should be given some money, but not too much, only enough to help them pay the workers.


    i dont understand what you mean by take over tactics, no one in canada voted for harper. we voted for our ridings MP's and it just so happens some of these MP's like to group together and form parties, the party with the most elected mp's gets to run the show. there's no real difference between the canadian party system and a coalition. if two groups of mp's want to make a bigger group, who cares? every riding still has the guy they voted for. all that really changes is the spokesperson.