As I write this it seems as though the country in going to have a change in government. Unfortunately, the Conservatives have not been given a majority government but a minority of some twenty or so seats.
How, given the corruption, cronyism and blatent disregard for democracy, has the Liberal party managed to retain over 100 seats in Parliament? However, it is not all bad news in this deranged Dominion.
Convicted jewel thief Svend Robinson seems like he has been given the bum’s rush in Vancouver Centre. May he never darken our doorstep again.
And speaking of that, from a personal point of view, I won’t miss the Prime Minister Paul Martin either. There was a time when he seemed to hold the future of this country in his hands. But, his thirst for power nearly destroyed the Liberal party from within. And frankly, that thirst for power overshadowed whatever merits he may have had for the job of Prime Minister.
And so farewell and adieu.
The Tories have had a major breakthrough in Quebec. Gille Duceppe and the Bloc have lost a few seats. And with that, a small glimmer of hope appears in the fight for national unity.
It is also inconceivable to me that Don Bell has been re-elected in North Vancouver. Albeit, Cindy Silver is a political neophyte with virtually no profile, it seems bizarre to me that a man who personifes everything that is wrong with the Liberal party could attract enough voters to regain his seat. Such is life in Canada.
But, on the positive side, we have a new government, one that is unfettered with cronies demanding favours. It is up to Stephen Harper to show the country he has the mettle to be what many of us hope he can be.
Leo Knight
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Like Leo, I was dissapointed in seeing the Conservatives not get a majority government. Unfortunately, under the Parliamentary system it takes a majority government to push through legislation and programs to really change the laws (and country). Now , when the other parties block the Conservative Party’s legislation, they can then claim in the next election that the Conservatives have done nothing. Minority governments only lead to a paralysis in governing.
Secondly, if Canadian voters didn’t want an “extremist, right wing” government – which Paul Martin was crying about, then they should have at least voted for the N.D.P. The Liberals would have then been punished for their corruption. Now, the Liberals will just bide their time until the next election and not “clean house” in their party.
Thirdly, The Conservatives have promised a “Triple E” senate – Equal, Elected, and Effective.
(originally a Reform Party platform). This would remove all the political hacks who are senators due to their party loyalty. It will be difficult to achieve though, because the senate’s composition is written into the constitution and the Senators will not want to give up their cushy, unelected jobs.
Lastly , even more important for democracy, though, is that Canada needs a House of Commons elected by Proportional Representation. If Canada adopted Germany’s model then any party gaining over 5% of the national vote would be given seats in the House, in proportion to their share of the popular vote. The 5% rule prevents fringe parties from gaining disportional power and extorting the major parties(like in Israel and Italy). In this election, a comparison of the number of M.P.’s elected per party and the Party’s actual percentage of the popular vote shows they are not the same. Canada is not ruled by the majority. It is ruled by the largest MINORITY, even when it has a majority government. Canada needs to be ruled by the true majority, even if that means a coalition between the two largest parties (the Conservatives and Liberals). Then politicians would not play to the Left Wing so much.
Here’s one way of looking at it:
A WIN IS A WIN. The winning goal may have looked sloppy, but it still ended the game.
Despite only a minority government, the Conservatives still gain the power to do certain key things. Examples – to clean out the civil service (particularly Alex Himmelfarb), gut the civilian bureaucrats from the defence department HQ, cause criminal investigations on top Liberals and launch MASSIVE civil litigation against the Liberal party (including Jean Chretien, Ralph Goodale, Alphonso Gagliano – perhaps even Paul Martin) for stealing 100 Mil of taxpayers money during Adscam.
The new government also has the power to instruct the RCMP and Auditor General to conduct further investigation into OTHER malfeasance on the part of the former power-mongers.
All of this will cripple any hopes of the Liberals gaining back power or toppling the government anytime in the next decade, as it will creat such chaos and confusion in the Liberal ranks that their main priority will NOT be to vote down legislation, but rather to do post-electoral damage control and go bankrupt fighting civil and criminal actions launched against their party and certain members.
So, as long as Harper can maintain his promise to “clean up government” and get crackin’ right away, Canadians will not fall for any attempt by the opposition parties to castrate his party through non-confidence votes or voting down “accountability” legislation.
D-Man
I just hope that now the Conservatives are in that there is some change. Canadians have waited too long.