The Globe and Mail
Canadian News for Canadians, eh?
Harper Government falls!
It has hardly been a year since Stephen Harper, and the Conservative party was handed a slim majority by Canadians, but it did not last long. Ever since Harper put together his party, a union of the former Progressive Conservative and Alliance Parties, it has been a shaky and unstable union, with the Progressive Conservatives and Alliance supporters bitterly fighting over the direction of the party, such as Same-sex Marriage, Abortion, and a host of other such issues.
Ever since they got elected 11 months ago, after the damning report by the Gomery Commission into the Auberge Grande Mere scandal was released, and caused the Liberals to plummet in the polls. The election yielded in the Conservatives garnering 152 of the 301 seats, a bare-bone thin majority. The left-wing NDP picked up an astonishing 98 seats, the Liberals clung on to 47 seats, with the Green party astonishing the country by getting 4 seats, 3 in BC and one in Ontario. Even with the bickering and the obvious discord in the Conservatives, they managed to squeak through with a slim majority. However, the first thing that the Conservatives did was to declare the previously passed Same-sex Marriage Bill notwithstanding, effectively nullifying its powers. This stirred up a real hornet's nest in Canada, with condemnations, protests, and the like. The Supreme Court overturned the decision, calling it unConstitutional, so Mr Harper launched a counterlawsuit to the Supreme Court, and things, as we know, got very sticky. Currently, Same-sex Marriages are legal in the country, but Mr Harper is still challenging the ruling.
The second controversial item that Mr Harper did was to declare Abortions illegal. That caused about 700,000 people to take to the streets protesting, and popular opinion for the Conservatives plummeted. The anti-Abortion Bill barely passed Parliament. Those 2 actions by Mr Harper, along with some controversial comments that he made, and his decision to back out of the Kyoto Project, has riled the nation. How Mr Harper clung on all these months is hard to understand, but, today, the Conservatives finally schismed. 65 Conservatives left the party, all sitting as Independents for the time being. This prompted Jack Layton of the NDP to call a Confidence motion, and it was determined that no confidence was held in the Government of Stephen Harper. Elections have been set for 30 says from today.
The big question is what will be the shape of the parties. Currently all those 65 Conservative MPs are Independents. Will they form a new party? Will they bring the Progressive Conservative or Reform Parties back to life? Time can only tell.
2 days later . . .
Social Democratic Party founded!
Only 2 days into this Election Campaign, and a new party has emerged, one that will forever alter the Canadian Political Landscape. The Social Democratic Party, or the SDP for short, was founded today, and a platform was released. This is a left-wing party, combining the former Liberals, and the 65 MPs who left the Conservatives. Their leader is Belinda Stronach, the popular Ontario MP, who is Jewish, and the daughter of Frank Stronach, Founder and CEO of Manga Incorporated, the multi-Billion auto parts company. Belinda ran the company for 3 years while her father was battling prostate cancer, and was very successful at it, always delivering a healthy surplus.
The deputy leader is Anne MacLellan, the former Vice President under the short-lived Martin Governemnt. Pundits are surprised that the second top job didn't go to Martin, but many speculate that is because they want to distance themselves as far as possible from the Liberals.
The platform for the new SDP is one of Reform, Reform, and more Reform. They are pledging to restore the Monarchy of the United Kingdom as the ceremonial Head of State, have a fully elected senate, introduce some sweeping changes to Auditor General's Official, including Lieutenant Auditors in every Department, and undoing some of what the Conservatives did on the social front. They are promising new streamlined rules for immigrants, who face up to 5 year waits just to enter the country, and to relax some other immigration rules. They are also promising to introduce Bills to re-affirm that both Same-sex Marriage and Abortions are legal in this country. On the Environment front, they are promising to meet and exceed the Kyoto Plan, and obviously re-instate it. They will look into green technologies, and look at getting rid of Canada's large network of high-polluting Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas Power Plants.
Pundits are expecting the SDP to win the election. They say that the NDP is considered too left-wing, and the Conservatives, well, they are expected to sink like a stone. No Public Opinion Polls are out yet, but most expect the new SDP to pick up traditional Liberal support, and take away from the NDP's support. On the far left, the Green, they are expected to get at least 7 seats, hold on to the ones they have in BC, and pick up some more in the lower Fraser Valley area, and perhaps one or 2 in the fairly liberal Ontario. We will keep you informed as this election campaign progresses.