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Interesting Once More
Nov. 30th, 2008 01:58 pmAh, Canadian minority politics. Is there anything as much fun?
Last I spoke about the election, I said that Stephen Harper had done a great deal of damage to his own image in the manner of his campaign against Dion, and despite a historically weak Liberal party fronted by a highly unsuited leader, he still failed to gain a majority and would need to govern carefully considering the long knives would be out for him in his own party.
Obviously the PMO doesn't read this blog.
Harper instead has gone into overdrive with a plan to destroy the Liberal party that looks like it was cooked up in a secret base under an active volcano with the assistance of someone named 'Dr. Awful' and his henchmen. A very basic Canadian primer; Canadian political parties receive just under two dollars in public funds for each election per vote in the last one. It was designed to maintain the viability in emerging parties to avoid a static group of political parties dominating the discourse. Harper had placed his budget along side a bill to eliminate this subsidy.
This is akin to a demand that the opposition parties vote to cut their own throats.
Harper is petty in terms of political issues, and mean as hell, but he's never been stupid. This time, arrogence and the elegence of the solution has walked him into a fatal miscalculation. Safe in the assumption that the opposition parties simply had too much they disagreed on to work together, and that the collapsing Liberals following their historic beating would not have the stones to face a well funded ad campaign accusing them of trying to bring down the government to protect their funding. Indeed, secure enough that the Opposition would fold like a cheap card table, they even dropped in a long standing Western reform promise to eliminate the right to strike by federal government employees.
You have just seen the perfect triangulation of circumstances that all but ensures that the Opposition needs to form a coalition, or they will not exist by the next electoral cycle. More so, you've just cranked the odds up to the point that even the weak Liberals have nothing left to lose, a circumstance that you try everything to avoid in a minority government.
Arrogence, hubris, or in my opinion, simply the real Stephen Harper, has walked the largest Conservative government into potentially the shortest government in Canadian history. If they hadn't dropped in the funding threat, it's unlikely the Bloc would support a Liberal/NDP coalition. Without the now overt show that the Conservatives are committed to enacting legislation to limit the right to strike, the NDP would never be able to swallow their differences and support the Liberals. Without the excuse of the budget being on the table at the same time, the Liberals would lack any political cover in which to suggest bringing down the government that didn't smack of desperate opportunism. By providing a perfect storm of elements, if it comes to pass, the true architect of a Liberal/NDP coalition government will turn out to be Stephen Harper.
That will not be forgotten.
Last I spoke about the election, I said that Stephen Harper had done a great deal of damage to his own image in the manner of his campaign against Dion, and despite a historically weak Liberal party fronted by a highly unsuited leader, he still failed to gain a majority and would need to govern carefully considering the long knives would be out for him in his own party.
Obviously the PMO doesn't read this blog.
Harper instead has gone into overdrive with a plan to destroy the Liberal party that looks like it was cooked up in a secret base under an active volcano with the assistance of someone named 'Dr. Awful' and his henchmen. A very basic Canadian primer; Canadian political parties receive just under two dollars in public funds for each election per vote in the last one. It was designed to maintain the viability in emerging parties to avoid a static group of political parties dominating the discourse. Harper had placed his budget along side a bill to eliminate this subsidy.
This is akin to a demand that the opposition parties vote to cut their own throats.
Harper is petty in terms of political issues, and mean as hell, but he's never been stupid. This time, arrogence and the elegence of the solution has walked him into a fatal miscalculation. Safe in the assumption that the opposition parties simply had too much they disagreed on to work together, and that the collapsing Liberals following their historic beating would not have the stones to face a well funded ad campaign accusing them of trying to bring down the government to protect their funding. Indeed, secure enough that the Opposition would fold like a cheap card table, they even dropped in a long standing Western reform promise to eliminate the right to strike by federal government employees.
You have just seen the perfect triangulation of circumstances that all but ensures that the Opposition needs to form a coalition, or they will not exist by the next electoral cycle. More so, you've just cranked the odds up to the point that even the weak Liberals have nothing left to lose, a circumstance that you try everything to avoid in a minority government.
Arrogence, hubris, or in my opinion, simply the real Stephen Harper, has walked the largest Conservative government into potentially the shortest government in Canadian history. If they hadn't dropped in the funding threat, it's unlikely the Bloc would support a Liberal/NDP coalition. Without the now overt show that the Conservatives are committed to enacting legislation to limit the right to strike, the NDP would never be able to swallow their differences and support the Liberals. Without the excuse of the budget being on the table at the same time, the Liberals would lack any political cover in which to suggest bringing down the government that didn't smack of desperate opportunism. By providing a perfect storm of elements, if it comes to pass, the true architect of a Liberal/NDP coalition government will turn out to be Stephen Harper.
That will not be forgotten.
