Opposition pass vote in bid to topple government

[Antiloop33rpm]

Federal politics is certainly getting intense. This move by the Tories and the Bloc is a move of pure arrogance. This was not about doing what is best for the citizens of Canada, it was about power hungry egos. I hope the Tories fall hard when an election is finally called.

-----------------------------------------------




Opposition pass vote in bid to topple government
Last Updated Tue, 10 May 2005 18:26:32 EDT
CBC News
OTTAWA - Opposition MPs passed a motion Tuesday night that they claim should topple the government – but the Liberals have dismissed the vote as nothing more than a procedural matter.

Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs voted 153 to 150 for the motion calling on the public accounts committee "to recommend that the government resign."

The NDP and two Independents voted with the Liberals against the motion.

Liberals have rejected claims by the opposition that this was a confidence vote, saying it is just a set of instructions to a committee, and that the outcome won't affect the government.

Two cabinet ministers, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler and Natural Resources Minister John Efford, were not there for the vote.

Despite the Liberal refusal to treat it as a matter of confidence, the Conservatives have said they'll come to work as usual and look for other opportunities to force an election.

Earlier Tuesday, Liberal House leader Tony Valeri announced that the opposition parties will have three days at the end of May during which they can introduce formal non-confidence motions.

On those days, the opposition controls the parliamentary agenda.

"We're not afraid to be held accountable," Valeri said at a news conference. "There will be legitimate confidence votes."

The Liberals have already dismissed a similar motion – involving the finance committee and scheduled to be voted on next week – as a procedural matter and not a matter of confidence.

 

[samplain]

The more I read and hear about all this mess, the more confused I get.

Just let me know when there's an election.

 

[EnviroTO]

Do the Conservatives think they can get a majority? I can't believe it personally.

 

[Antiloop33rpm]

Im not sure what they are thinking exactly. It really just seems like they want to call an election since support for them is once again declining day by day, slowly but surely.

Even if they win, I cant see them getting a majority, or even a stable minority. The problem is that even though they could likely be toppled very easily in that situation it is unlikely any party will do that and go back into yet another election.

Im just really hoping that if they get in, the damage they do will be minimal.

 

[AlexisTO]

I caught a bit of our government at work (if that's what they call it) on TV last night. There is only one solution... bring in Donald Trump to fire the lot of them. I can't think of any business were such behavior would be tolerated. They sounded like pigs at a trough being fed with our hard earned tax dollars.

 

[mpolo2]

I dont think we can call this arrogance, it is afterall, the opposition parties' job to criticize the government in power and attempt to form a government of their own. No one knows who will form the next government or whether or not it will be a majority. The Conservatives guess, and the Bloc pretty much know, that this may be their best chance to gain seats given the current scandals and the electorate/media's fixation on them. If that doesn't suit your political bent so be it, but that is just how it is. I personnally find it bizarre that the Liberals can be so open about their fear of the electorate the consequences of an election.

 

[miketoronto]

Get ready for the UNITED STATES OF CANADA.

-Private Health Care
-Stopping of all gay right laws
-Firearms
-Reduction in public transit and city funding
-Becoming married to the USA for all our things
-Capital Punishment
-Loss of womens rights.

All brought to you by the new conservative government.

 

[Christopher DeWolf]

the government has obviously lost confidence; paul martin need to hold a real confidence vote soon. there's no point in pretending the house can function anymore.

that said, the bloc and tories have been shamefully ruthless in trying to topple the government -- and really, they have no motivation other than sheer opportunism.

personally, the one measure of satisfaction i can get out of all of this is that the NDP has very little to lose. i hate to be partisan, but i did vote for them in the last election and the media's knee-jerk rejection of the party really gets on my nerves.

 

[bizorky]

The polls indicate another minority government. We are about to go through our "Italian" period, politically speaking.

 

[mpolo2]

HTML Comments are not allowed

 

[blixa442]

Miketoronto:

If I follow your logic correctly, we'll also be seeing some office construction like we do in Philadelphia and a Chicago-style waterfront.

 

[Mislav]

Screw this! I'm still voting Green like I did during the last elections.

 

[Brighter Hell]

last election i voted green but this time i'll probably vote liberal just to spite the conservatives.

 

[mpolo2]

last election I voted Liberal but this time i'll probably vote green just to spite the NDP.


aahhh spite - the basic motivator for all canadian electoral decision making.

 

[spmarshall]

I'll probably vote NDP because I actually like the party, and the way that Layton and Broadbent have been acting. The NDP often has a better environmental policy than the Greens anyway.

Or, I'm voting NDP to spite the NDP haters like mpolo2.