Governing "As If He Had a Majority"

[jdobbin]

Some of my early sarcasm aside, I believe Dion and the Belmonts and his fellow Liberals are doing the country a major disservice. They have a duty to trigger an election when Parliament is not functining properly. A party that is willingly absorbing legislation fundamentally hostile to its agenda in order to "duck and cover" from the electorate is craven and cowardly.

Parliament is functioning properly. If Harper thinks it isn't, he has a choice of saying the government has lost confidence and go to he Governor-General. It doesn't require a vote. It never has.

As for the Opposition, they can pick and choose when to trigger an election in a minority situation. They don't have to vote non-confidence just because the government is chomping at the bit to go.

[old_bold&cold]

The only time the opposition can trigger an election in a minority government is when it has enough votes to do so. As much as the Bloc and NDP have said they would gladly go to the polls, the truth is the bloc will support the government, on most of the bills that are being past. So the Liberals really do not have to vote for everything that is put forward, but with what has been there, they would be hard pressed to not vote for it.

It will be that way for some time to come and I am not worried about a winter election either. The government is governing as if it hada majority, because it does have a majority, pretty much in all things being passed. Sure it really looked bad for Dion and the Liberals for having to support the throne speech the way it was. But that is only because the Bloc and NDP has already shot their mouths off about their demands and if not met they would bring down the government. The Liberals knew full well that they were in no shape for an election and the party was virtually stabbing each other to death. They could not in all consience have voted down the government on such a vague speech. The Liberal party has pretty much wrote Dion off and out no matter where or when an elections is called. So they will let him suffer any indignity they come across, so they can manouver the back room to be more compelling in the next race. Face it their will lose but right now they are trying to make that just a small rout and not a large scale rout. After that Dion will be gone and some new leader will come forward. Probably John Manley, or some other past performer. They will never again go for the likes of another Dion.

For now though, the government is working and moving along just fine and things are going to get passed, and there is no poison pill yet in any of the things to be done soon. As we get closer to the spring I will probably see things then start to be more confrontational, and the electorate will be ready to see an election called. If this goes past the spring and into next fall, then I think it will go all the way to Oct 2009. That will only help Harper and the CPC in the minds and hearts of the voters.

As for the time in between this, the liberals need to rebuild as best they can. Dion as a weak leader could resign and let soem one else take over, but I do not think he will do this so easily. So, the liberals pretty much have to resign themselves to the fact that they will go into an election, with a fragmented party, putting on its best face, but not having any unifying forces or policies.