Minority PMs don't deserve Sussex Drive!

[whowhere]

Living at Sussex drive should be reserved for majority party PMs.

Because of the whimisical non confidence that exists in minority governments and the perpetual elections pursued to get majorities, no minority PM should be living at Sussex drive. Living at sussex drive should be a reward to a good party that has captured the hearts and minds of Canadians, not these fly by night minority PMs. OUT OUT OUT Harper.

Make sussex drive a reward, not an entitlement!

[ToadBrother]

Living at Sussex drive should be reserved for majority party PMs.

Because of the whimisical non confidence that exists in minority governments and the perpetual elections pursued to get majorities, no minority PM should be living at Sussex drive. Living at sussex drive should be a reward to a good party that has captured the hearts and minds of Canadians, not these fly by night minority PMs. OUT OUT OUT Harper.

Make sussex drive a reward, not an entitlement!

Where do you propose they stay, Best Western?

Edited January 12, 2010 by ToadBrother

[whowhere]

Where do you propose they stay, Best Western?

Give them an apartment.

[DrGreenthumb]

Give them an apartment.

I voted that he should be evicted , but not cuz he's a minority BM, er PM. I think he should be kicked out because he sucks as a prime minister.

[g_bambino]

Make sussex drive a reward, not an entitlement!

And what of Stornoway and the Farm? Residences for the second best party leader and the MPs' babysitter.

[grammar]

Edited January 13, 2010 by g_bambino

[Smallc]

The MPs babysitter even gets his own apartment in Centre Block.

[Cameron]

I voted that he should be evicted , but not cuz he's a minority BM, er PM. I think he should be kicked out because he sucks as a prime minister.

That is called the democratic process. You'll find it very interesting. Look it up sometime.

[noahbody]

Living at Sussex drive should be reserved for majority party PMs.

Because of the whimisical non confidence that exists in minority governments and the perpetual elections pursued to get majorities, no minority PM should be living at Sussex drive. Living at sussex drive should be a reward to a good party that has captured the hearts and minds of Canadians, not these fly by night minority PMs. OUT OUT OUT Harper.

Make sussex drive a reward, not an entitlement!

So you're saying it should be vacant for as long as the Bloc is popular and taxpayers should pick up the expense of another residence? Why not make all the leaders move in? It can be the Canadian version of Big Brother.

[whowhere]

So you're saying it should be vacant for as long as the Bloc is popular and taxpayers should pick up the expense of another residence? Why not make all the leaders move in? It can be the Canadian version of Big Brother.

The Liberals had majorities for years, quit making excuses for harper. Sussex drive should be reserved for long tenured PMs, not the fly by night minority types. Sussex should be a reward not an entitlement just because you get to call yourself PM. The other parties should come together and pass an eviction bill to kick him out of sussex drive. Now that would be funny.

[DrGreenthumb]

That is called the democratic process. You'll find it very interesting. Look it up sometime.

WTF are you talking about? Why are "proud Conservatives" always so brain-dead? Another Mr Canada? How old is the earth Cameron? Is evolution against your religion?

[Shady]

The Liberals had majorities for years, quit making excuses for harper. Sussex drive should be reserved for long tenured PMs

This idea is frankly, retarded. Please stop trying to turn Canada into a laughingstock, all for the purpose of fulfilling your Harper Derangement Syndrome.

Long tenured PM's? How long does one have to be PM to finally get to move into Sussex Drive? This isn't some new reality show, it's our country. :angry:

[ToadBrother]

This idea is frankly, retarded. Please stop trying to turn Canada into a laughingstock, all for the purpose of fulfilling your Harper Derangement Syndrome.

Long tenured PM's? How long does one have to be PM to finally get to move into Sussex Drive? This isn't some new reality show, it's our country. :angry:

Next Week on Federal Big Brother... Will Gilles try to leave, or just stand by the front door demanding more money before he takes off his shoes? Will Stephen try to light everyone else's bed on fire and then lock them out of the kitchen? Will Iggy be able to even find the kitchen? And will Jack stop yelling and, more importantly, stop trying to sleep with the other three?

Tune in next week to Federal Big Brother.

Edited January 13, 2010 by ToadBrother

[William Ashley]

The Liberals had majorities for years, quit making excuses for harper. Sussex drive should be reserved for long tenured PMs, not the fly by night minority types. Sussex should be a reward not an entitlement just because you get to call yourself PM. The other parties should come together and pass an eviction bill to kick him out of sussex drive. Now that would be funny.

Who cares what the liberals had or did, why not live in the present for the future instead of looking at the past seeing how low a standard you can represent.

[Born Free]

.... The other parties should come together and pass an eviction bill to kick him out of sussex drive.

They already tried that...

[Argus]

Wack job...

[segnosaur]

Because of the whimisical non confidence that exists in minority governments and the perpetual elections pursued to get majorities, no minority PM should be living at Sussex drive. Living at sussex drive should be a reward to a good party that has captured the hearts and minds of Canadians, not these fly by night minority PMs. OUT OUT OUT Harper.

All right, lets take a look at all the mistakes you made in your opening post, m'kay?

First of all, you're complaining about "minority PMs". But keep in mind that even when a party has managed to land a majority, their percentage of the popular vote is almost always less than 50%. (In fact, its even possible that a minority PM might have even obtained a higher percentage of the vote than other PMs who managed a majority on lower vote percentages.) So, your argument that the PM has to "capture the hearts and minds of Canadians" falls flat.

Secondly, 24 Sussex drive is not just the Prime Minister's residence. It is often used for informal meetings with other government officials, visiting dignitaries, etc.

Thirdly, you seem to be belittling the effort that it takes to even win a parlimentary minority, and to maintain it for a significant length of time. (Heck, some of the minority governments that Canada have had have lasted longer than one of Chretien's majority governments.)

Lastly, you seem to have not considered all of the ramifications. What are you going to do about security? (24 Sussex has established security systems; you going to have the RCMP re-design security setups ever time a new minority PM has to find a new house?) You going to let 24 Sussex sit empty, possibly for years at a time, costing taxpayers money (not to mention the fact that it will have to be maintained, and heated. Not exactly very friendly to the environment.)

[Mr.Canada]

The OP is obviously a child with little to no life experience. I doubt he has travelled without his parents anywhere. He reminds me of a university student who is ready to rebel against anything their parents support. Typical.

[Born Free]

Wack job...

The attempt was thwarted by Harper in 2008 when he suspended Parliament...

[whowhere]

Long tenured PM's? How long does one have to be PM to finally get to move into Sussex Drive? This isn't some new reality show, it's our country. :angry:

It's quite simple, The PM's party gains a majority and as reward for leading his party to a majority he gets sussex drive. If he can't he should get one of the MP apartments until the Conservatives learn how to be a political party that CANADIANS WANT!

[segnosaur]

It's quite simple, The PM's party gains a majority and as reward for leading his party to a majority he gets sussex drive. If he can't he should get one of the MP apartments until the Conservatives learn how to be a political party that CANADIANS WANT!

In the 2000 election, Chretien only received around 41% of the popular vote. That means less than half of all Canadians voted for his party. Almost 6 in 10 people did not want the Liberals in power.

So, should Chretien have been able to move into 24 Sussex? After all, Chretien never showed the Liberals were the party "Canadians want".

Chretien also called an election after 3 1/2 years. This is actually less time than some Minority governments have run. What does that do to your "long term" argument?

[whowhere]

In the 2000 election, Chretien only received around 41% of the popular vote. That means less than half of all Canadians voted for his party. Almost 6 in 10 people did not want the Liberals in power.

So, should Chretien have been able to move into 24 Sussex? After all, Chretien never showed the Liberals were the party "Canadians want".

Chretien also called an election after 3 1/2 years. This is actually less time than some Minority governments have run. What does that do to your "long term" argument?

I think we have a problem houston. Canadians elect an MP who represent their region. Each Region makes up the electoral vote. Canadians collectively are choosing the representatives they want. If after all is said and done through this act of democracy (Whichyou appear to have a problem with, a comrad I suspect ) and seats tally up to a majority of seats for this PM's party (Who's is this guy? Did Canadians issue one direct vote for the PM??, ahh, nope, so your popular vote means squadouche in any case) He is rewarded with Sussex Drive.

Fly by night PMs should not be entitled but rewarded. Sussex Drive should be reserved for Majority Seat PMs.

[segnosaur]

I think we have a problem houston. Canadians elect an MP who represent their region.

Correct, but totally irrelevant.

Yes, people only elect their local MPs so its not a direct vote for the PM. However, trying to word things to satisfy any picky attitudes people may have is a waste of time. People know how the government works. Saying "Chretien got X% of the popular vote" is a useful shorthand, rather than have to write "The Liberal party under Chretien got X% of the popular vote".

I see you're still ignoring the main points:

- Even most Majority leaders don't earn the "hearts and minds" of a majority of the population by having their party gain a majority of the popular vote

- Some Majority PMs end up having shorter terms than minority PMs.

So, rather than trying to waste time by trying to describe the minute details of our electoral system, why don't you deal with those 2 issues?

[whowhere]

Correct, but totally irrelevant.

Yes, people only elect their local MPs so its not a direct vote for the PM. However, trying to word things to satisfy any picky attitudes people may have is a waste of time. People know how the government works. Saying "Chretien got X% of the popular vote" is a useful shorthand, rather than have to write "The Liberal party under Chretien got X% of the popular vote".

I see you're still ignoring the main points:

- Even most Majority leaders don't earn the "hearts and minds" of a majority of the population by having their party gain a majority of the popular vote

- Some Majority PMs end up having shorter terms than minority PMs.

So, rather than trying to waste time by trying to describe the minute details of our electoral system, why don't you deal with those 2 issues?

It's simple, the PM's party gets the majority of seats and the PM moves into sussex dr. Why are you trying to complicate something that's straightforward. Sussex should be a reward to the PM for navigating his party into convincing enough regions he's the guy for Canada. It's a matter of winning and losing. Losing PM's should not be rewarded with Sussex Drive.

[ToadBrother]

I think we have a problem houston. Canadians elect an MP who represent their region. Each Region makes up the electoral vote. Canadians collectively are choosing the representatives they want. If after all is said and done through this act of democracy (Whichyou appear to have a problem with, a comrad I suspect ) and seats tally up to a majority of seats for this PM's party (Who's is this guy? Did Canadians issue one direct vote for the PM??, ahh, nope, so your popular vote means squadouche in any case) He is rewarded with Sussex Drive.

Once again for the slow members of the class, voters do not vote for a government, they vote for a parliament.

Fly by night PMs should not be entitled but rewarded. Sussex Drive should be reserved for Majority Seat PMs.

The PM is the head of government. As such, he needs a residence where he can conduct his business. What's more, being in such an important position means security is necessary. It is much easier to maintain consistent security levels on a permanent residence than via hotel rooms or whatever.

On a personal note, your whole notion is pretty stupid. There are serious things to talk about, but where a PM lives depending on how many votes his party gets or his relative standings in the House, well that's not even dumb enough to be wrong.

[Wilber]

Stupid idea. We own the joint, use it.