freespirit
26th March 2011, 10:01 AM
buckle up kids, this is gonna get interesting.....
OTTAWA - The federal election is set for May 2 and it's shaping up to be a campaign battle from C to C — coalition to contempt.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the date at Rideau Hall today and immediately made it clear he wants a majority to stave off a "reckless opposition coalition."
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff moved to blunt that line of attack, vowing not to form any coalition with the NDP or Bloc Quebecois and warning that the real danger is Harper's contempt for democracy.
"The Harper Winter will soon be over," he said. "For the first time in our history, a prime minister was found guilty by the House of Commons of contempt for our parliamentary institutions and that's why we're having an election.
"We will be asking Canadians to choose between a prime minister that shows scant respect for our institutions and a Liberal team that believes profoundly that the first thing you expect of a government is respect for democratic principles."
However, Harper said the Liberals can't be trusted to keep their word on the coalition.
"Their record is clear," he said. "Deny it in an election, then do it afterward."
He said an opposition coalition would be a danger to the economy and the country.
"Imagine a coalition of arch-centralists and Quebec sovereigntists trying to work together. The only thing they'll be able to agree on is to spend more money and to raise taxes to pay for it."
That alarmist talk was scoffed at by Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe, who noted that Harper was eager in 2004 to replace Paul Martin's minority Liberals with a Tory government backed by the NDP and Bloc. Harper signed a letter with Duceppe and NDP Leader Jack Layton at the time, asking the Governor General to "consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options" before agreeing to call an election.
"He lied this morning," Duceppe said of the prime minister.
Duceppe revelled in the details of his meeting with Harper in 2004 at the Delta Hotel in Montreal.
"He was coming in my office saying, 'If Martin is going to lose confidence, what do you want in the throne speech? What would you like in the budget?'" Duceppe recalled.
The rhetoric follows a historic vote in the House of Commons on Friday. MPs voted 156-145 in favour of a Liberal motion expressing non-confidence and citing the Harper government for contempt of Parliament — a first for a national government anywhere in the Commonwealth.
Harper and other Tories defended this week's federal budget as a responsible plan during a fragile economic recovery and warned about the "irresponsible" effects of an "unnecessary" election. However, the stock market rose Friday and at least one expert dismissed any economic impact.
Don Drummond, chief economist at TD Bank Financial Group and a former top Finance Department official, rattled off five reasons why a federal election poses virtually no threat to the economy.
Harper is expected to campaign on the budget, which was laden with tightly targeted tax credits and riding-specific goodies, while simultaneously accusing his opponents of plotting to subvert the will of the electorate should the Conservatives fail to add 12 Tory seats and win their coveted majority.
The opposition parties have already begun pounding home their campaign message, slamming the prime minister as a secretive leader who abuses power and leads a government plagued by scandal.
In the past month, the Conservative party and four of its top officials have been charged with election overspending and two RCMP investigations have been launched against former political staffers.
http://news.ca.msn.com/federal-election-2011/cp-article.aspx?cp-documentid=28138737
OTTAWA - The federal election is set for May 2 and it's shaping up to be a campaign battle from C to C — coalition to contempt.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the date at Rideau Hall today and immediately made it clear he wants a majority to stave off a "reckless opposition coalition."
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff moved to blunt that line of attack, vowing not to form any coalition with the NDP or Bloc Quebecois and warning that the real danger is Harper's contempt for democracy.
"The Harper Winter will soon be over," he said. "For the first time in our history, a prime minister was found guilty by the House of Commons of contempt for our parliamentary institutions and that's why we're having an election.
"We will be asking Canadians to choose between a prime minister that shows scant respect for our institutions and a Liberal team that believes profoundly that the first thing you expect of a government is respect for democratic principles."
However, Harper said the Liberals can't be trusted to keep their word on the coalition.
"Their record is clear," he said. "Deny it in an election, then do it afterward."
He said an opposition coalition would be a danger to the economy and the country.
"Imagine a coalition of arch-centralists and Quebec sovereigntists trying to work together. The only thing they'll be able to agree on is to spend more money and to raise taxes to pay for it."
That alarmist talk was scoffed at by Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe, who noted that Harper was eager in 2004 to replace Paul Martin's minority Liberals with a Tory government backed by the NDP and Bloc. Harper signed a letter with Duceppe and NDP Leader Jack Layton at the time, asking the Governor General to "consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options" before agreeing to call an election.
"He lied this morning," Duceppe said of the prime minister.
Duceppe revelled in the details of his meeting with Harper in 2004 at the Delta Hotel in Montreal.
"He was coming in my office saying, 'If Martin is going to lose confidence, what do you want in the throne speech? What would you like in the budget?'" Duceppe recalled.
The rhetoric follows a historic vote in the House of Commons on Friday. MPs voted 156-145 in favour of a Liberal motion expressing non-confidence and citing the Harper government for contempt of Parliament — a first for a national government anywhere in the Commonwealth.
Harper and other Tories defended this week's federal budget as a responsible plan during a fragile economic recovery and warned about the "irresponsible" effects of an "unnecessary" election. However, the stock market rose Friday and at least one expert dismissed any economic impact.
Don Drummond, chief economist at TD Bank Financial Group and a former top Finance Department official, rattled off five reasons why a federal election poses virtually no threat to the economy.
Harper is expected to campaign on the budget, which was laden with tightly targeted tax credits and riding-specific goodies, while simultaneously accusing his opponents of plotting to subvert the will of the electorate should the Conservatives fail to add 12 Tory seats and win their coveted majority.
The opposition parties have already begun pounding home their campaign message, slamming the prime minister as a secretive leader who abuses power and leads a government plagued by scandal.
In the past month, the Conservative party and four of its top officials have been charged with election overspending and two RCMP investigations have been launched against former political staffers.
http://news.ca.msn.com/federal-election-2011/cp-article.aspx?cp-documentid=28138737