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Parliamentary Shenanigans

So now, the Tories are suspending Parliament and are running a bunch of ads about the SOCIALIST THREAT and SEPARATISTS TRYING TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT in an attempt to convince Canadians about something. A delay tactic which shows their cards.

I don’t know why everyone is in such a tizzy about this. Non-confidence motions and the ability to change the ruling party of government without an election is a tenet of parliamentary democracy. It’s what happens when the majority of elected officials feel that the ruling party isn’t doing their job properly, and it’s a Good Thing. It’s why we don’t have to put up with folks like George W. Bush for four years at a time. Another nice aspect of parliamentarianism is that an election can be called any time. In fact, in 1974 Trudeau forced an election by introducing a confidence motion with his minority government’s budget. He was pretty confident he’d win the resulting election, which he did.

Stephen Harper himself proposed a coalition government with the Bloc Quebecois in 2004, so why are so many people running around, tearing out their hair and gnashing their teeth about the SEPARATIST THREAT? Stephen Harper would have been all too happy in 2004 to OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT in partnership with the Bloc and/or anyone else he could find.

Now, it’s fairly common knowledge that cenobyte is a bit of a rabble rouser. A bit of a rebel, if you will. Somewhat of a low-key anarchist. Part of my utter giddiness over everything that’s happening in the Canadian parliament is just the sheer disorder of it all. I *love* watching Conservative MPs spit vitriolic epithets at the press about the UNDEMOCRATIC SEPARATIST COUP. I love watching Bloc MPs, calm and collected, discussing why replacing the current government is what’s best for Canada – not what’s best for Quebec, but what’s best for Canada. I love hearing Stephane Dion say “Canadians elected 308 members of Parliament in October, not just Stephen Harper”. I love watching the slow boil of panic on Parliament Hill.

I don’t know what it is. Canada is not a country born of rebellion and war; we’ve always been a somewhat conciliatory place. Louis Riel stirred things up with his Resistance, and the FLQ. But really, it’s not a country that does “things like that”. You know, Good Countries Don’t.

Check out the Yarn Harlot for a good explanation of how all this works (thanks to Melistress for the link): www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2008/12/03/what_is_happening_in_canada.html

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9 responses to “Parliamentary Shenanigans”

  1. Smarty Pants Avatar
    Smarty Pants

    I believe that in 2004, the Tories talked to the Bloc about overturning the Paul Martin Grits then moving forward *on a vote by vote basis*. This is a FAR cry from signed agreements, Senate appointments, and giving the Bloc VETO power.I know you love the mayhem, Ceno…it’s like spritzing a room full of people with tuna juice, then releasing cages of weasels.But this sh*t is just not good. Tories got way too cocky, granted, but now we’re looking at the loss of over a month in Parliament when we’re allegedly facing an “economic crisis”?Hypocrisy abounds.

    Reply
  2. brielle128 Avatar
    brielle128

    I know I am not going to be popular and probably bitch slapped here, but what incensed me to fiercely about hating the Bloc…was when Duceppe said himself..on national coverage when they announced this…:“I am not a Canadian. I am a Quebec Nationalist.”that…right there put the nail in the coffin for me. If he himself said he is not a Canadian…why the FUCK is he even in federal politics? Stick to provincial buddy.my 2 cents

    Reply
  3. Silent Winged Coyote Avatar
    Silent Winged Coyote

    That’s a fabulous link you’ve added. I knew how that worked but I doubt I could describe it as susinctly as that individual did.I’m really with you on this one Ceno. I LOVE watching all these politicians just go bug nutty and act like ass hats. It’s a hoot! I kept flipping between CPAC and CTV News. Wheeee! :)

    Reply
  4. cenobyte Avatar
    cenobyte

    First of all, the Bloc would not have any veto power. The Bloc is not a part of the coalition; they’re supportive of it. Second, if Stephen Harper had tried to actually act like a Minority Goverment leader instead of attaching confidence motions to everything, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation. Third, Parliament wasn’t doing anything about the “economic crisis” *anyway*, so there’s no loss there.

    Reply
  5. Silent Winged Coyote Avatar
    Silent Winged Coyote

    Yeah.On the lighter side is Jacques Parizeau.These are as direct a quotes I can make from memory:Interviewer: Mr. Parizeau, why is it you feel Quebec should seperate, or recieve any kind of special concesions in negotiations over the Canadian constitution?JP: Well you see, we ‘ave our own language, an’ customs, an’ language, derefore we require different circumstances for our inclusion or seperation from Can-i-da.(Interview goes on for a few more minutes, cutting out the justifications for these reasons)I: So how do you plan on dealing with the First Nations people who will still be living in Quebec? Do you plan on still honoring the treaties and agreements that they have in place with the Canadian Federal government?JP: What, jus’ becuz dey ‘ave der own customs, an’ language, an’ culture dey t’ink dey deserf special treat-ment?!I just about died laughing when I watched that.It was the only time you saw the interviewer’s face and she looked like a landed fish, mouth openning and closing, eyes wide and rolling, unable to understand this statement. It was fabulous.

    Reply
  6. melistress Avatar
    melistress

    oh cool! I didn’t see you add this link until now. Thanks!

    Reply
  7. Der Kaptin Avatar
    Der Kaptin

    RE the Quebec Seperatist bogeyman that many people are palavaring about — what exactly have they ever done, actually done, to threaten Canada’s existence? Nada. A lot of people said that after they heard the debates they wished Gille Duceppe was a national party leader, because they’d like to vote for him! He is a smart, forthright (unlike some we could name) politician, who has acted much more frequently to stabilize the Government of Canada than to destabilize it. Some people are actually capable of recognizing a *bargaining position* when they hear it, and some people are good at deliberately misunderstanding things.

    Reply
  8. melistress Avatar
    melistress

    Der Kaptin – Good point. The fear that is being put forth by the conservatives is rather amusing considering that twice before that party made its own attempts at “getting into bed with the devil”. Before the coalition the Bloq had 49 seats, during the coalition the Bloq has 49 seats and absolutely no cabinet positions. The coalition is only the NDP and the Liberals with the support of the Bloq. They have no more power than before. In a minority government they had just as much power to manipulate Harper as they do now with the coalition. Also, the west seems to be conveniently forgetting that Harper himself is a WESTERN separatist. Which took place much more recently than any separation talk on the part of Quebec.

    Reply
  9. Parmeisan Avatar
    Parmeisan

    My blog is 37% more female than yours.Also,“We guess http://yahoo.com is written by a woman (55%), however it’s quite gender neutral.”*snickers*

    Reply

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