CANADIAN LABOUR/CANADIAN POLITICS:
RALLIES FOR A COALITION GOVERNMENT:
As Molly writes this tonight the likelihood is that Sneaky Stevie will ask the Governor General to prorogue Parliament when he comes a calling on her next morning. She has little opportunity to refuse. With this unprecedented move Harper will have bought the six weeks or so time that he can cobble together an economic policy that at least looks vaguely stimulatory. The smart money is betting on him stealing large chucks of the program of the coalition in waiting, making it very politically hazardous for the opposition parties to pursue their intentions when Parliament sits again in January.
Thus the following series of rallies may be something of a lost cause, but Molly presents the schedule from the website of the Canadian Labour Congress anyways as a public service.
This evening Harper went on national television to present his case, but nothing was said in his brief address about any plans he might have. Mostly it was an exercise in wrapping himself in the flag and giving dire warnings about the Liberal/NDP coalition being dependent on the Bloc. You know, those horrid separatists and what this dependence might mean. Who knows what it might mean. Probably about the same as the dependence of a certain Canadian federal party on said Bloc to prop up its minority governments over the last two years. Yes...the Bloc has indeed propped up a certain minority government in recent history, voting with it in over a dozen confidence motions and close to 150 other matters of legislation.
Yes, our present Conservative government has had the tacit support of the Bloc throughout its time in office. The hypocrisy of Harper is astounding. Ah, but it's even deeper than that. Who exactly founded the Bloc Quebecois ? Guess who ? The main founder of the BQ was the Conservative cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard who split with the Mulroney government in 1990 after the failure of the Meech Lake Accords. Gathering other Quebec Conservatives and some dissident Liberals around him he was the first leader of the BQ. Yup ! That's right ! Those dreaded separatists whom Stevie Stevie has relied upon to keep him in power during his term are actually a creation of the very party that Harper now leads. Love that flag waving.
Anyways, the prospect of a Liberal/NDP coalition would hardly have delivered paradise on Earth. It always was very much a lesser of two evils option in the face of stupendous arrogance and ideological blindness on the part of the Conservatives. The fallout from this affair is likely to be that Sneaky Stevie, somewhat chastened, will appropriate much of the coalition program. Insofar as the Canadian government can do anything about the coming hard times Stevie will do it by lifting the opposition's suggestions. Ah well, here's the schedule anyways.
.........................
Ottawa, ON
Thursday, December 4th
12 p.m.
Parliament Hill
St. John’s, NL
Thursday, December 4th
7 p.m.
St. Theresa’s Hall Mundy Pond Road
Halifax, NS
Thursday, December 4th
5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Maritime Hall – Halifax Forum Windsor & Almon Street (enter off Almon Street)
Charlottetown, PEI
Thursday, December 4th
7 p.m.
Murphy’s Community Centre Richmond Street
Moncton, NB
Thursday, December 4th
7 p.m.
Moncton City Hall Front LawnMain Street
Regina, SK
Thursday, December 4th
7 p.m.
Education Auditorium University of Regina(Room for 650)
Edmonton, AB
Thursday, December 4th
6 p.m.
Winston Churchill Square Downtown Edmonton central
Winnipeg, MB
Thursday, December 4th
7 p.m.
Marlborough Hotel 331 Smith Street Ballroom (Room for 600)
Vancouver, BC
Thursday, December 4th
Doors open @ 5 p.m Speakers @ 6 p.m.
Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre Ballroom “A”
London, ON
Thursday, December 4th
4 p.m.
Victoria Park, North East Corner
Yellowknife, NT
Friday, December 5
12 p.m.
Dennis Bevington MP Constituency Office 4908 - 49th Street
Trail, BC
Thursday, December 4th
7 p.m.
Steelworkers Local 480 Hall 910 Portland Street
Nelson, BC
Thursday, December 4th
7 p.m.
Nelson United Church 602 Silica Street
Sudbury, ON
Saturday, December 6th
1 p.m.
Tom Davies Square 200 Brady Street
Thunder Bay, ON
Friday, December 5
1 p.m.
Labour Centre
Toronto, ON
Saturday, December 6th
12 p.m. 1 p.m.
City Hall Nathan Phillips Square
Sudbury, ON
Saturday, December 6th
1 p.m.
Tom Davies Square200 Brady Street
Montreal, QC
Saturday, December 6th
1 p.m.
In front of the Complexe Guy-Favreau 200 René-Lévesque West
6 comments:
I respectfully disagree with you, Molly, when you say, "She has little opportunity to refuse." This is not just about Canadian Parliamentary tradition. This is about Parliamentary tradition the world over. We tend, I think, to get a little self-centred when events such as these take place, forgetting that we are members of the Commonwealth and that we are not the only country which adheres to a Parliamentary system of representation and democratic governance. The G-G has much to consider, and though I would not want to be in her shoes, there is ample evidence for her to deny a prorogue. It will depend, I think, on the advice of her constitutional scholars and her gut. I've been sending lovingkindness all day and do not want to stop in order to sleep!
Molly, I must confess some confusion on my part. It seems that, despite vigorously disagreeing with my political position and even calling me not a real Anarchist, you have added me to your blogroll. I find that curious.
Tremblay:
You've been on the blogroll for a long time. I DON'T remove people or sites just because I am pissed off at them. There are certain things that have never been on the links and never will be because they are:
1)Detrimental to the sort of politics that I have held for decades insofar as they give it an extremely bad name.
2)Just important enough to do at least a little bit of damage to either the cause or to individuals unlucky enough to fall under their sway.
Most (all?) of these are "real anarchists. Passing a little minimal definition test for same doesn't preclude being rather objectional for other reasons.
The blogroll is also NOT restricted to anarchists. There are others such Regina Mom who are not. All that is required is that they be interesting and not objectionable. I try to keep the general Links section as anarchist as possible, though some questionable cases will surely be there as well. As for websites, rather than the Blogs section, where it is obvious to me I will put interesting but not-anarchist sites in the 'Other Interesting Links' section. This section also contains several links that are not political in any sense whatsoever as, of cource, the Scientific Links section does.
Hi Mom,
I don't know. To my mind people such as the GG ARE pretty well bound by precedent, the precedent of the country for which they are the Crown representative. One may feel that a different solution might be more just, but justice has little to do with the final decision. In any case I'm not a constitutional scholar, and I'm sure that the point could be agrued. ANY form of law is agruable. That's what lawyers do. If it was clear cut they would be out of a job.
Anyways, we will see what happens this morning.
Oh, I did not know I had been on there for a while. Thanks.
I don't know Moll...I think the Conservatives are done for come January. It is as though all the Liberals, New Democrats and the French guys all know Harper really is the re-birth of Hitler. The responsible thing to do, with that knowledge, is to gut The Beast.
I dunno Beer, I dunno. The public opinion polls are starting to come out, and so far it appears that Harper is winning the battle of publci opinion, detestable snaeky bastard that he is. The Coalition is stuck with the figurehead of Dion at its head, and that is agreat millstone. No doubt Dion is a far more decent man than Harper will ever be, but both his personality and his present situation play make him seem like an advertisement for boiled potatos with all the taste removed. He makes Joe Clark, also a fairly decent man, look like Conan the Barbarian by comparison.
I think the Conservatives will win the battle of the polls in the next few weeks, making igt impossible for the Coalition to carry out their plans in January. There are already Liberal rats deserting the sinking ship. If the Coalition was willing to stoop to it they would lwet Harper play Captain Canada until boxing day and then hammer back with the dirty politics of how much the Bloc has supported Harper in the past and how the BQ was actually formed by Conservatives in the fiorst place. AND KEEP ON HAMMERING ON THAT POINT. I don't think it will dawn on them to take this particularily low but effective road, especially as they have to leave the BQ with at least a smile on their faces for their present non-efforts.
Too bad. I'd like to see Harper go, but I don't think this is the beast's time. Now maybe if they 'delegated" their dirty work they could pull it off and not give Duceppe high blood pressure.
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