Coalition: breaking news

And a Cons MP is publicaly saying that Harper made a serious mistake. Isolated cases of both are guaranteed to happen- cracks or no cracks.

And I think this is exactly the kind of new thread for which there is no excuse. Why didn't you put this in the existing thread? Its not a distinct topic- just another facet of what goes on with and viz the coalition.

Well that proves it - it is a good idea

Bookish Agrarian wrote:

Well that proves it - it is a good idea

If the coalition falls apart because the Liberals lose their nerve - at least it will give the NDP a great sledgehammer to beat them with for the next year when people look for who to blame for all the awful stuff Harper is bound to try to do.

And I agree with KenS about this thread.  i just can't help myself.

They've past the point of no return.  As Benjamin Franklin said on the onset of the Revolution, "We must all hang together or surely will we hang separately."

In any case, the Liberals' stupidity, i.e., not replacing Dion as leader of the coalition, far outstrips and crowds out their timidity.    So, I guess that's a blessing.

Taking Left Turn's advice, I decided to make this thread about breaking news about the coalition.  I changed the title to reflect that.

So, please post any new developments or news stories (not opinion pieces - you can post those in the "debate continues" thread) about the coalition in this thread.

Ratbert:

Iggy is already jumping ship. With Jacques Parizeau's hearty agreement to the coalition, many Liberals will be searching for the handgrenade in their underwear.

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The placement a result of a vain search for gonads?

No, keep the faith Bert.  Even Iggy knows that leaving the ship would mean certain death.

Bookish Agrarian wrote:

They would have to be idiots to walk out.  But then I thought they would have to be idiots to elect Dion leader in the first place and they went and did that too.

Pushing this three wheeled jalopy out onto the political racetrack  increasingly appears to be their most idiotic move, but the best is yet to come,  when Rae or Ignatieff makes their debut on a unicycle.

according to ctv.ca  here is what happened to the tape:

Quote:

The timeline (all times ET):

• 6:15-6:30 - The Liberals miss their promised deadline to deliver Dion's statement to the television networks.
• 6:40 - Liberals arrive with a single tape at the press gallery in Ottawa. They were supposed to deliver two tapes: one in French, one in English. They arrived with a single tape in DVD-minicam format, which is not broadcast quality.
• Shortly after 6:40 - The Liberals decide to run back to their offices -- a block away -- because the French portion of the tape needs another edit.
• 7:05 - Liberal staffers are still in their offices as the networks go to air with the Harper address.
• 7:07 - Harper's statement finishes and network anchors are forced to kill time as they wait for Dion's address.
• 7:10 to 7:15 - Liberal staffers arrive back at the press gallery on Wellington Street with a DVD-minicam player that they had taken from their own offices, along with the associated cables. There is still only one tape, not two. A press gallery official tells the Liberals that the gallery is not the feed point and an argument ensues. The Liberals ask why they weren't told that earlier. The feed point is next door at the CBC building, which is the long-established feed play point for all network pools. The Liberals are informed that they need to be walked into the building by authorized staff.
• 7:20 - English network anchors are still live on television, wondering where the tape is. CTV has still had no communications from the Liberals about Dion's address.
• Approximately 7:15 - CBC receives the tape and begins dubbing into French and English versions. This takes about 10 minutes.
• 7:28 - CTV decides to go off-air and back to regular scheduled programming at 7:30. CTV has still not seen a feed of the tape.
• 7:28 - CBC incorrectly punches out the finished feed only to their network.
• 7:30 - CTV signs off broadcast at scheduled time.

"We missed our deadline," Moreau said. "The shot was not all that professional. It was soft-focused."

Its funny all this squawking about Parizeau supporting the coalition. I remember back in 1988 when Parizeau came out strongly in favour of free trade with the US on the grounds that it would help weaken Canada and pave the road to independence for Quebec. The Tories were happy to welcome his backing at the time.

'I think everyone needs to take a step back and calm down. I think the government needs to tone down their rhetoric.'— Nathan Cullen, NDP MP in B.C.

From http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/12/03/bc-mp-sign-burned.html?ref=rss

As someone who worked for an NDP MLA during the late '90s when anti-NDP sentiment was high, my experience leads me to worry about the vicious fervour that is being whipped up by our PM. Those who are active in the coalition movement will need to be vigilant in terms of their personal safety.

Jacks TV speech was the best. Global/National Pest has the video, ironically full of "technical difficulties"

Text of the address:

Quote:

My fellow Canadians, tonight we are at a crossroads in our collective history.

An economic storm unlike anything seen in a generation is upon us.

And Canada must have a strong and effective government that holds the confidence of Parliament.

Tonight, we do not.

Tonight, far too many Canadians will lie awake not knowing how they'll put food on the table tomorrow, or pay the bills this month.

Seniors will check their pensions and savings and see the true cost of collapsing markets.

And in Canada, this recession has only just begun.

Tonight, only one party stands in the way of government that works for Canadians.

When people look to their federal government, they want to see a sense of leadership.

Mr. Harper has not shown this leadership.

Families about to receive their last paycheque needed hope.

World leaders have acted rapidly and boldly to stimulate their economies.

Economists and business leaders have asked for strong and targeted measures.

In Canada, New Democrats offered constructive input and good ideas.

On election night, I committed to working collaboratively with Mr. Harper in the new minority Parliament.

In the days and weeks following that election, I laid out our effective ideas to stimulate the economy.

I described them in great detail in speeches across the nation.

In the House of Commons.

And in a face to face meeting - at my invitation - with Mr. Harper on November the 12th.

I focused on the needs of working families, of those being thrown out of work or whose pensions were at risk.

Of those working in our key industrial sectors.

And the need for a new energy economy to create new jobs for the 21st century.

Instead of acting on those ideas, or presenting any plan to stimulate the economy, he delivered a partisan plan to sell off public buildings, kill off opposition parties and roll back workers' and women's rights – none of which would create one job or protect one pension.

Stephen Harper refused to act. Now he is trying to turn an economic crisis into a political one.

But Stephen Harper has broken trust with the Canadian people.

And because of that, he has lost the confidence of Parliament.

He's more interested in his job than you and your families' jobs.

That's wrong.

It was Stephen Harper's job to make Parliament work.

But he has refused.

By putting an end to Parliament, buy putting locks on the doors, he is rejecting the democratic choice of 62 per cent of the people.

And every MP will see their democratic right to vote confidence in the government.

Every member of Parliament will be denied their vote.

Every Canadian will be silenced in the people's House.

We will have a Conservative government without legitimacy.

That doesn't have to happen, because this is a remarkable moment in Canadian history.

The opposition parties have acted together with a common goal: to return hope to people and help them go through these very difficult economic times.

For the first time, the majority of parities chosen by the people have put aside their differences. For the good of the people.

For the first time in memory, the majority of the people's representatives set aside their differences for the good of Canada.

This is a time of hope.

Tonight, only one party stands against the welfare of the Canadian people.

On Monday, the two leaders of the proposed coalition sent Her Excellency the Governor General a letter making it clear that the majority of members of Parliament no longer have confidence in this Conservative government.

Nothing we have heard tonight changes that fact.

And tonight, we are announcing that if it pleases Her Excellency, every New Democrat member of Parliament is prepared to individually express their lack of confidence in this government.

A new kind of government, with a new kind of politics, is ready to serve, one that will put the economy and working families first.

Thank you, and good night.

The link thingy doesn't work, and the url is too long but i'm sure babblers are savvy enough to find the video. 

If the discussion that's going to be had about last night's videos is about who looks more professional, we have some serious problems as a country.  And this is pretty much exactly how Harper has done it so far; he has a well-oiled PR machine to make his blathering look like substance.  The truth of the matter is that last night Harper gave a weak and unconvincing speech that had a glossy sheen on it, while Dion gave what I thought was a pretty good speech that didn't look as nice.  But of course, why would we talk about politics when we can talk about fashion?  Thank you, Canadian media.

House prorogued until January 26. What a disaster.

Prorogue THIS Harper!

Dictator Harper

This is a six week window for social movements to address the issues of economic and political democracy in Canada, to push the coalition idea, and to fight Harper with a campaign of public education, and mobilization.

One of the great tasks will be to reveal the deceits, lies, and betrayals of the Conservative propaganda machine and babble will be one of the most important places for this to happen. 

I'm not convinced that the Liberal and NDP leaders should just wimp out and not impress upon the GG the violation of democratic tradition and the sinister precedent that this decision of hers leads to. A government afraid of the House and of being defeated by a vote in the House is a govenment alien to democracy. Any future government can pull the same shit. Stephen Harper, with the complicity of the GG, has just done permanent harm to Canadian democracy.

Of course, we don't just depend on the GG to defend democracy. Good thing. 

I can't believe she did that. She doesn't even like him, and she broke
precedent for him. Which in turn will give an easy out for any future
weakling governments. Now she's got coalitionists against her. 
What would have compelled her to make that decision??

Oh, look, one of the cowards is here.

Perhaps if we pretend he does not exist?  Or failing that, ask for a 7-week cooling off (banning) period for the bastard?

Bob Rae is giving a fantastic off-the-cuff speech to Don Newman on the CBC right now.  He's completely unequivocal about the fact that Harper is making an attack on democracy, that he wants to divide the country, and that he can not be trusted no matter what he says during the budget speech.  Really good job, especially since it seems like it's not a prepared speech.

Krago: :D  I read that out to the editorial team on our conference call today and they thought it was funny. :)

The freeloader-general should step down immediately for being completely useless.

With apologies to GNR, but are we seeing a real "Chinese Democracy" -- when the opposition doesn't cower and  kowtow to the Imperial Leader, dissolve Parliament and run roughshod over Parliamentary Democracy. 

Anyone else find is hilarious that the opposition didn't grow a backbone until the Imperial Leader threatened to take away their public money.