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This is how your southern neighbors are reading about this historic
example of the value of one vote. I must say I’m impressed with the ability of
the confidence vote process to whip a national leader(ship) into listening to
constituents. Do lobbyists run your country, too? It seems that the threat of
‘early dismissal’ works better than a corrupt president knowing the only way
he’ll be impeached is to do something really wrong and leave evidence of it.
The four year term in our process leaves a lot of time for mischief and
incompetence. I’ve advocated in the past for a single six year term. - KwC A Tie-Breaking Vote Saves Liberal
Leader in Canada The showdown was decided by two of three independent
lawmakers who decided to vote with the government on a budget measure,
resulting in a 152-152 tie that was broken by Speaker Peter Milliken, a
Liberal. The prime minister tried to cast his close call in the best
light. "We must move forward now in the spirit of cooperation," he
told Parliament immediately after the vote. "We ask the opposition to join
with us in a new effort to make this Parliament work for the people of Canada." The clear loser was Stephen Harper, the leader of the
Conservative Party, who tried to overthrow the Liberals in alliance with the
separatist Bloc Qu�b�cois. But he promised to stay on the attack. "Tonight the Liberals won a Pyrrhic
victory, one that will sow the seeds of its own destruction, one that will present our party with
great opportunity," Mr. Harper said. Switching to French, he added, "I'm embarrassed and I deeply regret that our
Parliament has decided this evening to maintain its confidence in a corrupt
party." The vote was forced by an opposition angered by a Liberal
Party scandal. Testimony in a federal inquiry indicated that Liberal
functionaries used advertising companies in a kickback and money laundering
scheme to fill party coffers in the 1990's while Mr. Martin was finance
minister. The advertising and sponsorship campaign was aimed at increasing
federal government exposure in Quebec to thwart separatists. Though Mr. Martin has insisted that he knew nothing about
the suspected illicit campaign financing, he has been kept off-balance and weak
since he took power in late 2003. To survive, he has been forced to veer left
to secure the base of his party and win support from a smaller leftist party,
forcing him in recent months to raise social spending and to abandon his pledge
to join President Bush's missile defense program. The confidence vote was the climax to weeks of heated
exchanges, parliamentary filibustering and the specter of constitutional
crisis. The spectacle on the floor
of House of Commons of members accusing one another of covering up criminal
acts and questioning their patriotism served to elevate voter cynicism and
rattle the Canadian dollar. Mr.
Martin has struggled since taking power almost two years ago to develop a
consistent set of policies and focused objectives. But he showed more
creativity in his efforts to survive. He rewrote his budget, adding billions in
social spending to attract 19 votes of the social democratic New Democratic
Party. Then he directly appealed to Canadians on national television by
apologizing for the scandal and pleading for patience. He said that he would
call an election soon after the investigating commission completed its work at
the end of the year and that it would be wrong for voters to jump to
conclusions before they weighed all the evidence. Polls showed that his pitch was effective in persuading
people to wait a few more months before rejecting his government. Many also appeared
persuaded that they could have better roads and bridges, more day care
services, cleaner air and water and more housing for the homeless if the
Liberals had a chance to pass
their budget before an election was held. Nevertheless, the government appeared doomed to fall until
Tuesday when Belinda Stronach, a leading moderate member of the Conservative
Party, defected to the Liberals in return for a cabinet seat. She said that she was uncomfortable
with Conservative social and environmental positions, and that she thought her
party had made a dangerous alliance with the Bloc Qu�b�cois that might not only
overthrow the government but also threaten the unity of the country. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/international/americas/20canada.html? |
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