Harper will give Peter an OKS

Conservative cabinet minister, Peter MacKay wants us to believe he forgot he was on the boards of directors for two companies. That's just too bizarre to accept. I bet Mr. Harper is giving Peter a good ole fashion OKS (Over the Knee Spanking)

I mean I can see him preparing to run for office years ago. "Daddy can you make me a Director of your companies?"

"Why sure son, you have never ever been remotely interested before, why now?"

"It could help me look like I know about business."

"It will happen tomorrow Peter, don't worry your silly little head about it, oh by the way, you won't have to come to meeting or make any decisions, I will have your name added to the registry." And that was the last of it for Peter, it slipped out of his head. Perhaps that's why Belinda left....

from the Chronicle Herald...

“My mistake, if anything, was not to have twigged to the fact that I should remove my name,” he said. “I guess it sounds hard to believe but I completely forgot because I didn’t have any involvement with it.”

Halifax MP Megan Leslie said she finds it tough to understand Mr. MacKay’s oversight because MPs and cabinet ministers have to go through a rigorous disclosure process.

“It must be quite the life to forget that you’re the director of certain companies,” the New Democrat said. “I forget how many student loans I have, but we have different lives, Peter and I.” - Chronicle Herald, Halifax, Thursday Sept 3, 2009

Harper will decide

It's up to Stephen Harper

There we have it. Jack Layton said Stephen Harper has to decide if Parliament will continue. Layton spoke specifically to the motions the NDP presented in the House of Commons and indicated that Mr. Harper might want to look at them again.

As to Ignatieff, not a word to him.

“The choice is yours, Mr. Harper,” said Layton. “You can choose to work with other parties, or you can choose an election. In either case, New Democrats are ready.”

Of course LPCer bloggers have been trying to turn this into its up to Jack now. Bcer in Toronto is very keen on it. He hasn't heard a Liberal Talking point that he doesn't like yet. The facts are pretty clear in the NDP motions passed by a majority of Parliament. So I expect that means Iggy liked them enough to vote for them right, or did he do it for the same reasons he voted for all of Harper's regressive actions. Cause he just likes saying yes?

There will be no election if Harper puts out a plan to adopt those NDP motions and actually does it. There will be an election presumming all opposition parties vote against Harper if Harper does not have a magic moment.

Lets see the LPC blogger world flip sideways again....

For the Record

The man who cried wolf...

In Sudbury this week...

“We've kept this (Harper) government on life support for 10 months. It's important to remember that.”

And on the record ...

“Our party is united in its determination to face Mr. Harper down.” – Michael Ignatieff to meeting of New Brunswick Liberals, -Telegraph-Journal December 6, 2008

“We've put down a very clear marker. This government has to get the money out the door … If this government fails to meet these targets, it will not survive for long." – Michael Ignatieff, CBC.ca, January 28, 2009

“Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is looking to June as his first chance to defeat the Harper government over its handling of the economic crisis, according to his finance critic.” – Globe and Mail, February 27, 2009

"I want to make Parliament work but I don't write blank cheques. That's not what my voters sent me to Parliament to do," he said less than three hours before Liberals approved the fund. "If the government wants to make Parliament work, we can find a way to make it work. If they don't want to make it work, look out." – Michael Ignatieff, Hamilton Spectator, March 25, 2009

“Michael Ignatieff declared Thursday that federal Liberals are united, out of debt and "basically ready to fight an election" if an impasse is reached in Parliament.” – Canwest News, April 30, 2009

“The leader of the federal Liberal party has threatened to push for an election if the minority Conservative government doesn't support proposals to reform the employment insurance system.” – CBC.ca, May 3, 2009

“Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says the party will decide next week whether to try to bring down the Harper government and plunge the country into a mid-summer election.” – Canadian Press, June 3, 2009.

Layton lets Iggy stew

It looks like the Tories don't like kool aid. They will love campaigning on the budget especially the home renovation credit. That still has to be passed in the budget when MP's return. Can you imagine Harper out there slamming Ignatieff over that one.

Today Jack Layton comes to the microphone and will respond to recent developments. Layton has left Ignatieff out there all by himself for a couple of days now. I'm sure he hates being ignored. Today The LPC leader will be reminded of his record. Or perhaps Layton will be talking about his and the NDP.

Who was the federal leader that raised concerns for workers losing jobs and a need for expanded EI reform now, not four months later after you study it. Pension reform, protection against rip off cell phone contracts, credit interest rates? Those are things that bite down hard on Canadian wallets.

Who has consistently hammered both the current government and the Liberal government on the child soldier in Gitmo? Whose motion was it that called for the Government to allow American war resisters to remain in our country? Who was it that has been hammering away at getting money for affordable housing year after year and did force the Martin government to do just that and embarrass the Harper government into doing it as well.

Just as an added emphasis, you can bet that if Harper or Ignatieff were Prime Minister when Iraq war was started, Canadians would still be there. Afghanistan is a war effort well supported by Liberals and Conservatives. Only the NDP and BLOC have consistently said, we have to get out. You can bet that the LPC will extend our effort there just as Harper will if he is re-elected.

Those and many more issues were led by the NDP. You want an election, you will get it. The NDP will be campaigning as the real opposition and the party that can not be bought. Liberals will be reminded of their 79 (maybe 80 by the time they gather up the courage to say no) votes in support of Harper.

What changed that Ignatieff couldn't take anymore. He has issued at least seven ultimatums to date. He and the LPC brain trust have decided they want to play chicken. They have a reputation of capitulating to Harper, a million reasons for doing so, none of them reflective of what was good for Canada.

The NDP will largely ignore Ignatieff on the campaign. They will present a real alternative to the Harper government.

Liberals trying to quit, could do it earlier!

Here I have been simply listening to the crowd all a long. The first chance to defeat Mr. Harper is not on the first opposition day scheduled on or about October 1, 2009. The first kick at the can would be shortly after September 14 when Parliament must vote yay or nay to the ways and means portion of the budget.

That makes things a little more urgent doesn't it. Or were the LPCers planning to vote one more time for the Harper Government before they bring them down. It actually sounds a lot like someone trying to give up smoking. Just one more and I will quit. Promise! Bob Rae indicated the vote of non-confidence would occur on or about October 1, 2009, on the LPC's Opposition Day.

It does look like the LPC will in fact quit supporting the government. I mean they have said it out loud. But like a smoker trying to quit, they fall off the wagon a lot before they succeed.

Maybe some smart LPCer can tell us what will happen and when.

h/t to Sudbury Steve

BC Budget almost 3 billion in hole

The BC LibCONS have

... tabled a budget with a $2.8 billion deficit.

Total provincial debt will rise over $10 billion over the next three years to almost $53 billion in 2011-2012.

Under the L - 80

CBC

Harper's 'time is up,' Ignatieff tells Liberals

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told a Liberal audience in Sudbury, Ont., Tuesday that the party will oppose Stephen Harper's minority government when Parliament resumes in two weeks. "Mr. Harper, your time is up," he said. "We cannot support this government any further."

By the time it happens, likely in the next few weeks, the LPC will vote against Harper and hope to bring him down. Its about time is some ways. They have had at least 79 chances to do this since Harper was elected.

Now the question will be, what is Harper willing to do to stay in government? I have a few ideas for him...

Comments lost

I'm not sure what happened. I know I posted to Bcer in Toronto's blog yesterday and about twenty others left comments. My comment never made it. Only five comments remain today. I guess it touched a nerve.

I know the issue of the fundraiser has become a little silly, as I posted earlier here, all political parties have them and charge big money, albeit Liberal fundraisers tend to charge the most. That's okay as it is what their members and supporters will pay.

So in that respect I see where Jeff got on his high horse yesterday and then decided to calm it down a bit. Good. Still I wonder why my comment never made the cut. I don't have the exact comment saved so from memory I said Jeff was comparing apples and oranges. A mail out for funds versus holding a big money fundraiser in a town that was facing a hard time are different.

Optics are everything in politics and I guess that is what happened when my comment and the comments of some fifteen to twenty others were deleted from the conversation. Too be fair, there were a few LPCer supporter comments that were lost in the editing of the comments along with some pretty hard nosed NDP comments.

Just to add one more thing, I know I am hard on the Liberals. They give me much reason to be. Still in the end I will prefer a Ignateiff led government to a Harper led one. My first choice is Layton yet I know that will be in the future.

If Liberals want to gain progressive voters then think about what you're saying. Quit sounding like Harper lite and I will have to turn my attention back to Harper. I haven't forgot him, but like LPCers I want my party to become stronger. As long as LPCers keep saying its them or Harper when we know different, you piss us off.

The next election will likely see another minority. I am hopeful it can be someone other than Harper. That will mean we will have to work together. That will mean the NDP will have to moderate its demands and the Liberals will have to deliver on some NDP cherished issues.

It has been done before, remember old age pension, medicare, CPP, Affordable Housing, Canada Health Act, Employment Insurance, 40 hour weeks, right to organize, and education funding agreements.

They all happened under minority situations or Liberal governments facing electoral defeat (1944, King adopted almost the entire CCF platform). They gave rise to much of the social safety net as it exists today.

Partisans in both parties push hard. One pushes and the other pushes back. I know Layton will take cheap shots at the Liberals, he wants to displace them. Ignatieff and his team do the same because they want to limit an NDP rise in seats.