Dithers No More
Well, that was actually fairly quick - and probably smart of Jack to wait until Monday so that he could control the news cycle.
Ladies and gentlemen, we could very well be into an election campaign in 9 days time. The ball is now in Harper's court - I'll have more on this tonight, but baring a drop in the polling numbers for the CPC over the next week, it might very well be game on (although I can see the logic behind waiting until later this month to pull the plug).
UPDATE: Harper, obviously feeling burned by last spring, has said he won't introduce a non-confidence motion but, as Andrew Spicer points out in the comments bellow, Harper has said he might give Layton his November 15th opposition day (huh?). I have no idea if he's allowed to do this but, if this Parliament has been going for anything, it has been to put obscure parliamentary procedural rules into the limelight. If they work out some sort of deal, the government would fall on the 15th - otherwise, I believe the NDP opposition day is scheduled for the 24th. Mind you, as we've seen before, Tony Valeri might have some fun with the calendar, or the polls might improve for the Liberals causing the opposition to back down.
Either way, expect a lot of election speculation over the next week.
Ladies and gentlemen, we could very well be into an election campaign in 9 days time. The ball is now in Harper's court - I'll have more on this tonight, but baring a drop in the polling numbers for the CPC over the next week, it might very well be game on (although I can see the logic behind waiting until later this month to pull the plug).
UPDATE: Harper, obviously feeling burned by last spring, has said he won't introduce a non-confidence motion but, as Andrew Spicer points out in the comments bellow, Harper has said he might give Layton his November 15th opposition day (huh?). I have no idea if he's allowed to do this but, if this Parliament has been going for anything, it has been to put obscure parliamentary procedural rules into the limelight. If they work out some sort of deal, the government would fall on the 15th - otherwise, I believe the NDP opposition day is scheduled for the 24th. Mind you, as we've seen before, Tony Valeri might have some fun with the calendar, or the polls might improve for the Liberals causing the opposition to back down.
Either way, expect a lot of election speculation over the next week.
posted by calgarygrit at
1:27 p.m.
15 Comments:
I think it was quite the misunderestimation for Harper to give Layton the plug-pulling pleausure. Oh wait, that sounds quite teh gross.
By
RP., at 2:30 p.m.
Layton's agenda will go no where under conservatives ..
I love it.
By
Anonymous, at 2:45 p.m.
Very interesting to see the plug getting pulled at this juncture. I didn't think that Layton would do it, but he's read the tea leaves and I guess they tell him now's the time.
By
RGM, at 2:49 p.m.
Harper needs Layton to pull the plug so that Martin can't claim that Harper is making a "Conservative/Bloc Alliance".
Layton needs to be seen as being the action man.
Duceppe knows that the first rule when your enemy is self-destructing is to not interrupt him.
By
Michael, at 3:03 p.m.
I won't comment on political strategy.
I just say: Thank God! If you've surfed the blogs lately, more than 1 Grit is equally tired of Martin.
Liberals are excellent at party discipline - they know we, opposition, have to slay the beast that is the Martin Meglomania Machine.
However, I'm quite sure many Liberals quietly support our efforts.
By
Tarkwell Robotico, at 3:23 p.m.
Layton's motion:
The NDP has lost confidence that this government will protect the exclusively public nature of the health care system.
It will drive Harper insane. Let's see how he votes. Cowardly bastard.
By
Greg, at 3:56 p.m.
Harper is a coward. He knows that the party that does pull the plug at Christmass will take a hit during the election. So does everyone else.
If he want's an election, call it - force a confidence motion. Its a CPC opposition day on November 15th.
He's trying to get the NDP do do his dirty work and suffer at the polls for it. Sorry, we read internal poll numbers too.
But of course, publicly handing all the power over to the NDP in this instance is just bloody brialliant stategy.
By
Mike, at 4:05 p.m.
Last time I heard the NDP opposition day is scheduled for November 24th - I'd circle that day on the calendar since it looks like Harper isn't gutsy enough to march in and do the deed himself next week.
By
calgarygrit, at 4:52 p.m.
Didn't Harper learn his lesson after the budget last year? He had a chance to take down the government and give the people a chance to choose his party as the next government.
Now, he becomes the next Mr. Dithers. He wants the NDP to bring down the government. Or is he reading some polls that no one else knows about?
By
Anonymous, at 5:09 p.m.
Harper said he would be willing to discuss with Layton the option of allowing the New Democrats to use the Conservative's "opposition day" on November 15 to introduce a no-confidence motion.
By
Andrew Spicer, at 5:39 p.m.
All this talk of pulling the plug...maybe the Bloc should just change their private members bill?
In any case the worst part of Spicer's story is this: "We're prepared to bring down the government, but (Layton) will have to contact us and indicate how he intends to do that."
This man wants to be Prime Minister, and he can't even lead the opposition?
By
Anonymous, at 6:20 p.m.
What most people are not getting is that Harper had a three party agreement in the spring to bring this govt down.
Jack Layton weaseled out of it and now neither Harper nor Duceppe trust him.
Layton is possibly the slimiest piece of pond scum to emerge from the NDP sewers since Svend left the scene of the crime.
By
Anonymous, at 6:29 p.m.
Three words for Stephen Harper.
Buck. Buck. Buck.
By
Anonymous, at 8:53 p.m.
colin; If Jack Layton publicly says on Monday he'll vote in favour of a CPC non-confidence vote on Tuesday, I'm sure Harper could safely assume Layton would follow through.
By
calgarygrit, at 8:57 p.m.
Greg: The NDP has lost confidence that this government will protect the exclusively public nature of the health care system.
Harper would almost certainly vote for that. The only thing that matters is the fact that it's a non-confidence vote; the health care justification is completely meaningless.
Mike: Harper is a coward. He knows that the party that does pull the plug at Christmass will take a hit during the election. So does everyone else.
You couldn't be more wrong. Who caused the election will be an issue for the first two days of the writ at most, and then be completely forgotten.
I think we're also losing sight of the fact that without NDP support, there's no guarantee that the motion would pass. Harper would need the support of at least two of the independents, and that's assuming Stinson and Chatters can make the vote. If he pushes a vote and it fails, it would be a significant hit to the CPC polling numbers and Harper's personal credibility.
By
Anonymous, at 1:01 a.m.
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