Dear Jean Letter
Monday, December 1, 2008
To our fellow citizens,
Canada is facing a global economic crisis. Since the recent federal election, it has become clear that the government headed by Stephen Harper has no plan, no competence and, no will to effectively address this crisis. Therefore, the majority of Parliament has lost confidence in Mr. Harper’s government, and believes that the formation of a new Government that will effectively, prudently, promptly and competently address these critical economic times is necessary.
The contrast between the inaction of Mr. Harper’s government and the common action taken by all other Western democracies is striking. We cannot accept this.
A majority of Canadians and Quebecers voted for our parties on October 14, 2008. Our Members of Parliament make up 55 percent of the House of Commons.
In light of the critical situation facing our citizens, and the Harper government’s unwillingness and inability to address the crisis, we are resolved to support a new government that will address the interests of the people.
Today we respectfully inform the Governor General that, as soon as the appropriate opportunity arises, she should call on the Leader of the Official Opposition to form a new government, supported as set out in the accompanying accords by all three of our parties.
Respectfully,
Hon. Stéphane Dion
Leader, the Liberal Party of Canada
Hon. Jack Layton
Leader, the New Democratic Party of Canada
Gilles Duceppe
Leader, the Bloc Québécois
UPDATE: Full details of the Liberal-NDP accord, and of the three party policy framework can be found here.
To our fellow citizens,
Canada is facing a global economic crisis. Since the recent federal election, it has become clear that the government headed by Stephen Harper has no plan, no competence and, no will to effectively address this crisis. Therefore, the majority of Parliament has lost confidence in Mr. Harper’s government, and believes that the formation of a new Government that will effectively, prudently, promptly and competently address these critical economic times is necessary.
The contrast between the inaction of Mr. Harper’s government and the common action taken by all other Western democracies is striking. We cannot accept this.
A majority of Canadians and Quebecers voted for our parties on October 14, 2008. Our Members of Parliament make up 55 percent of the House of Commons.
In light of the critical situation facing our citizens, and the Harper government’s unwillingness and inability to address the crisis, we are resolved to support a new government that will address the interests of the people.
Today we respectfully inform the Governor General that, as soon as the appropriate opportunity arises, she should call on the Leader of the Official Opposition to form a new government, supported as set out in the accompanying accords by all three of our parties.
Respectfully,
Hon. Stéphane Dion
Leader, the Liberal Party of Canada
Hon. Jack Layton
Leader, the New Democratic Party of Canada
Gilles Duceppe
Leader, the Bloc Québécois
UPDATE: Full details of the Liberal-NDP accord, and of the three party policy framework can be found here.
Labels: political insanity
posted by calgarygrit at
5:35 p.m.
19 Comments:
I love how Gilles Duceppe is not "Honorable."
By
Dale, at 5:55 p.m.
"A majority of Canadians and Quebecers voted for our parties on October 14, 2008."
As much as I am disenfranchised with the Conservatives and Harper, I would rather see a Liberal majority government than this.
The Liberals (and NDP for that matter) are selling their soul. Good job.
Western political turmoil is likely on the horizon. The second Westerners smell that Quebec is getting special treatment due to this coalition, will mark the end of political stability in this country for some time to come.
By
Mike Brock, at 5:55 p.m.
I must admit I did cringe at the "Canadians and Quebecers" comment.
By
Bailey, at 6:06 p.m.
Gilles Duceppe declined to be sworn in as a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, which is what confers the "Honourable" title.
By
Josh, at 6:25 p.m.
"Canadians and Quebecers" was kind of awkward, but the Bloc sees themselves as representing Quebec, so I suppose they had to phrase it that way. After the nation resolution, whatever.
By
IslandLiberal, at 6:31 p.m.
Uh oh... I think Mike is right about at least some turmoil in the West. Very, very poor choice of words.
By
Jacques Beau Vert, at 6:37 p.m.
Get used to it, Bailey. When you are selling your soul, the price just keeps going up and up.
By
Anonymous, at 6:37 p.m.
I'm going to predict that Alberta will not be very happy about this...
And yeah, I cringed at "Canadians and Quebecers" too.
By
calgarygrit, at 7:12 p.m.
Dan -- what do you think about all this? You're an Albertan Liberal, aren't you? I come here for opinion, not the frickin' news!
And, man, Ignatieff is getting set up, big-time! Bob Rae has something to gain here by muddying the waters and perhaps he can claim some kind of credit later. Ignatieff has jack to gain but zero Liberals west of the Ontario line and no reason to vote Liberal in the province of Quebec in the next election. Rae can risk burning the Lib brand for gain, but Iggy doesn't need to!
By
Anonymous, at 7:31 p.m.
Although not agreeing to a new election and calling upon the coalition to form a government is legitimate, I hope the Governor General calls an election.
I was born in Western Canada. The better option for long term national unity is for the Governor General to opt for a new election.
By
whyshouldIsellyourwheat, at 7:49 p.m.
Peter Jay - Check my post yesterday "how this should play out" for my take on things.
In short, Harper has no one to blame but himself for this because he didn't compromise, but I don't think the idea of this coalition government is very appealing.
By
calgarygrit, at 8:15 p.m.
OK, you did, Dan -- just thought you might have a bit more passion on this one. Personally, I'd be pissed off if I was an Albertan Liberal and I'm surprised at how easy-going you are with this potential government. Not that I care about Liberal long-term fortunes.
Agree with last poster, too. Let's do $300M worth of federal election stimulus. I think Canada will want a do-over rather than this thing.
By
Anonymous, at 8:51 p.m.
I wonder if compromise is still possible - what is interesting in the 1975 Australia case is that the governor-general first played an active role in trying to get Whitlam and Fraser to compromise and pass the government's budget, only afterwards did he give power to Fraser.
cg,
I also wonder if the Alberta Liberals (or some incarnation that replaces them) might not benefit if Stelmach faces a defection to the far right (ie. Alberta separatists).
How likely is it that we will see some proportion of Albertans embrace separatism (philosophically and tactically, in the soft nationalist sense).
By
french wedding cat, at 11:44 p.m.
Go harper Go!
ByeBye
Three for Three, 3 for 3.
harper fails.
Obama wins.
Harper falls.
Three for Three
By
JimTan, at 12:42 a.m.
Thanks Josh -- thought it was probably something like this. It was more fun to think of it as a Freudian slip, though. :-)
By
Dale, at 12:52 a.m.
"Canadians and Quebecers"
In a reasonable world, a letter like that would be the end of Mr. Dion's and Mr. Layton's political careers. I have always voted Liberal in federal elections, but I don't think I will be doing so again any time soon.
By
Anonymous, at 11:27 a.m.
"Canadians and Quebecers"... what a sad statement from two parties that say they support national unity. From everything I am hearing around Calgary, this Lib-NDP-Bloc agreement has people up to NEP levels of anger. It will be interesting to see what sort of blowback will occur whenever they are forced to face the electorate.
By
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