Canadian PM Sets Election Date

[Vic 17]

Canada's minority Liberal Party government loses no-confidence vote, triggering January elections.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176982,00.html

[Takara_Soong 4]

I hate winter elections although the thought of politicians freezing their butts off going door to door and slogging through snowdrifts does have a certain appeal. LOL

 

I heard that all the parties have agreed to a no campaigning time around Christmas and New Years so that's good.

 

I almost hope the Liberals win a majority government this time otherwise we could be doing this again in another year. If the Liberal were to form a minority again they would definitely have to give more stock to NDP concerns which would be good. Traditionally when the NDP have held the balance of power in their grasp federally we, as a country, end up better for it.

 

I definitely don't want the Conservatives to win. I don't trust them. They still have too many loose cannons in their ranks that scare the hell out of me. If they were to actually win I don't like what could happen to the country. They would have to win a majority to implement any of their policies because I think a minority Conservative government would fall faster than you can "Stephen Harper".

[Jack_Bauer 1]

I hate winter elections although the thought of politicians freezing their butts off going door to door and slogging through snowdrifts does have a certain appeal. LOL

 

I heard that all the parties have agreed to a no campaigning time around Christmas and New Years so that's good.

 

I almost hope the Liberals win a majority government this time otherwise we could be doing this again in another year. If the Liberal were to form a minority again they would definitely have to give more stock to NDP concerns which would be good. Traditionally when the NDP have held the balance of power in their grasp federally we, as a country, end up better for it.

 

I definitely don't want the Conservatives to win. I don't trust them. They still have too many loose cannons in their ranks that scare the hell out of me. If they were to actually win I don't like what could happen to the country. They would have to win a majority to implement any of their policies because I think a minority Conservative government would fall faster than you can "Stephen Harper".

 

Have to agree with you there Takara. I do really like the NDP but I will always vote Liberal as I am more anti-Conservative than pro-NDP. If the Conservatives win a minority, Stephen Harper will be the 21st century Joe Clark. A Conservative minority cannot last long if it rests on the Bloc Quebecois (which it would) because they don't much care for each other (which is why Harper is such a hypocrite because he'll team with the Bloc when it suits him and denounce them when it doesn't, at least Martin and Layton seem to have a less adversarial relationship than any other two leaders).

 

Anyway, I say reduced Liberal minority (again) with the Bloc and NDP picking up seats and the Liberals and Conservatives losing seats. Stephen Harper will be gone within six months of not defeating the Liberals (again).

[Takara_Soong 4]

Have to agree with you there Takara. I do really like the NDP but I will always vote Liberal as I am more anti-Conservative than pro-NDP. If the Conservatives win a minority, Stephen Harper will be the 21st century Joe Clark. A Conservative minority cannot last long if it rests on the Bloc Quebecois (which it would) because they don't much care for each other (which is why Harper is such a hypocrite because he'll team with the Bloc when it suits him and denounce them when it doesn't, at least Martin and Layton seem to have a less adversarial relationship than any other two leaders).

 

Anyway, I say reduced Liberal minority (again) with the Bloc and NDP picking up seats and the Liberals and Conservatives losing seats. Stephen Harper will be gone within six months of not defeating the Liberals (again).

 

I couldn't see the Bloc being much help to Harper. On issues of policy they are quite opposite. Putting aside the obvious separatist policy differences, the Bloc tends more towards social liberalism than the Conservatives so many of their policies are the polar opposite. I can't really see there being that many times when the Bloc would vote with the Conservative. During the last session of Parliament, most of the times they did were on matters of confidence, not matters of policy. If the Conservatives were to win a minority I couldn't honestly see them getting past their first budget vote. I can't see the Bloc making a deal with them or the Conservatives wanting to make a deal because of the possible backlash of being "in bed with the separatists". As for the NDP, Hell freezing over will happen before Jack Layton aligns with the Conservatives. Of course the Liberals would NEVER align with the Conservatives.

[Jack_Bauer 1]

Have to agree with you there Takara. I do really like the NDP but I will always vote Liberal as I am more anti-Conservative than pro-NDP. If the Conservatives win a minority, Stephen Harper will be the 21st century Joe Clark. A Conservative minority cannot last long if it rests on the Bloc Quebecois (which it would) because they don't much care for each other (which is why Harper is such a hypocrite because he'll team with the Bloc when it suits him and denounce them when it doesn't, at least Martin and Layton seem to have a less adversarial relationship than any other two leaders).

 

Anyway, I say reduced Liberal minority (again) with the Bloc and NDP picking up seats and the Liberals and Conservatives losing seats. Stephen Harper will be gone within six months of not defeating the Liberals (again).

 

I couldn't see the Bloc being much help to Harper. On issues of policy they are quite opposite. Putting aside the obvious separatist policy differences, the Bloc tends more towards social liberalism than the Conservatives so many of their policies are the polar opposite. I can't really see there being that many times when the Bloc would vote with the Conservative. During the last session of Parliament, most of the times they did were on matters of confidence, not matters of policy. If the Conservatives were to win a minority I couldn't honestly see them getting past their first budget vote. I can't see the Bloc making a deal with them or the Conservatives wanting to make a deal because of the possible backlash of being "in bed with the separatists". As for the NDP, Hell freezing over will happen before Jack Layton aligns with the Conservatives. Of course the Liberals would NEVER align with the Conservatives.

It is the only possible alliance to keep a Harper-gov't afloat and like you said, it won't last. Harper loved the block when they were voting on confidence but when it came to the gay marriage bill (which the Bloc supported) Harper said they weren't even a real party.

 

Harper cannot stay in power without a majority, and he is not going to get that. Like I said another Liberal minority and Harper will be gone.

[Data 0]

These turn of events came as a shocker. Well, I guess I should of seen it coming.

[Takara_Soong 4]

These turn of events came as a shocker. Well, I guess I should of seen it coming.

 

I guess because our political system is quite different from yours it may seem like that but the Liberal government had been holding on precariously through deals with other parties for a number of months.

 

We don't have set election dates for federal and provincial elections so they can be called at any time. If a party has a majority government then they usually will wait until near the end of their term to call an election. In a minority situation, the government can fall for a number of reasons. In this case it was losing a vote specifically on confidence (when a government loses a confidence vote that means that the Members of Parliament have lost confidence in the government's ability to govern) but there are other votes that can trigger an election (for example, losing a budget vote). Prior to recent events, the last time a minority government fell was in 1979 when Joe Clark's Progressive Conservatives lost a vote in Parliament (which he could have won if all the PC's Members had been in the House at the time) and was forced to call an election. His government lasted only 7 months as Pierre Trudeau's Liberals won the election to regain power.

 

Canadians will be going to the polls on January 23. That means there is a 55 day campaign which is the longest since 1984. The minimum number of days for a campaign is 36. This one is quite a bit longer as it was the intention that a "truce" from campaigning be called between Christmas and New Year's.