Duceppe, From His Nation to Ours
December 12, 2006 · By Kelly T Konechny
The introduction. My name is Kelly T. Konechny. I am excited to be a part of ThePolitic.com writing team, I have been an avid reader of the site for some time now and always enjoyed what I read. Based in Manitoba, I hope to bring a view from what is currently the centre of the country, agree or disagree, I look forward to the conversation here.
Mr. Duceppe has had it. He has endured all he can endure and his internal threshold has been breached. After the (almost) five day focus on the Liberal Leadership convention, the consistent, yet new attacks on the current Conservative government and the daily ramblings peppered with the word “ass” from the NDP, he simply just can’t take it anymore.
The nation debate blew by him like a gentle summer breeze, barely giving ten comments before the media moved onto the next shiny red ball. His face shows his frustration with the situation as he drags out the soapbox and takes position. With arms raised he tosses in the current Canadian military situation in Afghanistan and his absolute distaste for it. That will get them noticed.
His distaste is defined as a lack of commitment by other NATO countries to sign up their troops to known “hot” spots in the troubled country. Coupled with that fact, he claims the current government must accept his confidence motion that he is preparing for the house or face defeat. Topping it off, he claims this to be one of three major issues that he is prepared to bring them down on.
I would suggest that wearing a brightly-coloured shirt in Question Period would have more of an impact for Mr. Duceppe. But to satisfy his thirst for attention, he will continue down this road. I do not know if he understands that bringing this issue up only helps divide the official opposition (especially in Quebec) or if he has thought out the other tangential effects of a confidence motion like this. Now that’s assuming he is serious about the motion in question and has the nerves to hold the line and bring it far enough forward to have any impact outside of general attention.
So from atop his transparent soapbox, from deep within his glorious nation (within a united Canada) he draws the line in the sand and dares a crossing. He may find that in the end lines are crossed are attention is transferable.
He’s playing a dangerous game that might just bite him in the butt. He stands to lose if he goes into an election right now. Liberals with a little momentum from the leadership race, Conservatives with momentum from the “Nation” debate…
It’s a good move for the party, which is really what it’s all about anyway, they have to make sure Harper does not have a chance to make too many in-roads in Quebec. I think the chances of that are quite slim, but it is a consideration if you are a political party.
The Liberals have a leader now and are likely more willing to fight an election than they were a month ago; on top of that they will be able to vote for the BQ motion and save face by saying, “yes, we sent them there, but Harper changed the mission”. It’s just about as hypocritical stance as they could possibly take, but they will do it in the hopes of their party once again stumbling through the halls of power to the bigger offices in the corner.
The NDP will also vote in favour of it because they want a pull out and have always liked elections… having not done too shabby in the last one they’ve got hopes. Thankfully Canadians as a whole are aware that we just can’t afford them.
None of this should surprise Harper and I expect him to put on his brave face if the motion passes - which I hope it does.
When the CPoC motion succeeded Harper had a couple of things to say
The direction Harper is taking us in is, IMO, wrong, and we didn’t get a bright new future, in fact right now for many of us it’s not even looking a tiny bit shinier. He complained about the unelected Senate, then immediately plunked one of his supporters into a Senate chair so he could offer him a Ministerial portfolio, in the House his Ministers act exactly like the Liberal Ministers they complained bitterly about before they replaced them, his great plans for real accountability and Arctic sovereignty melted away as soon as he was sworn in, he promised tax relief and then gave it to the wealthy, and he’s worked very hard at creating a divided country.
He also said that he would focus on the future of Canada as opposed to complaining about the Liberals - I’m not sure if you read the Hansard or not, but that’s pretty well all they do, in the House, in the national media, and in the international media.
— in other words, new government much like the old government.
I would love to be the author of a no-confidence motion on the House, it would be short, and sweet, and read like this
“That the people of Canada have lost confidence in both the parties and the party system.”
Welcome!
Good post Kelly.
Very well done, Kelly.
Someone has to get there first, with a motion to can Ambrose.
Harper already said canning her was a confidence issue, so call his bluff.
Let Canadians decide Afghanistan, not a bunch of electioneering bozos, of any stripe. No more 6 hour “debates” with non-confidence swords hanging over the constituents’ heads.
That can come later.
Think about it: does Canada want to go on record as having ANOTHER election, this time on our commitment to world peace (ostensibly) or have an election over incompetence on the Environment?
Make a motion to fire Ambrose as incompetent, cite instances of clear obfuscation and downright wrong facts put to the people.
Beat the Bloc at their own game, make the Bloc either be there or be square.
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