Majority (68%) of Canadians Support Governor General¹s Decision to Prorogue Parliament

Breaking: New polls show huge Tory gains: Ipsos: CPC 46, LPC 23, NDP 13, BQ 9, GPC 8 Ekos: CPC 44, LPC 24, NDP 15, BQ 9, GPC 8 Compas: 72% biz leaders see worse economy under Dion coalition "Even Osama bin Laden's videos looked more professional than Dion's" ... - Former Chretien communications czar Peter Donolo

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Majority (68%) of Canadians from Every Part of Country Supports Governor General¹s Decision to Prorogue Parliament Fear and anger grips the nation as almost three quarters (72%) of Canadians say they are truly scared for the future of the country with what is going on in Ottawa Toronto, ON -Whatever arcane elements of Parliamentary democracy or convention weighed heavily on the shoulders of Canada's Governor General Michaëlle Jean in deciding what next steps to take concerning the latest political leadership crisis to affect the country, she did so with the majority support of the Canadian public in agreeing to Prime Minister Harper's request to prorogue Parliament until January 26, 2009 when a new Conservative budget can be brought down and voted on as a matter of confidence. In this respect, a majority (68%) of Canadians from every part of the country (including 55% in Quebec), believe that Parliament should be ended now, but the Harper Conservatives remain in power until the government is possibly defeated by the coalition in January, 2009. This compares with only 29% who believe that the Conservatives should accept defeat in Parliament now and turn power over to the Coalition. And if the Prime Minister¹s request had not been acceded to it is clear that, given a choice, the majority (56%) believe the Governor General should have dissolved Parliament and initiated an election rather than accepting the proposal from the newly formed coalition of the Liberal, New Democratic and Bloc Quebecois parties to form the government (38%). In fact, the national poll conducted by Ipsos Reid for Canwest News Service and Global National on Tuesday and Wednesday night, and following the televised address by both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Coalition, indicates that the Harper Conservative government has the support of six in ten (60%) Canadians to Œfight and do everything they can legally do to continue governing because of the severe economic situation the country faces, and the fact that the Liberals and the NDP have entered into an ³unholy deal² with the Bloc separatists¹. This compares with only four in ten (37%) who believe that Œit's proper that a smooth transition of power to the Coalition takes place¹. What Canadians are witnessing has shaken them pretty much to the core: almost three quarters (72%) of Canadians indicate that they are truly scared for the future of the country with what is going on in Ottawa and the majority (62%) is angry with the Coalition taking over power from the governing Conservatives -- in fact, a majority in every region of the country is angry at the situation, except in Quebec where only 39% expressed this view. The potential backlash against the Coalition partners is now palpable in the data: if a Federal election were held today it's likely that the Conservatives would reap a very large majority government with 46% of decided voters supporting the Conservatives, compared with 23% for the Liberals, 13% for the NDP, 9% for the Bloc Quebecois (37% in Québec) and 8% for the Green party. Five percent (5%) remain undecided. These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted December 2nd and December 3rd, 2008 on behalf of the Canwest News Service and Global Television. In the public domain, these results can be used by any person or entity, including other news organizations. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1,001 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult population of Canada been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure that the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data. For copies of the full release plus detailed tables at 6:00 am December 5, 2008, and other news releases, please visit ipsos-na.com

Bedrock Lib weighs in: Realist Liberals should cross the floor

As a lifelong Liberal, may I suggest that two can play this lethal Coalition game. If Dion can rule in a sleazy new order driven by the separatists (rest in peace, PET!), logic dictates that some centre-right Liberals might regard Harper as the lesser of the two evils and cross the floor to join him, at least temporarily. According to reports on the Web a few of the Ignatieff stripe are already entertaining this prospect. The upshot would be a true division of political authority in Ottawa at last: The forces of the Left, embracing Dion's expedient, power-mad Liberals, the NDP and the equally socialistic Bloc and a Centre-Right group, consisting of the necessarily more moderate Conservatives and Realist Liberals. After all, Harper, even though he is a bully and who inflicted this crisis on himself, at the very least supports a strong, united Canada, unlike Dion's separatist allies. Meanwhile, may I recommend to Dion and his caucus drones that they read the essays of the late Oxford historian, AJP Taylor, on the decline and fall of the British Liberals. By seeking a coalition with the Loony Left and the separatists, they are on a similar march of folly to the one that destroyed their equally arrogant British cousins who made deals with devils. Oh, a final thought: Surely all paid up members of the Liberal Party should be allowed to vote on whether to enter a coalition with our hitherto mortal socialist and separatist foes? Or is the Liberal party now the preserve of a clique of self-empowered MPs who would liquidate the noble legacy of Trudeau to consort with the likes of the triumphant Gilles Duceppe and the smarmy Layton? Raymond Heard [url=http://www.bourque.com/notes.html]http://www.bourque.com/notes.html[/url]

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