What now?

Governor General Michaelle Jean has agreed to prorogue parliament until January when Stephen Harper’s government can introduce a proper budget. The big question is: what happens now? Presumably when parliament returns on January 26th and the government presents its budget, these same forces that have attempted to unseat the Conservative minority will take another run at gaining power.

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One can only wonder just how power hungry the Dion/Layton/Duceppe axis really is, given that nearly every charge they have leveled against the Harper government is pure fiction. Jack Layton’s claims that the economic update tabled by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty ignored the needs of “hard-working Canadian families” means that he either didn’t read the document or he’s telling a whopper. In fact, the Flaherty update was a paragon of prudent financial acumen seeking to find efficiencies in government spending in hopes of cutting $2 billion out of the budget and promised in excess of $6 billion in immediate infrastructure funding. The $50 billion corporate tax cuts the Conservatives want to institute are necessary to keep jobs in the country. The axis also wonders what the big deal of crawling into bed with the Bloc is all about, given that Harper’s Conservatives were prepared to do the same to sink Paul Martin’s Liberal government prior to the 2004 elections. Well, not exactly. What the Conservatives did was to enlist the help of the Bloc to defeat the Liberals during a vote of confidence with no back room deals or promises of veto power should the Conservatives win the election. But that’s the thing about people on the Left; they seem to have a difficult time discerning nuances when it comes to telling the truth. The Conservatives seeking support from the Bloc to topple Paul Martin takes on the same level of morality as the Libs and NDP making a deal with the Bloc and giving them veto power over their policies. During a press conference following his meeting with the Governor General, Stephen Harper decried the morality of Dion and Layton enlisting the aid of a party whose sole reason for existence is to break up Canada to help them gain power. Gilles Duceppe claimed that Harper’s statements were “the worst insult to Quebec since Meech [Lake]”. Huh? Has the Bloc finally found religion and now wants to be a part of Canada? Was all that posturing about “sovereignty association” just that, posturing? Or is there more than meets the eye? We won’t know until events unfold themselves in January. It’s very likely that Taliban Jack will attempt to keep the flame in his quest for power alive, given that it was almost within his grasp and following a no-confidence vote in January will once again attempt to float the coalition. Failing that, look for an election in March of 2009. If I were someone who wagered, I’d wager that the Liberals will make some kind of deal with Stephane Dion to get rid of him before the end of January and to have a new party leader in place by the time the commons returns. A new leader would energize the Libs and give them the appearance of being competent. It would certainly remove the stigma currently attached to the party because of their leader. Some part of me almost wishes that they’d been successful in gaining power now, as it would surely have signified the end of all three parties, because Dion, Layton and Duceppe would have trashed what’s left of our economy in efforts to spend Canada into prosperity. Once the dust settled it would all be on the shoulders of the Libs and NDP as deficits burgeoned, jobs grew scarce, the loonie clocked in at 50¢ US and both personal and corporate tax burdens ballooned. But don’t take my word for it. There is a historical precedent in Ontario where Bob Rae’s NDP governed at the onset of the last recession. Their policies resulted in the kind of economic chaos described above. To this day Bob Rae does not accept responsibility for his government’s dismal failures, claiming that all the pain suffered during his tenure was the sole fault of the recession. That same Bob Rae is now vying for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, proving once again that those who do not learn from history are forever doomed to repeat it.