FEDERAL ELECTION TIME: Budget Shot Down in Parliament

[CUG]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-br...dget-main.html

Opposition leaders immediately rejected the Conservative government's budget Tuesday, setting the stage for a possible spring election.

Within minutes of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabling his "low-tax plan for jobs and growth" in the House of Commons, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP Jack Layton all said the budget didn't contain enough to warrant their support.

"We find that the priorities of this government are not the priorities of ordinary Canadians," Ignatieff said. The Liberal leader, who has been demanding a cancellation of corporate tax cuts and didn't get it, cited the lack of support in the budget for affordable housing and child care as other reasons why his party will not vote in favour of the budget.

"This is a government that doesn't seem to be listening to what Canadian families are telling us," he said. "We're forced to reject this budget."

Duceppe's rejection of the budget is based on the budget's silence on his demand for a $2.2-billion deal to compensate Quebec for HST harmonization.
NDP rejection signals government defeat

Tuesday's budget contained a number of measures related to NDP demands, including the renewal of the ecoENERGY Retrofit program and financial support for seniors, but they didn't go far enough, Layton said. The NDP leader said nothing in the budget persuaded him that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is willing to "change his ways" and work with the other parties to introduce measures Layton said would help Canadian families and seniors living in poverty.

"Mr. Harper had an opportunity to address the needs of hard-working, middle class Canadians and families, and he missed that opportunity. He just doesn't get it," said Layton. "New Democrats will not support the budget as presented."

With that declaration, the NDP leader increased the odds of Harper's minority government facing defeat over the budget.

Flaherty blasted the opposition parties for rejecting the budget, accusing them of not actually reading it. During an interview with the CBC's Evan Solomon, the finance minister said there is "no chance" of the government agreeing to amendments on the budget.

"The job of the government is not to appease the opposition parties," Flaherty said earlier in the day before delivering his budget speech. During a press conference in the media lockup for the budget, the finance minister said strong fiscal management is the cornerstone of Budget 2011.

Now that a $60-billion stimulus plan to get through the economic downturn is wrapping up, the government is entering a transition phase to move Canada along the path of economic recovery, Flaherty said.

"We must complete the transition from providing temporary stimulus to generating the conditions necessary for long-term economic prosperity. We must ensure that Canada remains fiscally sound and that we continue to build a future of hope and opportunity for all Canadians," he said.

The budget takes advantage of a rebounding economy to offer a wide range of small but strategic goodies.

Laying out what he called a "low-tax plan for jobs and growth," Flaherty told the House of Commons the Conservative government's sixth budget will help secure Canada's economic recovery.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/304942

The Conservative Government's attempt at a 2011 budget for Canada failed to pass the House of Commons today. This leaves the Government open to motions of non-confidence which may take place in the next few days, resulting in a spring election. The Conservatives also face another possible vote of non-confidence over the issue of their refusal to provide details about their deals in regard to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, their tough on crime and prisons agenda, and various other estimations, the costs of which they were requested to provide to Parliament, but refused to fully provide.

According to the CBC News site, and on the program, "Power and Politics" with Evan Solomon, all three oppostion parties were unimpressed with the budget, and all found reasons to reject it. The Liberals thought that it doesn't meet the needs of Canadians. The Bloc Quebecois were unhappy with the lack of attention to Quebec's demands for compensation in regard to their implementation of the HST in Quebec. The Bloc's leader complained that already B.C. and Ontario had been compensated and that Quebec was expecting the same, only to be disappointed again.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/articl...#ixzz1HNOoklNw

[somerset_dude]

Another Harper Minority, another waste of ~300MM for an election. The three stooges are at it again.

[tirebob]

Time for the mud slinging to begin. I wish they were not ALL douches... Unfortunately we have to make the best of the worst type decisions these days.

[CUG]

No worries, I'll just vote for the same guy again. I couldn't imagine if that rat Ignatieff got in.. ohhh man.

[masoncgy]

Oh well, at least we know Ignatieff will disappear once he's handed his ass on a plate.

[Tik-Tok]

I wish more people would vote PC... I'm not fond of Harper at all, but at this point would rather have an incompetent majority government, then to continue this minority gov. circus.

[CUG]

Did you know that Michael Ignatieff said this about the US?

"an empire lite, a global hegemony whose grace notes are free markets, human rights and democracy, enforced by the most awesome military power the world has ever known."

..and that he backed the war in Iraq in its entirety?

[somerset_dude]

Ignatieff was hired by the Bush administration to help with the PR and help justify the farce that is the Iraq war.

A two-faced coward, a commie, or a separatist frenchman. These guys are comical.

[Hamann]

I've been wondering for the last little while why the opposition parties seem so keen on pushing for an election. Not saying the Conservatives aren't, but they atleast have been up in all the polls so I could understand them being ok with it. I mean the absolute best the Opposition can hope for is to end up right where they are now. But then it clicked, that's basically what their aiming for, another Conservative minority so they can come back and try to swing their little "Coalition"

[tirebob]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
I wish more people would vote PC... I'm not fond of Harper at all, but at this point would rather have an incompetent majority government, then to continue this minority gov. circus.

If there was a party that was actually appealing to the broad range of Canadians, this would be the obvious result. Unfortunately, old party lines dictate policy far too much over what the people would rather see...

Truthfully, I am looking for a political party to make an effort and take an actual risk on some policy or another, and come up with something actually effective and crosses party lines, that we can all agree on and makes a real difference instead of things designed to "look" like they give a shit, but really have a minimal effect of our daily lives and society as a whole. It seems like such an obvious thing but all of the parties stick to their old party guns so resolutely that they can't see the forest for the trees...

Yes it sucks to have a continual minority government who are always stuck in nuetral, but it would also suck to be stuck in any government that has free reign while the majority of people disagree with a lot of their ideas. Fuck... I wish they would just get their shit together and do something right!

[hampstor]

There goes my evenings and weekends

If the Conservatives do not win a majority, they will not govern. The Bloc have already changed their party constitution so that they can govern in a coalition with the Liberals.

I still think there's a good chance of a Conservative majority tho.

The victory of Fantino (Conservative) in the GTA by-election was huge as it was a long time Liberal riding. Their recent election of Rob Ford as mayor also shows that blue may be the new colour in the GTA.

The Conservatives don't have to win that many more seats - and they control the senate too.

[BlackArcher101]

God I hate Canadian politics.

[whiskas]

[Gainsbarre]

Fantino's victory in the Vaughan byelection didn't suggest to me that the CPC will be gaining tremendous ground in the GTA. I believe that the turnout was near a record low (under a third of eligible voters), and it was a razor-thin margin of victory for Fantino. In addition byelections have historically been poor barometers for the results in upcoming elections. My takeaway from the Vaughan byelection (and what happened in Winnipeg North) is that there is polarization in the political scene. I suspect that what have recently been three way battlegrounds between the CPC/Liberals/NDP (e.g. Vancouver Island, Greater Vancouver, Winnipeg, Hamilton...) I think that the NDP will have a lot to lose, because even the most ardent NDP supporter knows that they won't be forming the next federal government -- even official opposition status is a very, very distant long shot. Less vote splitting will benefit the Liberals in these areas, imo, just as how the merger of the PC/Alliance parties helped the CPC breakthrough in rural southern Ontario (among other areas) to win the election in 2006.

Ford's victory was mostly due to strong results in Etobicoke/York/Scarborough, ridings which were still comfortably Liberal in the last election. It would take something pretty major for them to go CPC this election. It's almost like thinking that the CPC won't sweep Calgary this coming election because Nenshi was elected mayor here, despite the presence of some local MPs who seem to have outlived their usefulness. Calgary Centre, for instance has political veteran Lee Richardson, who doesn't seem to have done much besides rack up one of the highest MP expense accounts in the country (over $535,000 in 2009 alone! see http://www2.canada.com/topics/news/n...tml?id=3064472 ) I suppose having his girlfriend travel with him (on our dime?) might just have something to do with that obscene amount. Furthermore, I suspect that the majority of the incumbent Calgary MPs won't even be in town much during the upcoming election -- they'll probably be campaigning in key Southern Ontario ridings as many of them were last election, given that their reelection (even Richardson's, in Calgary Centre where Nenshi had some of his strongest support) is practically a guarantee.

I'm not writing off Ignatieff the Liberals yet, as it'll be interesting to see how the contempt ruling against the CPC goes. The Liberals essentially lost the 2006 election over this same issue -- government ethics.

[hampstor]

Originally posted by Gainsbarre
Fantino's victory in the Vaughan byelection didn't suggest to me that the CPC will be gaining tremendous ground in the GTA. I believe that the turnout was near a record low (under a third of eligible voters), and it was a razor-thin margin of victory for Fantino. In addition byelections have historically been poor barometers for the results in upcoming elections. My takeaway from the Vaughan byelection (and what happened in Winnipeg North) is that there is polarization in the political scene. I suspect that what have recently been three way battlegrounds between the CPC/Liberals/NDP (e.g. Vancouver Island, Greater Vancouver, Winnipeg, Hamilton...) I think that the NDP will have a lot to lose, because even the most ardent NDP supporter knows that they won't be forming the next federal government -- even official opposition status is a very, very distant long shot. Less vote splitting will benefit the Liberals in these areas, imo, just as how the merger of the PC/Alliance parties helped the CPC breakthrough in rural southern Ontario (among other areas) to win the election in 2006.

Ford's victory was mostly due to strong results in Etobicoke/York/Scarborough, ridings which were still comfortably Liberal in the last election. It would take something pretty major for them to go CPC this election. It's almost like thinking that the CPC won't sweep Calgary this coming election because Nenshi was elected mayor here, despite the presence of some local MPs who seem to have outlived their usefulness. Calgary Centre, for instance has political veteran Lee Richardson, who doesn't seem to have done much besides rack up one of the highest MP expense accounts in the country (over $535,000 in 2009 alone! see http://www2.canada.com/topics/news/n...tml?id=3064472 ) I suppose having his girlfriend travel with him (on our dime?) might just have something to do with that obscene amount. Furthermore, I suspect that the majority of the incumbent Calgary MPs won't even be in town much during the upcoming election -- they'll probably be campaigning in key Southern Ontario ridings as many of them were last election, given that their reelection (even Richardson's, in Calgary Centre where Nenshi had some of his strongest support) is practically a guarantee.

I'm not writing off Ignatieff the Liberals yet, as it'll be interesting to see how the contempt ruling against the CPC goes. The Liberals essentially lost the 2006 election over this same issue -- government ethics.

You've got a good point. I find byelections do not generally have high turn outs anyway because the campaigns lack a lot of elements that you find in general election campaigns. However being able to take a long time Liberal riding is still a milestone. I still have hope the CPC has gained some major ground in the GTA because otherwise, we may be in a lot of trouble here in Alberta.

I have my reservations regarding the CPC strategy for handling the Bev Oda / being held in contempt issue . I wonder how much something that like will stick. The Liberals believe they can take down the government over it. I did notice however that with the crisis in Libya and Japan, that issue has not been making headlines the way AdScam did.

Edit: Were you on the Calgary West board ?

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Gainsbarre]

Originally posted by hampstor

Edit: Were you on the Calgary West board ?

No, and outside of closely following politics at the federal level (and voting!) I'm not nearly as politically active as I ought to be. It's a bit daunting for a non-conservative like myself in the most conservative city in Canada to be politically active.

[Supa Dexta]

What is the CP doing that people don't agree with...?

Vote for them just to shut the other parties up for a while/ Let them actually find a leader worth representing them. I'm tired of this shit.

[CUG]

Originally posted by Gainsbarre
Calgary Centre, for instance has political veteran Lee Richardson, who doesn't seem to have done much besides rack up one of the highest MP expense accounts in the country (over $535,000 in 2009 alone! see http://www2.canada.com/topics/news/n...tml?id=3064472 ) I suppose having his girlfriend travel with him (on our dime?) might just have something to do with that obscene amount.

Is that over and above his salary? I'm crowning, but I kept it in.

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
What is the CP doing that people don't agree with...?

Vote for them just to shut the other parties up for a while/ Let them actually find a leader worth representing them. I'm tired of this shit.

This.

I can't believe we're going to the polls when there isn't even one significant issue.

I hope the voters are so pissed off at the opposition antics that they give the Cons a majority.

My only concern is Layton's crying over all of these supposed "seniors living in poverty" , and seniors make up a large part of those that actually show up to vote.

BTW- Harper will own Ignatieff in the televised debate.