This was one of the ways some Canadian politicians reacted to this news: Blonde bombshell: Defection gives Grits vote edge. I know this doesn't mean much to you, but it's a big deal there. It could very well mean that the government, which just a few days ago looked likely to fall, might stay alive. Questions still remain about just how much "confidence" the country actually has in the governing party.
More at markrite.
2 comments:
Dunno about you, but as you can see in my blog; I like that she's crossed the House...
I'm confused Tina. You claim to be a separatist, but are happy "that Belinda by booting across the House floor to sit in the Liberal Cabinet, has... saved Canada." Shouldn't that be a bad thing in your book? While I'm not happy with any major national party agreeing with the Bloc, I can see why, according to the political math, the Conservatives found it necessary to do so. However, they did not go any further than that. They did not ally with the Bloc, they did not offer the Bloc any concessions, they did not agree to any sort of post-election coalition. As for giving the Bloc more legitimacy (something else I would think you'd like) by working with them , the cause of the Bloc's increased legitimacy in Quebec is not the Conservatives, but the Liberals. The Sponsorship Scandal has so damaged the Liberal Party (and through them the federal government) in Quebec, that most people, even federalists, feel they have no option but to support the Bloc, at least for the time being. If the Liberals hadn't so stupidly used the sponsorship program to line their own pockets, they wouldn't be in this mess and the Bloc would probably still be polling at 30% or less (the real support for seperatism). As someone who once worked in inter-provincial relations, I know how successful the sponsorship program was, and the fact that it's been discredited by some greedy politicians sickens me. I still don't fear for the future of my country, or worry about Quebec actually separating, but someone has to answer for the Sponsorship Scandal, and Paul Martin and the Liberals are at the top of the list (actually, the top is really Jean Chretien, but we all know that he'll survive this scandal as he survived all the other ones). Stronach's motives were not primarily concerned with the Bloc; they had more to do with ambition and personal politics, and she may pay a price for her choices.
Oh, and one more thing. Allowing the NDP to throw money around to their pet projects is not a good budget. It's political and fiscal idiocy, and Martin should have known better.
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