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Originally Posted by Lchoy
My 2 cents:
- Bloc - The Bloc will act how they usually act in Parliament, even if they are part of the coalition. Having said that, they won't be involved in the coalition directly like having members in cabinet or even having a direct say. They will have a say in regional matter and will use their base to get the coalition to pass, and their members will vote on bill by bill basis depending how it affects their province. The Bloc is a regional party, and they usually stay out of things that affect the rest of Canada. There power would be kept in check by Liberal, NDP, and the Conservatives.
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This is an unprecidented opportunity for the Bloc. I very much doubt that the Conservatives are going to go out of thier way to vote with the Libs/NDP consortium to Block the Bloc on anything, they'll let the government fall and have an election. Anyone that thinks that the Bloc won't be pushing hard and making heavy demands to the Lib/NDP is fooling themselves, everyone knows that the one thing that the Lib/NDp want to avoid is an election in the next year. By being the only thing that keeps an especially weak minority government in place (lib/NDP), the Bloc essentially can push forward their Quebec first interests at the expense of other provinces, and Duccepe and Layton said repeatedly during the election that the evil Western Energy companies are ripe for the picking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lchoy
- Proposed power sharing structure (Cabinet) would be 75% Liberal, 25% NDP. Coliation will have a 30 month term
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Yet the NDP/Libs have 113 seats to the Conservatives 140+ seats, so while the Cabinet might not have Bloc members, the Bloc will be very demanding in terms of keeping this coalition in power.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lchoy
- Dion as the leader is a risk, but the opportunity is now for this coalition to work. He will step down in May, and the leadership succession is still taking place. Until that though, he is still the head of the Liberals
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A leader that the majority of Canadian's saw as a complete joke (combine Conservative/Bloc/NDP votes) that lead to the downfall of his party, then he's going to abandon his post, and the Liberal's are going to appoint a new Prime Minister, without consulting the people of Canada on if they want him. Combine that with the fact that this coalition is going to install a shadow cabinet made up of mostly un elected former members of their party?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lchoy
- I need to see the details of the economic stimulus. While I agree that autoworkers and forestry workers are dying, we can't just throw money to keep a dying industry (auto) afloat. I sincerely hope there is tangible actions to it that will reform the industry or allow the workers to move on to other sectors.
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If the Lib/NDP want my support and the majority of Canadian's support then they should announce this stimulus package before they take power. I don't like the arrogance of a group that makes a major decision like this without going to the polls or at least announcing it so that we can punish them when the election does come.
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Originally Posted by Lchoy
- People that are calling it a coup or wondering what's the point of the election: keep in mind, the Conservatives don't have a MAJORITY. In fact, more Canadians voted against the conservatives but because they have the most votes, they form the government. This is the risk for every minority government
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Nor do the Liberals, the NDP or the Bloc have the confidence in Canada to take government. They all finished with less seats and less votes then the Conservatives. The argument of combining the Lib/Bloc/NDP votes into one uber party is incorrect unless they were running on a platform to combine their parties during the election.
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Originally Posted by Lchoy
- This is a Conservative PR nightmare. It was already ballsy to make the party funding a confidence motion, but to have no stimulus announcement and then have to admit they secretly taped meetings. That's like Watergate to the minds on Canadians
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Sure, its a nightmare and a major conservatives strategic blunder. However the Liberal's were the ones that invited a Conservative to their conference call, which is a blunder or another stupid move by the Libs/NDP. And the Conservatives have said repeatedly that this was a economic update and not a budget where any stimulus if needed would be placed. The Libs/NDP wanted to make sure that they toppled the government before the budget because it there was any stimulus package in that budget they wouldn't have a leg to stand on.