Coalition Deal To Topple Minority Tory Govt- [Update Parliament Prorogued until Jan]

[Nehkara]

NDP, Liberals reach deal to topple minority Tory government

Apparently the plans to bring down the Conservative minority government are now in place and the opposition is not backing down despite the desperate attempts by the Conservatives to backtrack.

The NDP and Liberals have reached a deal to topple the minority Conservative government and take power themselves in a coalition, CBC News has learned.

A deal has been negotiated between NDP Leader Jack Layton and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion that would see them form a coalition government for two and a half years, the CBC's Keith Boag reported, citing sources.

The NDP would be invited into cabinet and get 25 per cent of seats, Boag said, adding that the party wouldn't get the position of the finance chair or the deputy prime minister's post.

UPDATE:

Michael Ignatieff will become Prime Minister in a Liberal-led coalition government if the opposition parties succeed in bringing down the Conservatives in a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons next week and if the Governor-General deems it to be a viable alternative, sources said late last night.

[Nehkara]

I thought this might need its own thread... it is pretty important.

[Dan02]

ummm don't they need the bloc on board too? Even if the Bloc abstains from a vote the Liberals and NDP don't have enough to bring them down.

[Nehkara]

The Bloc has already said they would support bringing down the government, I don't expect that would be an obstacle. The bigger obstacle might be dissension within the Liberal party.

Should make for an interesting next few weeks.

[flip]

I guarantee this will bring more backlash than the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc want.

There will be an election and the Conservatives will destroy them.

[Mike F]

As anti-Conservative as I am, this could be a disaster if Dion can land himself in charge.

Giving a Dion-led government a chance to run thing incompetently is the best shot the Conservatives have at gaining a majority

[Ford Prefect]

If Dion is the one that brokered the deal for the Libs, this is still not necessarily a done deal. As per the National Post article I linked to in the other thread, Ignatieff is opposed to the coalition and he has support of well over half the Liberal caucus. Dion is a lame duck right now, so until Ignatieff signs on with the coalition this still doesn't fly. And forgive my skepticism, but CBC isn't the most credible news source in this country.

[Nehkara]

The leader issue might be a thorny one with the Liberal leadership convention in less than 6 months in which Stephane Dion will be replaced. Maybe it would be better to have Jack Layton or someone other than Stephane Dion serve as PM until the new Liberal leader is decided.

[ricoFlame]

Originally Posted by flip

I guarantee this will bring more backlash than the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc want.

There will be an election and the Conservatives will destroy them.

I agree. this is gonna get ugly.

[Frequitude]

Selfishly: Well, there goes my job with Suncor...

Generally: Holy crap. What a nightmare. This is going to get ugly. I don't see how this can't blow up in the Liberal Party's face long term. Hell, everyone's face.

Winner: Duceppe?

[Frequitude]

But then the article goes on to say this...

The Bloc Québécois wouldn't be a part of the coalition, but would have to support it, he said.

How the hell do they think this is going to work?

[Thunderball]

I think we may be seeing the end of the Liberal Party as we know it.

There is no way the Blue Liberals will have any part of this Socialist Monster. There's definitely more than 10 of those. Ignatieff seems to have made that clear. However, a schism has been a long time coming for the Libs. They typically looked beyond the ideological differences when it meant having power. But now, the power would be shortlived at best, and shared with two lunatic parties.

Giving the NDP control of the economy is like giving a toddler a handgun... may not mean to do any harm, but faster than you can say "massive tax hike," you have a catastrophe on your hands. The Bloc are just the epitomy of selfish, and why not when there's so many idiots around.

[Ducay]

Do the libs honestly think putting a far-left party into cabinet is going to help economic confidence?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Selfishly: Well, there goes my job with Suncor...

Generally: Holy crap. What a nightmare. This is going to get ugly. I don't see how this can't blow up in the Liberal Party's face long term. Hell, everyone's face.

Winner: Duceppe?

Selfishly: Will any of us have jobs?

[browna]

As was mentioned in the other thread, this could open the door for Harper to lineup and strike a deal with the large faction large part of the Liberal party who are both against Dion and also won't want any part of teaming up with the seperatists and the socialists.

Heck who knows, there could be backlash from people who are angered about another election, around Christmas no less, and with nothing really changed from 2 months ago (ie no new Liberal leader). The Conservatives win again, maybe with a majority as those who are moderate Liberals and voted that way, and are digusted by another election, and the partners Dion decided to jump in bed with desperately, and vote Conservative, only as a protest vote, because they don't want to vote for this cooalition "deal".

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Generally: Will any of us have jobs?

Fixed for enormity of this issue.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by browna

As was mentioned in the other thread, this could open the door for Harper to lineup and strike a deal with the large faction large part of the Liberal party who are both against Dion and also won't want any part of teaming up with the seperatists and the socialists.

Originally Posted by Thunderball

There is no way the Blue Liberals will have any part of this Socialist Monster. There's definitely more than 10 of those. Ignatieff seems to have made that clear.

I think this nails it on the head. This move shifts the Liberals/country way too far to the left. It completely leaves the middle wide open for the Conservative's taking.

I don't see how this can't end in a Conservative majority. Either Harper strikes a deal with 10 moderates now, or the "Bloc supported but not included" coalition falls apart shortly and the Conservatives win a majority in the next election.


All that being said, there's no way the GG allows the coalition to form with only Bloc "support, but not participation". I think Harper should call their bluff, as crappy as it will be short term for Alberta and the economy.

[First Lady]

I have not read the whole "other" thread; but has anyone brought up the leaked conference call?

It is on youtube now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SVdcr8Vi_0

Transcript is here:

http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/11/30/n...stay-in-power/

[Fire]

I would be royally pissed if this would occur. They said removing public funding of political parties was undemocratic then this would be 10x that.

If the Governor General allows this then I hope the Conservatives do all they can to prevent the NDP and Liberals to govern. Burn down Parliament Hill for all I care.

[LGA]

This is terrible, we all know what will happen, the NDP will do something absolutely stupid and we'll end up paying a ton of money, meanwhile the Liberal side of things will end up with Canada being a headless chicken as they continue to pad their wallets just like they did the last time they were in power. That and the fact that the economy world wide is shot right now and I think Canada basically implodes and I demand that Alberta seperate from the complete ######ed section of the country.