Phil Gomes has been providing admirable Ozblogosphere coverage of the political turmoil in Canada, where the troubled Liberal government is surviving on a Parliamentary knife edge. Paul Martin’s government recently survived a vote of confidence through the casting vote of the Speaker and only after the defection of a prominent Tory MP. Sadly, a Liberal MP has resigned to sit as an Independent in protest against the government’s moves to legalise same-sex marriage. It’d be tragic if the government fell over this issue.
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Boo! Hiss! I started following a few Canadian blogs when British Columbia formed a citizens assembly and then held a referemdum on STV. The consensus seems to be that the government may well fall and then win a decent majority in the general election.
Social Conservatives and Supply Side Cranks
A better analysis is that it’s nice to encounter a party on our side that’s ready, however reluctantly, to defend human rights. It compares favourably with Iron Mark going all limp on the issue last year.
Boo! Hiss! I started following a few Canadian blogs when British Columbia formed a citizens assembly and then held a referemdum on STV. The consensus seems to be that the government may well fall and then win a decent majority in the general election.
Social Conservatives and Supply Side Cranks
A better analysis is that it’s nice to encounter a party on our side that’s ready, however reluctantly, to defend human rights. It compares favourably with Iron Mark going all limp on the issue last year.
Yeah, Latho’s cave in on the Defence of Marriage crud was pathetic. Nicola Roxon’s actions will long be remembered too.
Go the Canadian Libs!
Yeah, Latho’s cave in on the Defence of Marriage crud was pathetic. Nicola Roxon’s actions will long be remembered too.
Go the Canadian Libs!
Yep. Though I doubt Beazley would have been better.
What’s Montreal like to live in? Or Vancouver?
Yep. Though I doubt Beazley would have been better.
What’s Montreal like to live in? Or Vancouver?
I couldn’t give a fuck about Canadian politics. It sounds even boring than the Beehive in Christchurch. At least they have transexuals and orcs in the parli chamber. The Canucks wil lmuddle through like the rest of the anglosphere.
But for a good insight into Canada Fair’s own colonial cringe, check out Robertson Davies. He’s their Anthony Trollope meets Anthony Burgess, with a surprising dash of Angela Carter behind the ears.
Or to put it another way, he’s the Canadian Patrick White, ‘cept much better. He’d have eaten Pat for breakfast and burped a hearty salute through his skinned and stretched fundament afterwards (as how the “The Rebel Angels” finally saluted its anti-hero).
I couldn’t give a fuck about Canadian politics. It sounds even boring than the Beehive in Christchurch. At least they have transexuals and orcs in the parli chamber. The Canucks wil lmuddle through like the rest of the anglosphere.
But for a good insight into Canada Fair’s own colonial cringe, check out Robertson Davies. He’s their Anthony Trollope meets Anthony Burgess, with a surprising dash of Angela Carter behind the ears.
Or to put it another way, he’s the Canadian Patrick White, ‘cept much better. He’d have eaten Pat for breakfast and burped a hearty salute through his skinned and stretched fundament afterwards (as how the “The Rebel Angels” finally saluted its anti-hero).
C’mon Nabs, Canuck politics is fun right now, given the likelihood of another hockey season suspended due to money issues between the owners and players this is the only sport in town, with even more biff. Remember the old hockey proverb – “if you can’t beat ‘em on the ice, beat ‘em in the alley”.
There is more than one Liberal MP likely to vote against the Govt on this issue so there may be an election on the issue of SSM, this is a sweet wedge for the Liberals, because they are on the side of Canadian sentiment on this issue as Alan points out. The conservatives under Harper appear a party but are really a bunch of Albertan separatists and American lackeys. All Martin and the Liberals have to repeat mantra like is that the CPC wants Canada to be just like America and presto, votes for the liberals . Because everyone knows it’s true.
And let’s not talk about Harper, a man sadly out of his depth and always one brain snap away from meltdown. This will probably happen some time this summer, he can’t control himself. My prediction is that Harper will not be leading the CPC at election time.
During the turmoil of the past few weeks there was always a school of thought that the Liberals would like the Conservatives to make their day and force an election, now it may be engineered on the government side of the house.
It should also be pointed out that there is a corruption issue being handled by the ethics commission at the moment, this is a bit of falllout from the past few weeks. A conservative MP has accused a Liberal MP of offering some patronage to him and his wife (a BC pollie) if he voted for the Govt during the last set of confidence votes, he then produced tapes of the alleged incident. These tapes have now been discredited through analysis by several sources and the MP on question is now on stress leave. The Liberals and their MP have always maintained that it was the CPC MP that was seeking some payback for a vote with the Govt.
Given the CPC MP’s subsequent “stress” leave it appears that the Liberals may have the conservatives number on this. This has the potential to neutralise the recent defection of the Ontario MP.
There are also some interesting developments in Quebec politics that have some important implications for the federal scene, including the leadership of the CPC, but I’d get all twisted up in knots trying to explain Quebec politics to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Even Canadians don’t understand what the hell is going on there.
Geeze, another long comment here, help-me-I-can’t-stop………….
C’mon Nabs, Canuck politics is fun right now, given the likelihood of another hockey season suspended due to money issues between the owners and players this is the only sport in town, with even more biff. Remember the old hockey proverb – “if you can’t beat ‘em on the ice, beat ‘em in the alley”.
There is more than one Liberal MP likely to vote against the Govt on this issue so there may be an election on the issue of SSM, this is a sweet wedge for the Liberals, because they are on the side of Canadian sentiment on this issue as Alan points out. The conservatives under Harper appear a party but are really a bunch of Albertan separatists and American lackeys. All Martin and the Liberals have to repeat mantra like is that the CPC wants Canada to be just like America and presto, votes for the liberals . Because everyone knows it’s true.
And let’s not talk about Harper, a man sadly out of his depth and always one brain snap away from meltdown. This will probably happen some time this summer, he can’t control himself. My prediction is that Harper will not be leading the CPC at election time.
During the turmoil of the past few weeks there was always a school of thought that the Liberals would like the Conservatives to make their day and force an election, now it may be engineered on the government side of the house.
It should also be pointed out that there is a corruption issue being handled by the ethics commission at the moment, this is a bit of falllout from the past few weeks. A conservative MP has accused a Liberal MP of offering some patronage to him and his wife (a BC pollie) if he voted for the Govt during the last set of confidence votes, he then produced tapes of the alleged incident. These tapes have now been discredited through analysis by several sources and the MP on question is now on stress leave. The Liberals and their MP have always maintained that it was the CPC MP that was seeking some payback for a vote with the Govt.
Given the CPC MP’s subsequent “stress” leave it appears that the Liberals may have the conservatives number on this. This has the potential to neutralise the recent defection of the Ontario MP.
There are also some interesting developments in Quebec politics that have some important implications for the federal scene, including the leadership of the CPC, but I’d get all twisted up in knots trying to explain Quebec politics to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Even Canadians don’t understand what the hell is going on there.
Geeze, another long comment here, help-me-I-can’t-stop………….
Sorry that should be CCP, Canadian Conservative Party, writing too fast.
Sorry that should be CCP, Canadian Conservative Party, writing too fast.
Plus in British Columbia the people just voted for PR-STV by 57.5% (not enough), 2 more provinces are handing the electoral reform issue to citizens assemblies, and an extensive royal commission investigation to find the Canadian equivalent of the phrase ‘as American as apple pie” is expected to recommend ‘as Canadian as possible in all the circumstances’.
Meanwhile they’re not abandoning universal healthcare, joining the coalition of the shrilling, trashing their industrial relations system, demonising boat people, indigenous Australians, welfare recipients and Balinese judges or proving that China’s cool on human rights by refusing asylum because we’re scared of the economic consequences.
Plus in British Columbia the people just voted for PR-STV by 57.5% (not enough), 2 more provinces are handing the electoral reform issue to citizens assemblies, and an extensive royal commission investigation to find the Canadian equivalent of the phrase ‘as American as apple pie” is expected to recommend ‘as Canadian as possible in all the circumstances’.
Meanwhile they’re not abandoning universal healthcare, joining the coalition of the shrilling, trashing their industrial relations system, demonising boat people, indigenous Australians, welfare recipients and Balinese judges or proving that China’s cool on human rights by refusing asylum because we’re scared of the economic consequences.
Kim: Canada is a nice place to live generally. I spent a year there. The people are nice, even-tempered and sensible. Very friendly too.
Vancouver has the nicest temp range of the whole country, and it rains constantly there for about five months of the year. Montreal is gorgeous and friendly and arty and fun, and if you can cope with the five grey months from November to March when the sky is steel coloured and everything is covered with grotty snow, it’s very pleasant. OK, winter isn’t so bad when everything is centrally heated, and if you like skiing, and boy do Canadians go nuts in the summertime.
Kim: Canada is a nice place to live generally. I spent a year there. The people are nice, even-tempered and sensible. Very friendly too.
Vancouver has the nicest temp range of the whole country, and it rains constantly there for about five months of the year. Montreal is gorgeous and friendly and arty and fun, and if you can cope with the five grey months from November to March when the sky is steel coloured and everything is covered with grotty snow, it’s very pleasant. OK, winter isn’t so bad when everything is centrally heated, and if you like skiing, and boy do Canadians go nuts in the summertime.
One last one. Let me just say as a rampant one eyed Torontonian that there is no other city in the country like T.O. so Kim, visit TO and forget the rest, it’s the glue that holds Canada together by giving them all something to hate. He he.
One last one. Let me just say as a rampant one eyed Torontonian that there is no other city in the country like T.O. so Kim, visit TO and forget the rest, it’s the glue that holds Canada together by giving them all something to hate. He he.