It's finally official; the Government of Canada fell on Monday November 28th through a motion of non confidence introduced by the Conservative Party of Canada. The next day Prime Minister Paul Martin of the ruling Liberal Party asked our Governor- General Michelle Jean for permission to dissolve the government and have an election on Monday January 23rd 2006. (That's just a formality by the way; although head of state in title as the official representative of the Queen, the Governor-General actually has no power. The one time a Governor-General refused to grant a party the right to call an election he was hauled home to England in disgrace. The real lasting impression he left on Canada was the donation of his wife's name to a sport's trophy: The Lady Byng award for sportsmanlike behaviour in the N.H.L. is named after her.)
One of the strange things that's taken to occurring in Canadian politics are the leaders standing up at the beginning of the campaign at their first Press Conference and waving a soft covered book around which is supposedly their secret recipe for running the country. The Liberals had their Red Book, (chill everybody, their not even socialist they just wrap themselves in the colours of the flag: red and white) back in 1995 that they have been referring to ever since.
I saw a picture of Steven Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, waving a book around with his party's logo on it, so I have to assume they've come out with their version. It's sort of cute, these book launches to start campaigns; do they think it lends any more credibility to what they're saying because they went to a printer and had their promises bound and made to look pretty?
The real hoot is how secretive they are about them sometimes. As if we don't know what they're all going to say in advance anyway. The Conservatives will talk about cutting taxes, and be socially conservative; the Liberals will talk about how socially conservative the Conservatives are and talk about how they've created surpluses in the budget and can give some tax cuts and increase spending; the New Democratic Party (N.D.P.) will talk about the need to do something, anything for goodness sake, about the state of health care, low income housing, and education; and the Bloc Quebecois will talk about how happier everyone would be if Quebec could only separate from Canada.
Article comments
1 - Triniman
It's going to be interesting to read the polling results in the swing ridings, particularly in Ontario, where the election will be won or lost.
2 - Rob
I'm afraid that Stephen Harper has already handed this election to the Liberal party by revisiting issues like same-sex marriage, two tier health care and the decriminalization of pot. Reversing the same-sex marriage bill is a huge waste of time and money. The majority of Canadians are fine with the bill as it is. The same can be said about the pot debate. I haven't been to a gathering, party, concert, etc., where pot has been smoked. We should be focussing on shutting down the coke/heroin/meth dealers, not worrying about the occassional pot user, especially if they grow there own.How will further debate on these two topics improve our economy and save the average Canadian money?? Health Care is almost untouchable. I expect the Liberals and NDP to beat the crap out of the Conservatives on these issues.
3 - Rob
CORRECTION:
I meant to type "Where Pot hasn't been smoked".
4 - sa
the Green Party is the only political
party is Canada that has come out publicly against the seal hunt.
Here is a letter from a member of the Green Party outlining their
outlook on issues relavant to animal rights activists.
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(sent to Zahir Topan)
Hi Zahir,
I'm happy to tell you that we have a comprehensive animal protection
plank. I don't think there's another political party in the world
with one as good. It was written by Rebecca Aldworth in consultation
with animal groups all across Canada. I'm sure you've come across
Rebecca's name, as a long-time animal protection activist and one the
key people in Canada organizing against the seal slaughter.
You can look at our plank here:
http://www.lp.greenparty.ca/tiki-index.php?page=Animal+Protection&bl
The Green Party also supports Deep Ecology which states that all life
has inherent value independent of the value humans may place on it.
Here's the Deep Ecology platform:
The Deep Ecology Platform
1. The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on
Earth have value in themselves (synonyms: inherent worth,
intrinsic value, inherent value). These values are independent
of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes.
2. Richness and diversity of life-forms contribute to the
realization of these values and are also values in themselves.
3. Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity
except to satisfy vital needs.
4. Present human interference with the nonhuman world is
excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.
5. The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with
a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing
of nonhuman life requires such a decrease.
6. Policies must therefore be changed. The changes in policies
affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures.
The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the
present.
7. The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life
quality (dwelling in situations of inherent worth) rather than
adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will
be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great.
8. Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation
directly or indirectly to participate in the attempt to implement
the necessary changes.
Please pass the word about our animal protection plank. We're very
proud of it and of being the only party in Canada to address these
issues.
Sharon Labchuk
Atlantic Canada Organizer
Environment Critic
Co-chair Shadow Cabinet
902-621-0719
902-940-1262
www.greenparty.ca