mercredi 16 septembre 2009

Minority saga

We will not have a snap election...for now.  Harper who, in camera and sub secreto, ranted against the coalition of Liberals, Socialists and Separatists, has given just enough of what the Separatists asked for to be saved by them.  The Bloc Québécois will vote, Friday, with the Conservatives thus keeping them in power...for a few more weeks.  As the saying goes: "Politics make for strange bedfellows".
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11 commentaires:

  1. Rosaria Williams16 septembre 2009 à 11:35

    I'm lost. I need a tutorial here. Are these regional elections?

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  2. potsoc16 septembre 2009 à 12:29

    No Rosaria, they would be federal, nation wide, elections. Harper is Canada's Prime Minister. The Bloc Québécois is a Québec based party made of sovereignists formed when a Québec conservative minister, under Brian Mulroney, split from the conservatives and formed a party devoted to preserve Québec's interests in Ottawa until the province would separate from canada; which has not occured yet. He called it Le Bloc Québécois. After Lucien Bouchard, Gilles Duceppe became head of the party.
    Under the last Liberal Federal governement he even was the official chief of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The bloc fields candidates only in Québec so they will never be anywhere but in the opposition.
    Québec has 75 members of parliament and currently 41 of those are from the Bloc. So they are in a situation of control. Should the combined Liberal and NDP MPs vote against the governement, the Bloc's vote added to the conservative MPs votes are enough to form a majority and keep Harper at the helm.
    Any clearer?

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  3. Rosaria Williams17 septembre 2009 à 06:11

    Thank you. It is much clearer now. Don't you hate asking questions about things everybody knows and you don't? Fortunately, I'm now old enough not to worry about looking stupid.

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  4. potsoc17 septembre 2009 à 08:39

    Dear Rosaria, many Canadians have the same problem. The Bloc is not easy to understand to many and we are not used to minority and coalition governements.

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  5. Paul Sunstone18 septembre 2009 à 14:08

    It's rather disappointing that Harper has managed to retain power. But for how long, do you think?

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  6. potsoc18 septembre 2009 à 15:26

    Welcome Paul, been checking your blog recently. Have you been in nature?
    Harper is safe at least till the end of september, when the measures adopted today will be in place and another vote of confidence will be called by the Liberals on what is called "an opposition day", when the opposition party can move such motions.
    We would then have an election in early Novemeber.

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  7. Rob-bear18 septembre 2009 à 18:10

    As I said on my "Bear's Noting" blog, that would be three elections in three months for us where I live.

    See: http://bears-noting.blogspot.com/2009/09/election-fever.html

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  8. potsoc18 septembre 2009 à 18:30

    Well Rob-Bear at least you will know how to vote.

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  9. Paul Sunstone18 septembre 2009 à 22:02

    Paul, thanks for the info. I haven't been blogging much lately because I felt it was necessary to get away from it for awhile -- to refresh myself.

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  10. Anonyme20 septembre 2009 à 15:29

    Like me Paul. One needs refreshing to find stimuli to keep on writing.

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  11. potsoc20 septembre 2009 à 18:55

    MoR, this Paul is Paul Sunstone from café philos.

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