Oh how exciting! Or at least it would be if we didn't already know exactly what this minority Conservative government had in store for we, the peons:- more war in Afghanistan (this new "panel" is nothing but a sorry joke)
- the new & improved Canadian version of the war on drugs (how's that working for the yanks, by the way? Just say no to that idea.)
- "prudent" fiscal management (which means funding social programs as minimally as possible and/or gutting/cutting more of them while ensuring more tax cuts for corporations with a few pennies thrown out to the masses ie. "middle class" just to keep them and the National Post editorial board happy/deluded. (The media Cons are also pushing private health care. Give it a rest already. You want private health care? Move to the states.)
- no shades of Kyoto (of course).
You know the drill. They're Conservatives. They're predictable. zzzzzzzzzzzz
Meanwhile, the Globe & Mail's inside source says there will be "no poison pill" ie. something for the opposition parties to use to bring the government down. And why would there be? Harper's obviously enjoying being the Dear Leader.
Sources said Tuesday night's speech will be divided into five themes: sovereignty, the economy, the federation, criminal justice and the environment.
"federation" - codeword for trying to smack Saskatchewan premier Calvert upside the head for his recently filed lawsuit against the feds for messing with their equalization promises (which Gary Lunn labeled as being "nuts"). Also handy for jabbing the BQ - those anti-federalists. And a little shot to Newfoundland/Labrador's premier Danny Williams whom I'm sure Harper et al would just love to gag considering he's got a mouth and he likes to use it - against them. Unruly Conservatives should be seen and not heard. That's Harper's 11th commandment.
As for the possible backlash:
Speaking on background, several MPs said the notion of voting in favour of the Throne Speech has been ruled out. That leaves three options: voting against it in large numbers and defeating the government, voting against it in small numbers – with the rest abstaining – to avoid an election or abstaining en masse. The NDP is pressing Liberal MPs not to abstain, and some Liberals expressed strong discomfort with the idea Monday. Two MPs in relatively safe Liberal ridings said they would rather go the polls now than abstain.
In other words, nobody really knows what the hell is going to happen, but the Liberal party is in such disarray that it would be begging for major problems if its actions spurred an early election. At this point, it can't secure a majority and a re-election of a Conservative minority would just give Harper new moxy because he already believes that the opposition should just fall in line and shut up when it comes to his "mandate" (he loves that word - just like Bush).
So, basically: same shit, different day and it looks like we're stuck with the Cons for a little while longer.
Alrighty then, now that I've pumped up the show for you all that's left is for you to watch it. CPAC is carrying it live online with their coverage starting at 6pm ET. The actual speech (pomp & ceremony) begins at 6:30. (Apparently, Canadians are supposed to enjoy this new dinner hour time slot. Personally, I'll wait til it's done to actually eat my supper because I suspect it will be rather nausea-inducing which may result in my having to visit a throne of my own in the end.)
Related: Liberals in no hurry to call snap election
Income tax cuts among Conservative promises
CBC has some of the pre-speech leak details.
Stay tuned for the post-throne analysis.
No comments:
Post a Comment