Pizza Parliament, anyone?
Wed, December 03 2008
Triggered by a malicious move and responded to with an unprecedented threat, Canadians now face the possibility of being ruled by a pizza parliament.
The toppings include separatist poutine, Liberal grits and socialist mish-mash all blended together to form a coalition cheese wheel to be hurled at the Tory glutton.
It all began with a “bright spark” somewhere in the Conservative ranks managing to convince his boss that he should remove the $28 million in public subsidies to political parties.
If you did not already know, you give Canadian political parties, including the politicos of La Belle Province who want to tear this country apart, $1.95 per year for every vote they receive in a federal election.
Harper, always ready to fire a salvo on those who stand in the way of his majority rule, rationalized that by cutting the subsidy he could cripple the scheming opposition, which is out to seize his mantle as PM.
He believed he could also sell it as a prudent fiscal move to the Canadian public, members of which are blissfully unaware that they are financing political parties, including the ones they did not vote for.
Enraged that their financial lifelines could be cut, talks are now underway to form a Liberal-NDP coalition government to be propped by the Bloc Quebecois.
So, now we have a no-confidence vote on Parliament Hill on December 8, a show of hands that could send us back to the polls for another $300 million general election.
Harper called the last snap election claiming parliament was “dysfunctional” with a minority government. But his immature political power play has given parliamentary dysfunction a new meaning.
Harper and his Tory machinery need to be spanked for acting like some tin-pot dictatorship in this ruinous game of political brinkmanship.
Having said that, no one is really in the mood for another general election, barely six weeks after installing a strengthened-minority rule in Ottawa.
A coalition government promises nothing for Canada or Canadians, except for back-room deals, pathways for hidden agendas and distasteful compromises aimed to keep the fragile arrangement in place.
It will have no unity of vision to navigate Canada out of today’s troubled financial seas because of its disparate views on everything from immigration to medicare to a separate Quebec.
In these already troubled times, our elected officials should stop playing political chicken and get back to the promise of a non-partisan approach to governance.
Forget the no-confidence vote.
Try instead to regain the confidence of the voters.
Tell us what you think
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