Tom Young says: “Another election? …Say it isn’t so…”
I can’t ever remember reading an article which I hoped was more wrong than the one I read in Tuesday’s Toronto Star.
The Star’s Ottawa Bureau Chief, Susan Delacourt suggests there’s evidence that we’re going to see a fall federal election.
She alludes to the fact that the Tories already have two buses being used for the Ontario provincial election and two other buses are being painted up and plastered with a picture of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, all ready to hit the road in less than three weeks.
According to the article, Conservative party insiders have been told to “get ready.”
Parliament is soon to be recalled and there will be a speech from the throne outlining what the Prime Minister hopes to accomplish during the next session of parliament.
The Bloc Québécois have already staked out their position.
Liberal leader Stéphane Dion has staked out his party’s position, and Jack Layton says his New Democrats will wait and see what the Fall budget contains.
In order to survive and govern another term, Mr. Harper needs the support of one or more of the opposition parties — and more and more it appears support will not be in the cards.
It should be noted that recent polls put both Liberals and the ruling Conservatives in a virtual tie at about thirty per cent, give or take a percentage point. The Prime Minister understands that the relevancy of the Bloc in Quebec is diminishing in leaps and bounds and buoyed by his party’s results in three recent Quebec bye elections, Mr. Harper can see today’s minority becoming tomorrow’s majority.
If he’s right, then the three-hundred million dollars it’ll cost tax payers to fund another general election would be money well spent from a Conservative perspective.
If he’s wrong, the three-hundred million dollars would be a colossal waste of tax-payer’s money to turn “today’s minority government” into, “tomorrow’s minority government.”
We must all hope the article in Tuesday’s Toronto Star was wrong.
I’m Tom Young.
October 4th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Thought I had already posted this comment, If this is a duplicate I apologize…..
Well, why not have another election? Steven Harper’s obviously made every attempt to make this minority government work, toiled long and hard keep his government and party in power. Making those little sacrifices and concessions that it takes to get along, in fact I understand that the party leaders are attending group counseling sessions in a last ditch effort to keep us from going to the polls. Ya… I know, I’m not buying that either and I’m the guy who just made it up.
Harper couldn’t possibly believe that he’ll make large enough gains to justify dissolving his government or more to the point, orchestrating its downfall. The polls, as the ones you’ve cited, just don’t support it. In what would be, a two party race, with leaders who have all the pizzazz of wallpaper paste, it would appear that we are going to end up with another minority.
Unless, he plans to stage the government’s fall, around an issue with a high profile that he believes will rally the support to his party during the election. What other reason could he have to spend a king’s ransom on a fool’s errand?