NDP - The Real Opposition
hurley_108 @ Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:42 am
As posted in the news section:
$1:
Layton says Liberal weakness gives Harper majority
The Canadian Press
October 23, 2007 at 12:55 PM EDT
OTTAWA — The NDP says Stephen Harper's Conservatives now basically have a majority government — and it's all thanks to the weak Liberal opposition.
Leader Jack Layton says that by agreeing to roll over on the Tory throne speech vote, the Liberals have helped the prime minister govern without fear of being defeated in the Commons.
In a pep talk to party workers and MPs on Tuesday, Mr. Layton said Liberal voters should consider switching their allegiance to the NDP.
He said Canadians should not be impressed with Liberals for allowing the throne speech to pass — even though it rejects the Kyoto accord and suggests Canada should stay the course in Afghanistan until 2011.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, who is an ardent defender of the Kyoto accord, was said by party insiders to favour defeating the government over its throne speech.
But he was talked out of it by his caucus, which argued that their party is not ready organizationally or financially to fight an election.
Mr. Harper has since made it clear that he expects a freer hand to run Parliament, and has threatened to use more frequent confidence votes that would force the opposition to either support him or trigger an election.
Mr. Layton said his party has systematically opposed the Tories in confidence votes and will continue to do so. But he pointed out that Mr. Harper can control Parliament if only one party supports him or abstains from voting.
“What effectively has happened is the gift of a majority government has been given by that party (the Liberals) to Mr. Harper.”
“It's going to be very symbolic to watch our members rise in the House — willing to put their jobs, their principles, their commitments on the line — and then to watch the official opposition sit it out.”
The Canadian Press
October 23, 2007 at 12:55 PM EDT
OTTAWA — The NDP says Stephen Harper's Conservatives now basically have a majority government — and it's all thanks to the weak Liberal opposition.
Leader Jack Layton says that by agreeing to roll over on the Tory throne speech vote, the Liberals have helped the prime minister govern without fear of being defeated in the Commons.
In a pep talk to party workers and MPs on Tuesday, Mr. Layton said Liberal voters should consider switching their allegiance to the NDP.
He said Canadians should not be impressed with Liberals for allowing the throne speech to pass — even though it rejects the Kyoto accord and suggests Canada should stay the course in Afghanistan until 2011.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, who is an ardent defender of the Kyoto accord, was said by party insiders to favour defeating the government over its throne speech.
But he was talked out of it by his caucus, which argued that their party is not ready organizationally or financially to fight an election.
Mr. Harper has since made it clear that he expects a freer hand to run Parliament, and has threatened to use more frequent confidence votes that would force the opposition to either support him or trigger an election.
Mr. Layton said his party has systematically opposed the Tories in confidence votes and will continue to do so. But he pointed out that Mr. Harper can control Parliament if only one party supports him or abstains from voting.
“What effectively has happened is the gift of a majority government has been given by that party (the Liberals) to Mr. Harper.”
“It's going to be very symbolic to watch our members rise in the House — willing to put their jobs, their principles, their commitments on the line — and then to watch the official opposition sit it out.”
It's a sad state of affairs when the smallest party in the house is the one doing the best job as an opposition party. Dion really has handed Harper an effective majority by abstaining on anything he doesn't like.
I think that if Layton plays his hand right, and keeps his head, we may possibly have an NDP official opposition next time...
damngrumpy @ Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:07 pm
One of the biggest problems the NDP has is it explains its policy down to the last detail and people get turned off. People don't want all the details they only want enough information to know if the concept is sound. Besides giving all the details allows the opposition to nit pick it apart.
I have been a New Democrat for a long time, in fact I was a candidate in one election.
The NDP must do some soul searching and trigger that old magic, and that comes from exciting new ideas and new goals for social progress, while maintaining a policy of being fiscal conservative.
That was the secret Tommy Douglas brought to the table and we have strayed from.