Dion tapped to lead Liberal-NDP coalition

I’ve already sent my letter of support for the coalition to the GG. I’d suggest everyone else do so to. I’ve also sent a letter to my MP saying I support the coalition but want any stimulus package to go towards helping businesses shift to green sustainable practices not just propping up banks and the auto industry for more of the same (so money going to ZENN cars and such and retraining workers for sustainable industries) – and banks need to be regulated more and it needs to be investigated since they’ve been posting huge profits up til now so hardly need to be bailed out!

Harper needs to go after pulling this kind of shit and playing petty politics in an attempt to grab more power (after being refused more power by the people at the last election).

Dion will actually be okay as a PM. He’s uncharismatic on camera (apparently quite charismatic one on one though) but he is smart, he is interested in sustainability and the environment and I actually think he can do okay if Layton doesn’t get greedy – it’s not like the NDP and Liberals are that far apart regarding policy, or even the Bloc on some matters actually – the three together represent more of the country than the conservatives do. (I’d also look for Mulclair to be using this to set himself up as an eventual leader.)

yay! i am really excited about the possibility of a coalition government. canadian politics is about to recieve a real boost in terms of political accountability. anyone who’s looked at the institutions seriously knows that our system is not particularly democratic. however, if some progressive policies come out of this arrangement, i would hazard to say that’s of a higher priority than changing the system. maybe with more flexibility and dialectic, we can achieve reform in our lifetimes.

le chat – Let’s see what happens. Harper is now looking for more time to propagandize and to sow the seeds of doubt and fear.

My favorite lie meme being passed around at the moment is the “but Harper was elected so it’s an illegal and undemocratic coup”. Um, all the members of the coalition were elected by Canadian citizens too and represent the “will of the people” just as much – and in greater numbers than the Conservative. In fact, Harper was trying to impose the will of the minority Conservatives upon the majority of the nation. Is there anything that Harper says that isn’t pure projection? Does he have any strategies that aren’t just rewarmed US Republican ones?

We need to start a “it’s time for change and to work together” meme to support the coalition.

Oh, wait, no….my very favorite Harper strategy is how he’s going on about “socialism” – dude, Canada IS a social democracy!!! Much as he’d like to dismantle our social democracy and dole out profits to his corporate pals (he had already promised an big stimulus package internationally, he was/is just trying to make the opposition wear it in case of a failure but would take credit for it if it worked…I can see how he though he could get rid of opposition effectively forever through this manouver, he clearly forgot that Canada actually is a democracy in his haste to change that pesky fact).

le chat – True, if we were really democratic and there was a consideration of the popular vote then Harper wouldn’t even be PM to begin with! Nor would the Conservatives have as many seats as they ended up with. It’s why he hates democracy!

Maybe we need to make posters saying…

“Why does Stephen Harper hate democracy?”

I hear that all the angry white men in Alberta are going to have a big protest because they are just so victimized .

hehehe…Yes, yes they are!

Seriously, even if the coalition is totally incompetent they can’t do nearly as much intentional damage to Canada as Harper could if he remained in power. He’s not backed by people, he’s backed by corporations (which is why he wanted to cut election funding to the parties he can’t win a majority over any other way than creating an uneven playing field where the wealthy corporations reign by virtue of financial clout).

Go Harper, go and don’t come back.

He was set on abolishing public funding for political parties. This started the spillover.
Heard from a private source that some of his associates were good pals with the KKK.

it’s funny, i definetly don’t like the libs, but with the ndp holding the key to their power it seems the best possible outcome for this shitstem. def better then harper, and yes much more democratic.

Um, who needs to be pals with the KKK when you’ve got Stockwell Day in your cabinet? Dion is pretty uncharismatic but I actually think he’d be quite good as a leader in this context.

Stockwell Day, thanks he is the one. A visiting grand cyclop said he considered him to be his political model…

the NDP often has a unique position to get what they want. That’s how they stopped that multi-billion corporate tax cut back in 2003. instead that money was directed to health care and education =)

i still can’t believe the merging of the reform party and the PC party was on the back of a written agreement NOT to merge the two. and everyone just accepted it. what kind of party leaders sign agreements and simply break them when it suits.

boo hoo harper. i find it funny that people say the liberal leader has no presence… especially with harper as PM. i am so glad to see him go, i might even move back to canada.

we know we suck when the US has a more liberal leader than we do.

Sounds like a F-ing plan to me.

Hopefilly if the Libs/NDP do a good job … It might make the NDP a more prominent party in Canada and actually win for once.

Go NDP .. I mean Go Harper … stay NDP.

Dion is OK from what I’ve heard, my dad knows him pretty well and I’ve meet him a couple of times … he’s chill … and he is MP of my city/district/whatever-u-call-it.

dah dah dah dadaaaa … I’m lovin’ it!

deaner – In many ways we should all be thankful to the NDP and the Bloc. Yes, I know people both inside and outside of the Bloc find them offensive and I’m not a fan myself. However, within the context of Canadian politics even the most conservative sovereignists are actually evil “socialists” and socially liberal – one of the reasons the Conservatives lost seats here they thought they had was because conservative quebecois didn’t like his social policies (trying juveniles as adults was a biggish one).

And, while I haven’t met Dion myself, I’ve heard nothing but good things from people I know who have. However, politics is also about image and Dion has trouble projecting anything but professorial and white bread soaked in milk. He also plays badly in Quebec because he’s more professor than paysan. Let’s hope the Liberals don’t lose the very last of their balls before parliament is back.