I am Canadian.  I am proud of my country, but her politics make me sick to my stomach.

For those who are not aware, we have a federal minority Conservative government.  Two months ago, they won the election.  This is the second consectutive minority Conservative government that we have had, which prior to that was a Liberal minority government.  The other two federal parties, the socialist New Democratic Party and the separatist Bloc Quebecois, have never been much of a factor in our government.

Together the three opposition parties can form enough of majority to topple the current Conservative government, and this is what they are currently attempting to do.  For the first time in 91 years, they are hoping to form a government without holding an election.  Canadians are up in arms over this turn of events.  They are outraged.  In fact, a Facebook group founded yesterday, “Canadians Against a Liberal/NDP Coalition Gov’t” already has 31,000 members!  The media is not holding back, either.  How ironic it is that the three opposition parties attempt to usurp power on the 250th anniversary of the birth of parliamentary democracy in Canada.

Does the Conservative government have any options?  They do, but they are very limited.  They can legally challenge it, however it is unlikely that this will get them too far.  They can ask the Governor General (Michaelle Jean) to send Canadians back to the polls, or they can ask her to prorogue Parliament.  In short, none of these options are likely.  An election in Canada costs $300 million dollars, and Canadians do not want to go back to the polls again, six weeks after electing a government.

The Conservatives understand this only too well and are mounting a public campaign in order to get The Three Stooges to back down.  I hope they succeed, because their reasons for forming a coalition government are not altogether altruistic, and the fact that they were not duly elected to govern the country.  For the same reasons, I did not support Harper when he suggested this very same maneuver in 2005 with the Bloc Quebecois (to topple the then minority Liberal government).

The reason that the three parties are banding together is due to the economic update that was presented in the House of Commons by Jim Flaherty, the Minister of Revenue.  In short, this mini-budget had a serious poison pill within it to cut all taxpayer subsidies to political parties.  In effect, this would save the government a paltry $30 million dollars, but would cripple the finances of all three opposition parties, as well as the Green party (who hold no seats in Parliament).  The Conservative party would be the hardest hit financially, however it would suffer the least amount of impact as the majority of their fundraising is derived from other sources.  The taxpayer subsidies are currently $1.95 per vote. The budget also temporarily stopped federal employees from striking.

There were no economic stimulus measures within this mini-budget, as they were going to be tabled in the next budget due in late January.  This is the excuse the three opposition parties are using in their attempt to form a new government.  Needless to say – anyone with half a brain can figure out that this has nothing to do with the economy.  The fact is that during a recession, spending your way out of it is not the best way of doing things.  Furthermore, our neighbor – the world’s largest economy – has a new President on the way.  A very different President than the current sitting President.  This means that there will be a lot of changes coming, for better or for worse.  The wisest course at this time with respect to the Canadian economy, as difficult as it is, is to wait.  Stephen Harper understands this because like him or not, party politics aside, the man is a trained economist.  The other three leaders are lawyers.

Many people see this as a cheap attempt at a power grab.  In some ways, it is.  Moreso, however, I think it is an attempt to ensure that the three opposition parties continue to have funding provided for by the taxpayers.  Without it, they would be as bankrupt financially as they are morally.  All three parties had their backs against the wall.  The leader of the Liberal party, Stephane Dion, was the author of the Clarity Act, which defined the terms of separation for Quebec from Canada.  Gilles Duceppe, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois, is an open separatist who will do anything to ensure that Quebec leaves Canada.  Jack Layton is the leader of the socialist NDP party, who seems to sit in the middle of the other two leaders whose politics are so polarized from one another.

Throughout this political turmoil, none of the three stooges failed to note that the Toronto Stock Exchange dropped almost 9% upon hearing their intentions.  Nine percent!  Billions of dollars wiped out, gone and disappeared.  Yet their first order of business if they form a successful government will be to introduce legislation that will inject thirty billion dollars into the economy.  Curiously, this sounds like a “robbing Peter to pay Paul” scenario.  No one can deny that the world economy is in serious trouble, however this will be the topic of a future article.

This should not be allowed to happen, under any circumstances, regardless of your political affiliation.  What the country needs right now is stability, and to navigate through the economic tough times slowly and steadily.  It is my hope that the Governor General makes the right decision.  It will be the most difficult decision that any Governor General has had to make (it is a largely ceremonial post).