Vote Passes recommending Libs resign

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Liberals lose vote asking government to resign

 

CTV.ca News Staff

 

In what could be seen as the beginning of the end for the Paul Martin's minority government, the Liberals lost a vote on a controversial motion in the Commons Tuesday night.

 

In what was a Parliamentary squeaker, the Conservatives teamed up with the Bloc Quebecois, to defeat the Liberals who were backed by the NDP and two Independents by a vote of 153 to 150.

 

The count could have been even closer. The Liberals were missing at least two members. Justice Minister Irwin Cotler was in Montreal for a family funeral and Natural Resources Minister John Efford was in Newfoundland for medical treatment.

 

Meanwhile the Conservatives had all 99 of their MPs sitting. Two seriously ill Tory MPs -- Darrel Stinson and David Chatters -- even flew in to Ottawa from their sick beds in Western Canada so they could be present for the vote.

 

Independent MP Chuck Cadman, who is recovering from chemotherapy treatment in British Columbia, was not present.

 

The Conservatives and the Bloc claim the much disputed vote has enough firepower to topple the government and trigger an election.

 

But the Liberals insist the vote holds no such power.

 

Seeking to clarify confusion over the consequences of the Conservative motion, the Liberals convened an emergency press conference earlier on Tuesday.

 

Addressing reporters in Ottawa, Valeri said the controversial motion is not one on which his party is willing to stake its future.

 

"The motion in no way asks the House to speak to its confidence in the government," Valeri said, insisting that it is merely procedural.

 

The Conservatives tabled the motion on Monday, after House Speaker Peter Milliken ruled it in order.

 

Specifically, the motion asks the Commons public accounts committee to amend a report dating back to October 28, 2004, "to recommend that the government resign because of its failure to address deficiencies in governance of the public service."

 

The Opposition argues that since Martin's Liberals have lost the vote, they can no longer claim the confidence of Parliament and therefore the right to govern.

 

But the Prime Minister's Office said Tuesday's vote would only become a matter of confidence in the government if:

 

it is adopted by the Public Accounts committee;

the committee amends the report, pursuant to the opposition directive; and

the report is adopted by the House of Commons.

 

Opposition Days

 

Earlier in the day, the Liberals offered to put their minority government to the test during opposition days at the end of May.

 

Liberal House leader Tony Valeri said opposition parties will be given three days during which they can introduce formal non-confidence motions.

 

"We're not afraid to be held accountable," Valeri said at a news conference. "There will be legitimate confidence votes."

 

He added that those days, in which the opposition sets the agenda for parliament, were to be proposed later Tuesday in a meeting between the house leaders of all four parties.

 

During question period in Commons, Prime Minister Paul Martin said "the government is ready to be judged," but not on Tuesday evening's motion. He added there would be "opportunities" for formal confidence motions to be introduced at the end of May.

 

Eroding Confidence

 

The Liberals' loss on Tuesday may prompt the prime minister to put the federal budget to a vote sooner than planned. The Liberals must put their fiscal plan to a vote sometime this spring, but have so far delayed it with procedural roadblocks.

 

It is widely believed the Liberals would rather test their government on the budget -- a scenario in which they could blame the Opposition for voting against promised spending on social programs, cities and the environment.

 

If all MPs are present for the budget vote, and the Liberal-NDP block can secure the support of all three Independents, then the vote would be a 153-153 tie with the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois.

 

In that case, the Speaker would cast the deciding vote.

 

With files from CTV News and The Canadian Press

 

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

 

This is the beginning of the end for the government. Harper is talking now.

[teke184 0]

Having kept up with this, I'm not sure it's the beginning of the end quite yet.

 

 

If the Liberals persist in their claims that they can ignore the no-confidence vote, this could either go away or we could start seeing some interesting political activity in Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, and pretty much every province BUT Ontario.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Nah... We'll just vote the Liberials back in.

 

There is no way in hell I'm having Harper as my Prime Minister.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Nah... We'll just vote the Liberials back in.

 

There is no way in hell I'm having Harper as my Prime Minister.

Despite the fact that the Liberals have stolen millions of dollars of our money.

 

If you want the country to split up, then vote the Liberals back in.

[teke184 0]

Nah... We'll just vote the Liberials back in.

 

There is no way in hell I'm having Harper as my Prime Minister.

Despite the fact that the Liberals have stolen millions of dollars of our money.

 

If you want the country to split up, then vote the Liberals back in.

Kahran,

 

Any interest in British Columbia and Alberta either going it alone or trying to become the 51st and 52nd states?

 

 

I know Quebec would probably secede and then go it alone, as they were 49% in favor of it ten years ago without massive fraud being perpetrated by Ottowa on the province.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Harper is a fucking robot. I'm not a fan of a robot running our country. Look into that man's eyes and try and tell me that he posseses a soul. Not possible.

[Guest Fook]

I'm not a fan of the current Liberal government, but I'd take Martin over Harper any day.

[ZGangsta 0]

Yeah, fuck Harper. The Liberals may have messed up but I don't want that dickwad running my country.

 

The thing that pisses me off about this is that in the last election, the Conservatives sole platform was "OMG SPONZORSHIP SCANDAL~! KILL TEH LIBERALS." On which they lost the election. And now Harper just wants a second shot at it using the same damn platform. If he loses this one, will he try and topple the gov again? Third time's the charm eh?

This whole thing is just about Harper's desire to be PM, he's just creating a giant stink to accomplish that.

 

Despite saying all that, the people I trully hate in this matter (and pretty much any other matter) are the Bloc. I fucking hate the Bloc.

 

 

Hopefully if there's an election it results in a Liberal Minority, and maybe some more seats for the NDP.

[Guest cosbywasmurdered]

Nah... We'll just vote the Liberials back in.

 

There is no way in hell I'm having Harper as my Prime Minister.

Despite the fact that the Liberals have stolen millions of dollars of our money.

 

If you want the country to split up, then vote the Liberals back in.

Kahran,

 

Any interest in British Columbia and Alberta either going it alone or trying to become the 51st and 52nd states?

 

 

I know Quebec would probably secede and then go it alone, as they were 49% in favor of it ten years ago without massive fraud being perpetrated by Ottowa on the province.

As someone who lives in BC I can honestly say no one here wants to become part of America. Any talk of us going it alone is just talk.

[Dogbert 0]

Nah... We'll just vote the Liberials back in.

 

There is no way in hell I'm having Harper as my Prime Minister.

Despite the fact that the Liberals have stolen millions of dollars of our money.

 

If you want the country to split up, then vote the Liberals back in.

Kahran,

 

Any interest in British Columbia and Alberta either going it alone or trying to become the 51st and 52nd states?

 

 

I know Quebec would probably secede and then go it alone, as they were 49% in favor of it ten years ago without massive fraud being perpetrated by Ottowa on the province.

Wrong. It was more like 56-44 in favour of the No side.

 

The PQ disqualified thousands of No votes for marginal reasons: for example, if the mark you made in the box surpassed the line in the slightest, it wasn't counted. However, people voting Yes could've wiped their ass with the ballot, and it would've counted.

 

It was a sham Referendum, and the dirty separatists nearly pulled it off.

[{''({o..o})''} 0]

Nah... We'll just vote the Liberials back in.

 

There is no way in hell I'm having Harper as my Prime Minister.

Despite the fact that the Liberals have stolen millions of dollars of our money.

 

If you want the country to split up, then vote the Liberals back in.

Kahran,

 

Any interest in British Columbia and Alberta either going it alone or trying to become the 51st and 52nd states?

 

 

I know Quebec would probably secede and then go it alone, as they were 49% in favor of it ten years ago without massive fraud being perpetrated by Ottowa on the province.

As someone who lives in BC I can honestly say no one here wants to become part of America. Any talk of us going it alone is just talk.

Liar. You know you want it.

[cbacon 0]

Harper is a fucking robot. I'm not a fan of a robot running our country. Look into that man's eyes and try and tell me that he posseses a soul. Not possible.

Gold.

 

I'm confident that we won't be voting the Conservatives into power in the next election. And even if they obtain a minority government, it won't last.

 

That said, it'd be gosh-darn great to have a proportional system.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Every day this shit goes by Layton is looking better and better to a lot of Canadians.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Every day this shit goes by Layton is looking better and better to a lot of Canadians.

He's easily the most charismatic, and I'd say the most trustworthy. Harper's a robot, has no business whatsoever running the country.

 

I'm confident that we won't be voting the Conservatives into power in the next election. And even if they obtain a minority government, it won't last.

 

Nope. They're going on the same platform last time. And it didn't work. We'll see another liberal minority.

 

AND!

 

There's no need for an election. It seems to me we, oh, JUST HAD ONE 11 MONTHS AGO! Martin's had no time to run the country. Let's see how he runs the show before we call for his head. If he drops the ball, then have an election. We spent a couple hunderd million last June 28, don't need to again now.

 

Wrong. It was more like 56-44 in favour of the No side.

 

The PQ disqualified thousands of No votes for marginal reasons: for example, if the mark you made in the box surpassed the line in the slightest, it wasn't counted. However, people voting Yes could've wiped their ass with the ballot, and it would've counted.

 

It was a sham Referendum, and the dirty separatists nearly pulled it off.

 

40-60 in 1980 with the most charismatic leader in Canadian history(behind Trudeau) at the helm of the Oui vote. 49.4 to 50.6 in 1995. God help us, Quebecers loved Bouchard. No one likes Landry. They're not going anywhere.

[Red Baron 0]

Despite the fact that the Liberals have stolen millions of dollars of our money.

And you don't think Harper would do this?

 

This guy is more nuts than Mulroney.

[dubq 0]

Peter McKay should be the leader of that party.

[starvenger 0]

Every day this shit goes by Layton is looking better and better to a lot of Canadians.

That's a scary thought. I think Layton's good as an opposition leader, but as PM, he'd probably be about as effective as Bob Rae was as Ontario Premier.

 

Peter McKay should be the leader of that party.

Belinda Stronach could be leader. Then McKay's free to pull strings from behind the curtain.

 

Regardless, I'm voting Conservative next election. I don't care if Harper's as charasmatic as Al Gore. Martin's Liberals are a train wreck and, again, I've no desire to see the NDP in a position of power (even their current one).

[Red Baron 0]

The thing is that the right is near insanity and so is the left.

 

Its ashame that people outside Quebec can not vote for Gilles Ducieppe.

[dubq 0]

Regardless, I'm voting Conservative next election. I don't care if Harper's as charasmatic as Al Gore. Martin's Liberals are a train wreck and, again, I've no desire to see the NDP in a position of power (even their current one).

Even though I'm not a huge fan of Harper, ditto.

 

The NDP makes me want to vomit in terror.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

The thought of our Governement being in bed (moreso) with the States and the stance Harper would take on religion and gay marriage is enough to solidify my vote for Martin.

[SuperJerk 0]

Harper is a fucking robot. I'm not a fan of a robot running our country. Look into that man's eyes and try and tell me that he posseses a soul. Not possible.

I'd find this comment personally offensive, if I had a soul.

[Guest fk teale]

As Ray Smuckles might say, Have dignity.

 

Is HURF BURF HARPER'S SCARY really the best you minions can muster up when confronted with graft and smirking incompetence on a scale unprecedented in Canadian politics? You say the conservatives just want power, while Martin's government sells its budget out to the NDP for a few more months on parliament hill, and then ignores a demand from the legislature to resign. You say Harper's a robot. You're the fucking automatons punching a Liberal ticket year after year - what is it, lack of imagination? Do you like being robbed? Do you think it is rad to spit on parliamentary procedure and have one party as an unaccountable government-in-perpetuity? I think the NDP would be awful for the country, but if I had the opportunity I'd vote for Jack Layton with a song in my heart. At least it would be a goverment, not a goddamn money-laundering racket.

 

The Toronto Liberal voter just passed the Frenchman as the most debased creature on the face of the earth. How can you invertebrates look yourselves in the mirror.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I like how you didn't refute the fact that Steven Harper is, in fact, a robot.

[Red Baron 0]

As Ray Smuckles might say, Have dignity.

 

Is HURF BURF HARPER'S SCARY really the best you minions can muster up when confronted with graft and smirking incompetence on a scale unprecedented in Canadian politics? You say the conservatives just want power, while Martin's government sells its budget out to the NDP for a few more months on parliament hill, and then ignores a demand from the legislature to resign. You say Harper's a robot. You're the fucking automatons punching a Liberal ticket year after year - what is it, lack of imagination? Do you like being robbed? Do you think it is rad to spit on parliamentary procedure and have one party as an unaccountable government-in-perpetuity? I think the NDP would be awful for the country, but if I had the opportunity I'd vote for Jack Layton with a song in my heart. At least it would be a goverment, not a goddamn money-laundering racket.

 

The Toronto Liberal voter just passed the Frenchman as the most debased creature on the face of the earth. How can you invertebrates look yourselves in the mirror.

What were you saying?

 

I couldn't read the jibberish you wrote.

[Dogbert 0]

Every day this shit goes by Layton is looking better and better to a lot of Canadians.

He's easily the most charismatic, and I'd say the most trustworthy. Harper's a robot, has no business whatsoever running the country.

 

I'm confident that we won't be voting the Conservatives into power in the next election. And even if they obtain a minority government, it won't last.

 

Nope. They're going on the same platform last time. And it didn't work. We'll see another liberal minority.

 

AND!

 

There's no need for an election. It seems to me we, oh, JUST HAD ONE 11 MONTHS AGO! Martin's had no time to run the country. Let's see how he runs the show before we call for his head. If he drops the ball, then have an election. We spent a couple hunderd million last June 28, don't need to again now.

 

Wrong. It was more like 56-44 in favour of the No side.

 

The PQ disqualified thousands of No votes for marginal reasons: for example, if the mark you made in the box surpassed the line in the slightest, it wasn't counted. However, people voting Yes could've wiped their ass with the ballot, and it would've counted.

 

It was a sham Referendum, and the dirty separatists nearly pulled it off.

 

40-60 in 1980 with the most charismatic leader in Canadian history(behind Trudeau) at the helm of the Oui vote. 49.4 to 50.6 in 1995. God help us, Quebecers loved Bouchard. No one likes Landry. They're not going anywhere.

I meant that the actual, non-tampered-with numbers were about 56-44 for the No side in 1995.

[Guest fk teale]

What were you saying?

 

I couldn't read the jibberish you wrote.

The word you're looking for is over here.

[Guest CronoT]

Honestly, I know about jackshit about Canadian politics, but some of the stuff mentioned in the article clearly sounds like collusion and seems downright illegal.

 

See? This is why you need to have the Executive Office of the gov't independent of the Legislative.

 

Also, Tories suck.

[Highland 0]

As Ray Smuckles might say, Have dignity.

 

Is HURF BURF HARPER'S SCARY really the best you minions can muster up when confronted with graft and smirking incompetence on a scale unprecedented in Canadian politics?  You say the conservatives just want power, while Martin's government sells its budget out to the NDP for a few more months on parliament hill, and then ignores a demand from the legislature to resign.  You say Harper's a robot.  You're the fucking automatons punching a Liberal ticket year after year - what is it, lack of imagination?  Do you like being robbed?  Do you think it is rad to spit on parliamentary procedure and have one party as an unaccountable government-in-perpetuity?  I think the NDP would be awful for the country, but if I had the opportunity I'd vote for Jack Layton with a song in my heart.  At least it would be a goverment, not a goddamn money-laundering racket.

 

The Toronto Liberal voter just passed the Frenchman as the most debased creature on the face of the earth.  How can you invertebrates look yourselves in the mirror.

This is signature worthy.

 

Edit: Or would be if it would fit

Edited May 12, 2005 by Highland

[Red Baron 0]

Is Scandal the party (Reform) official motto?

 

C'mon this party doesn't have a stable leadership, and a stable party underneath it.

 

If the party can not agree on a simple issue, how do you think they can run a country? They'd argue it over, and soon you'd have all other parties jumping on against their decision.

 

The reform party offers nothing to improve Canada. Fine cut everything and Privitze everything, and see how many Canadians would react to that...your gonna have another election real quick.

 

Canadians do not want another election. Its costs too much money to have another one right now.

 

Besides the Reform party should look for a platform, or some sort of ideals before they should scream for an election.

[ZGangsta 0]

Besides the Reform party should look for a platform, or some sort of ideals before they should scream for an election.

Exactly, they don't have a damn platform! The only point they ever make is that the Liberals don't deserve to run the country. Well guess what? Canadians apparently thought that they do deserve to run the country during the last election. If the polls show that Canadians have changed their minds (which the polls haven't really shown) it's just a reaction to all the bitching that the opposition parties have been doing. Not because of any actual new concrete facts that have come forward about the "sponsorship scandal." Why don't we just fucking wait until the actual formal report about this damn thing comes out. It just seems to me like it's a really bad idea to topple the government based on pretty much speculation.

 

If the report shows that the Liberals were in fact 'evil' ot whatever, THEN let them have it, give them the boot. But Godamn! This is not the time for another election.

(Plus I'm in BC and we have a provincial election next week)