Comments on: 5 reasons I support the coalition

By: Mary Siever

Mary Siever — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:53:30 +0000

Parliament members have a lack of confidence in the Prime Minister.

By: robert

robert — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:02:14 +0000

why did this happen in the first place ? what was the reason for a coalition ?

By: jjackson

jjackson — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:37:14 +0000

38: ” Not because I’m a big Harper fan or a flag waving Conservative. I’m a moderate, which sadly puts me in the middle. ”

Canada doesn’t have a national party that is “small c” conservative. The Conservative party is the moderate party with the others WELL to the left. I read a comparison last year that put Harper’s Conservatives’ platform significantly to the left of the Bill Clinton administration, for an example.

By: Jeff Milner

Jeff Milner — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:25:43 +0000

TStevens and other non-Canadians, here's a summary of what happened written for an American.

Dear neighbour, about what's going on in Canada

By: rick

rick — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:22:18 +0000

Points taken, but my comments about the coalition gaining power still stand.

By: Jeff Milner

Jeff Milner — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:26:42 +0000

Correct me if I'm mistaken but I believe:

The NDP, Liberals, and Bloc each campaigned on policies to end combat missions in Afghanistan.
The NDP, Liberals, and Bloc want to inject money into the economy (following the lessons learned in the Great Depression — think Keynesian economics)
The NDP, Liberals, and Bloc all campaigned on platforms of attempting to meet the Kyoto Accord targets.

You may not agree with what they want to do, but I don't think it's true that they don't have any common goals except getting Harper out of office.

By: rick

rick — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:12:50 +0000

"Their accord is a testament to the idea of putting aside partisanism and working toward common goals"

Assuming they could actually DO anything once in power. I think at this point, it's looking like a pretty big assumption.

I mean, the only thing they really agree on is getting Harper out of office...

By: Kim Siever

Kim Siever — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:53:29 +0000

But Canada did vote for them, Nikki. Everyone interested in participating in the coalition had been elected by Canadians to parliament. Sure, Canadians didn't specifically vote to have the parliament led by a coalition, but likewise Canadians didn't specifically vote to have parliament led by Harper. The parliamentary system allows for both scenarios, however.

While it's true that the platforms of the three parties are not identical, that's not really the point. Their accord is a testament to the idea of putting aside partisanism and working toward common goals, the way parliament should actually be working.

By: Nikki

Nikki — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:24:49 +0000

Personally, I hate the coalition idea. Not because I'm a big Harper fan or a flag waving Conservative. I'm a moderate, which sadly puts me in the middle. What I don't like is how it manipulates the voice of Canada. Canada didn't vote for them, but collectively somehow they're representing the majority? Last time I checked the Bloq, Liberals and NDP all had different platforms. It reminds me of high school. All the school president wannabe's that didn't get elected form a coalition and everyone else be damned. It's the popular kids with a bad idea and Canada pays the price.

By: TStevens

TStevens — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 07:37:42 +0000

I really wish I knew something about the Canadian government so I could join in the discussion; but alas all I know about Canada comes from watching Corner Gas. Pretty sad I know.