Canada’s “putsch”: Oppose Conservative power-grab!

[Joanne98]

By Keith Jones
3 December 2008

Canada’s right-wing, minority Conservative government is preparing to cling to power illegally. Led by the neo-conservative ideologue Stephen Harper, the Conservatives are threatening to unleash a constitutional crisis and incite anti-Quebec chauvinism rather than allow the parliamentary opposition parties to form an alternate government.

“We will use all legal means to resist this undemocratic seizure of power,” declared Harper on Monday, after the opposition parties—the Liberals, New Democratic Party (NDP), and Bloc Québécois (BQ)—announced an accord to form a Liberal-NDP coalition government supported by the BQ.

The Conservatives, who won the votes of barely one in five Canadians in the federal election held October 14, are accusing the opposition parties of attempting a “putsch” and thwarting the will of the electorate.

This is reactionary rot. It is the Conservatives who are acting undemocratically, and in manifold ways.

• Under Canada’s parliamentary system, the opposition parties have every right to form an alternate government, since they won a majority of the seats in the House of Commons in a general election held just seven weeks ago.

If one includes the votes of the Green Party, which announced Tuesday that it too backs the Liberal-NDP coalition, 61.2 percent of voters cast their ballots October 14 for parties supportive of the coalition.

• So as to avoid defeat in a parliamentary non-confidence vote scheduled for next Monday, the Conservatives are reportedly preparing to prorogue or shut down parliament, which reconvened only on November 17, until late January,

• The Conservatives have announced that should they lose a non-confidence vote, Harper will “advise” the Governor-General to dissolve parliament. In effect, the Conservatives are demanding that Canada’s unelected head of state deprive the opposition of its constitutional right to form a government. And should Governor-General Michaëlle Jean not capitulate to their anti-democratic demand, the Conservatives are threatening to unleash a wider political and constitutional crisis by attacking the democratic legitimacy of the Liberal-NDP coalition.

• With the support of much of the corporate media, the Conservatives have launched an aggressive drive to mobilize reactionary forces, denouncing the Liberals for aligning with “socialists” and “separatists,” references respectively to the NDP and BQ, against “Canada’s government.”

Continued>>>

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/cana-d03.shtml

[applegrove]

1. Please please Mr. Harper. Keep showing the country your creepiness.

[Doctor_J]

2. The neocons here seized power unconstitutionally

I have always thought that the Canadian citizens would not tolerate what we in the US stood for over the last 8 years. It will be interesting to see if they just roll over allow their country to be destroyed like we have.

[Amonester]

3. They can own the corporate media all they want: they will fail

anyway.

Harper and his minions are a minority and a majority of voters (on paper ballots) have clearly indicated (TWICE) that they don't want their destructive policies to be imposed on them and against their will.

The neocons have finally shown their true faces of pure evil.

There's no going back and they're freakin' out (whinning...)

Yawn (and get the hell out of our government : say a majority of voters).

[Doctor_J]

8. Bush and his minions are a minority here; that didn't keep them from turning the US

into a fascist state. It's going to take more than a sub-50% approval rating to keep them from executing a putsch. I would suggest you prepare to do more than complain on DU and (try to) vote. That's what we did, and that's why we're in a depression and have mercenaries on duty inside our country.

[BNMarin]

4. I thought Canadian conservatives were different

Than the ones here. I was wrong.

[rationalcalgarian]

5. They used to be

Lately, they've been coached by US neocons and it shows. Their talking points, hyperbole and rhetoric sound like they're lifted right out of the Karl Rove handbook!

I keep getting a mental picture of Harper sitting by the phone waiting for the call from Washington to tell him what to do next. And the phone isn't ringing anymore!

[tuvor]

6. The Conservatives are just the Canadian Alliance Party playing dress-up.

The Conservative Party of Canada, colloquially known as the "Tories", is a conservative political party in Canada, formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance (formerly Reform Party) and the Progressive Conservative Party in December 2003.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_of_Canada

[judasdisney]

7. Read this editorial and be scared

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/12/01/david-frum-only-the-losers-will-survive-ottawa-s-game-of-competitive-suicide.aspx

Editorial is by David Frum, Bush's Canadian speechwriter who coined the "axis of evil" phrase.

Frum is shockingly analytical here, for a hardline Neocon Dumbya dope.

Substitute "Obama" for NDP, and you'll see that the Neocons only PLAY dumb.

Substitute "Obama" for NDP, and you'll see that the Neocons wanted Obama to win.

This is chess, they have plans for you, the Second Great Depression is entirely by-design, and Democrats are walking straight into their trap.

Here comes the Dirty War. Look it up.

[Canuckistanian]

9. Should be interesting. The PM is meeting with the Gov-General right now

There are some constitutional experts that are saying Harper has no right to prorogue Parliament, because he doesn't have the support of the House.

Michaëlle Jean has a heavy reponsibility on her shoulders - and the whole country's watching.