Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Jennings speaks out
Kudos to David Lazarus of The Canadian Jewish News, the only reporter who apparently saw it fit to track down Dion-ite MP Marlene Jennings and get her views on the negotiations that led to the Liberal-NDP coalition in December.
Jennings informs us that she personally kiboshed having the Bloc Québécois' pet cause of having Bill 101 apply to federal workplaces inside Quebec -- red-flagged here during the heat of the moment -- adopted as part of a coalition deal:
The Bloc Québécois were prepared to keep a Liberal-led coalition government alive for two years, if the coalition allowed Bill 101 to apply to federally regulated companies in Quebec.
But Marlene Jennings, left, the veteran Liberal MP in charge of negotiating the coalition deal for the Liberals, said “no way” to the Bloc.
The proposed change to the province’s French language law would have allowed employees of federally regulated companies, including post offices and banks, to conduct business in French only.
“I said no. Never. Not while I have a breath in my body,” Jennings told a recent breakfast gathering at Shaare Zedek Congregation.
And the result, said the 11-year Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Lachine MP, was that the Liberals settled for the Bloc pledging to prop up the Liberal-NDP coalition during confidence votes for 18 months, not two years.
Marlene Jennings may be a fierce partisan and an over-the-top heckler, but she did the right thing here.
Peter Pocklington, the infamous ex-owner of the Edmonton Oilers and ex-Conservative Party leadership candidate, is heard from. Good article here, with a complete picture of what Pocklington has been up to since he left Canada a decade ago. Turns out he is in a bit of trouble with the law.
Support Tim Mak for CBC's Next Great Prime Minister
The CBC's annual Next Great Prime Minister competition is on, and the candidate who has my support is Tim Mak. Tim is a solid conservative from McGill University and he has some good ideas for the future of the country. I encourage everyone to visit Tim's contest site and vote for him!
The Liberals have started throwing Dion to the wolves. John Manley's open call for his resignation is the first salvo; many more are sure to come. This also might be Manley's way of rethinking his decision to not run for leader. (One thing's for sure: Bob Rae's decision to make himself cheerleader-in-chief of the coalition scheme will likely be fatal to his campaign.)
The coalition movement has been a public relations disaster, with a spate of polls showing the Canadian public rallying to the Conservative Party. Obviously, sensible Liberals -- from whom we have not heard much these last ten days -- are realizing that Canadians are not warm to this. Hence why they must pin this on the outgoing leader to avoid damaging the Liberal brand any further. If Dion and Dion alone wears this, the party can move on relatively quickly.
It was an incredible week in Ottawa, where I currently am. Most days it seemed we were verging on Lord of the Flies -- quasi-organized chaos.
It was fascinating to observe the body language of MPs, with the Conservatives I saw looking either like they had been hit by a bus, or just waking up from a bad nightmare. Liberals had either a perplexed look or an overjoyed one (Marlene Jennings, whom I saw at a bar Tuesday night, had a Cheshire-cat grin on her face that would make even Donny and Marie Osmond marvel.) And journalists just looked exhausted -- probably because they were.
At the height of coalition fever, in the middle of the week, the behaviour of the Liberals and NDP reminded me of that scene in the movie The Ten Commandments when Moses climbs the mountain, leaving his followers below to revel in idolatry, adultery and other sins. The would-be coalition was worshiping the golden calf of power without thinking through the longer-term implications, all in an attempt to save Dion from joining Edward Blake in the dustbin of federal political history. (I specify federal political history because Blake did serve as Ontario Premier and had a spectacular legal career, founding one of this country's finest law firms.)
Prime Minister's Harper's office has come in for severe criticism for not having enough "adult supervision" in the Langevin block, but to me it seemed most of the child-like behaviour was emanating from the coalition. It will be fascinating to see the postmortems, and let's hope at least one parliamentary wag has it in him or her to write a book about what happened when all is said and done. I'm particularly interested to learn more about the role of ultra-ambitious MP Thomas Mulcair in creating this story, because I have a feeling he was the prime mover behind much of what went on.
The fever pitch has been hit and will only go down from here. So many surprises on so many levels, including the Liberals puzzling decision to use the Zapruder camera to tape Stéphane Dion's speech. Can't figure that one out.
Tomorrow, when the Prime Minister visits Her Excellency, we are heading into unchartered territory. She could decide either way. Various people are making comparisons to 1926 and King-Byng, or even Clark in 1979, but they aren't the same. Whatever she decides, it will be a first.
There is no other way out for the Conservatives. The announcement in the economic statement of the cut to the public subsidy for political parties put the opposition's back against the wall -- and they responded accordingly. The vote coming Monday has put the Conservatives' back against the wall -- and they will respond accordingly. If the GG agrees, there will be lots of criticism from various quarters, but any party in this position would take the same course of action. Certainly the Liberals would!
Things are changing so quickly. There is so much to say -- the long term implications of what's happened for Harper, the Tories (particularly in Quebec), the tactical errors that have been made, the fact that we are moving perilously close to a national unity crisis, etc. -- but for now: let's hope that if prorogation is granted, the five week break will seriously turn down the temperature. This is pure insanity.
The latest news appears to be that the "train has left the station," according to Bob Fife. There may not be any turning back from plans to topple to the Tory government.
It is still up in the air whether the Governor General will refuse Harper's request to call an election, which, if the government loses the vote next Monday, he will be constitutionally obliged to ask for. Her Excellency may indeed heed the election request, as has been counseled by people like Norman Spector. It would mean a campaign over the Christmas holidays, but there are worse things in life. (This is assuming Harper doesn't prorogue parliament, which is becoming an increasingly plausible possibility.)
That the Liberals are unprincipled is no news to anyone, but that they would move ahead with this particular arrangement -- which gives the Bloc Québécois veto power over every bill to go through the House -- is really unconscionable, even scary. A return to power would also deny the Liberals their necessary time in the wilderness to truly rebuild from the ground up as the Canadian right did in the years following the 1993 election.
The problem is not in itself the fact that the Québec separatists would have increased power, it is the legislative damage that would be done. One long-standing Bloc demand, which has apparently been agreed to, is to have the French Language Charter (known as Bill 101) apply to workplaces that fall under federal jurisdiction inside Quebec -- ie. transportation, telecommunications, federal civil servants, etc.
This would be a devastating blow to bilingualism in this country and especially to English-speaking Quebecers -- particularly when one considers the amount of federally-regulated industries in the province (Bell, CN, CP, Air Canada, etc.) It is also a blow that would be irreversible. (Although it might not hold up in court.)
I would love to hear from the Trudeauvians on this to hear how they feel. Hello Deborah Coyne? Serge Joyal? Justin Trudeau himself? Can they really stomach this? Now is the time to stand up and be counted.
UPDATE: I have been informed by a very credible source that proroguing the House is not an option. There are various financial bills that need passing (money supply motions, etc.) so they must continue sitting.
UPDATE II: Just when you thought the situation couldn't get any more interesting: On the above, I am now told proroguing is indeed possible because the money supply motions could be taken care of via an Order in Council. Proroguing is very much an option being considered, then. But since there are now apparently cracks forming in the coalition, it might not be necessary.
