Under the guise of a motion of non-confidence in Stephen Harper’s minority government, Michael Ignatieff has just led his party on a parliamentary suicide mission.
The only reason he and his strategists are licking their wounds in the comfort of their offices today rather than bleeding their way to an election defeat is because Jack Layton declined to activate the detonator. But for how long?
Self-preservation dictated the NDP take a pass on defeating the government this time. But Ignatieff may not be so lucky next time or the time after that. In a minority Parliament, confidence matters routinely come up for votes. If the Liberals persist on their current course, the other parties may let them get their election death wish sooner rather than later.
Between now and the next time the government is tested in the Commons, every party will be reassessing the risks involved in an election in light of the internal turmoil that has overtaken the Official Opposition. The assumptions that turned Thursday’s Liberal kamikaze act into a mere dry run have been overtaken by events. Since Ignatieff withdrew his support for the Conservatives last month, a test of the confidence of the House in Harper’s government has turned into a crisis of confidence for the Liberal party.
Much as party spin doctors would like to reduce the issue to a tempest in the Quebec teapot, the polling trends tell another story. The Liberal decline in voting intentions was well underway before Ignatieff’s recent Quebec troubles; if anything, the latter are a symptom of a larger malaise rather than the actual cause of it.
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Lemmings reporting to the cliffs for mass suicide would be an appropriate metaphor. There will be no holding them back. Jack will get the vermin, he could become “The Exterminator”. Cheers.
So, Jack saved the liberals from extinction for another shot at a coalition and a cabinet seat. Soon he will wake up, it ain’t going to happen. Layton did not support the govt by abstaining, he supported the liberals.
It was just a delay until judgement day. Unfortunately the voters do not yet see that the Lieberals are in a no recoverable tailspin that will result in their removal from the game. The NDP is the natural opposition, the lieberals are just an empty shell living on past glory with nothing to offer except the past. They have no ideas for the country or themselves. They are like deer in the headlights, totally parlalized.
Mary T, I respectfully disagree with you on Jack’s motives. He’s enjoying the Liberals twisting in the wind from the end of gibbet. Or … better yet, outfit Jack and the NDP with mob caps (similar to the French women, who sat at the bottom of the guillotine, waithing for heads to be chopped). I have been watching the Scarlet Pimpernel on the internet and am into gratuitious executions. Cheers.
#4, no one but the Shadow knows for sure why Jack did what he did. I agree he is enjoying Iffy twisting in the wind, but we must keep the threat of a coalition alive for a little longer. If Layton sees the light and decides to go for Iffy’s job instead of the PM’s job, he could succeed. Worst case is the Bloc as official opposition, they have been there before, via Chretain.
I can remember a few years ago on a few forums posters saying how the Liberals would rule Canada forever. They had it made!! The party faithfull would never do anything to jepordise their rule.
I have learned that things change …they never stay the same. Politics a specially can change before your eyes. Such is the case now.
PMSH is the best thing for Canada and privately people see this and acept it!!
Many of the libbloggers still maintain the Liberals will dominate in the next election.
Speaking of the next election, I wonder… if Count Iggy leads the Liberals to a devastating loss but manages to hold onto his seat, how long will it be before he’s back at Harvard? Will he do the “Paul Martin” thing (keep his seat but never bother showing up for work), do the “Stephane Dion” thing (stick around because he’s not welcome anywhere else) or do the honourable thing (put his affairs in order, find a candidate for the byelection and then leave)?
#7-If he does the Paul Martin thing, who would he appoint as interm leader if he resigns as leader but keeps his seat. He needs a few more years to qualify for a pension, OAS and his CPP would not be that much. Does he qualify for social security in the States.
Could this weekend (the weekend before Canadian Thanksgiving) be the ”jump the shark” moment for the Liberal Party of Toronto and Ignatieff? Coderre is on Quebec tv, Ignatieff is going to be kissy face with the Quebec Liberals at a fundraiser and where is Hedy Fry? Next thing you know “The Fonz” will be waterskiing down the St. Lawrence River. Cheers.
I still wonder if Igneutered will ever face the electorate as leader of the Liberal Party. A few more Coderre moments and I suspect that the party will have to face the fact that a guy who made his living arguing both sides of the same issue on foreign TV is probably not the guy you want running your party. Of course Ignegative could well pull the plug himself citing boredom with low brow politics.