Dear Constituents,
It’s time to put the country first.
The Conservatives claim that it is undemocratic to offer the Governor General the option of a Liberal/NDP coalition government (representing 45% of votes) instead of a costly $300-million election, so soon after an equally costly and unnecessary one in October.
That’s an interesting double standard.
In September 2004, soon after the election of Paul Martin's minority Liberal government, Stephen Harper, then leader of the Opposition, wrote a letter to the Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, co-signed by the Gilles Duceppe’s Bloc and Jack Layton’s NDP, suggesting that she use her constitutional authority to consult with the opposition parties, who “form a majority in the House”, in order to find and alternative to an election in the event that there was a vote of no confidence in Martin's government.
How was this a viable option in 2004, when it served Mr Harper's interests, but the same suggestion is undemocratic now?
The letter in 2004 from Mr Harper et a. was signed by the same “separatist” Gilles Duceppe and the same “socialist” Jack Layton.
Why was it acceptable to join with those forces then, but unacceptable now?
Furthermore, according to documents received by the Globe and Mail, Canadian Alliance Lawyer, Gerry Chippeur confirmed that during the 2000 election, he wrote and presented an offer to the Bloc Quebecois and The Progressive Conservatives, that would see Alliance leader Stockwell Day, Gilles Duceppe and Joe Clarke form a “new government of consensus” in the event that Chrétien Liberals won a minority government..
On Wednesday in the House of Commons, the Leader of the Bloc Quebecois reminded Stockwell Day of that proposal and asked him why he would tell the House that he would never make a deal with the “separatists”, when he did in 2000.
The idea that the Conservative Government would deny these truths in Parliament in order to cling to power underscores even further the lack of trust that the opposition parties have in the government and the contempt that we collectively feel for their unashamed deception to the Canadian people.
The Harper government has let Canadians down. They let us down when they did not present a plan of action to help the workers, seniors and businesses that have been hit hard by the current economic crisis. They added insult to injury six weeks ago, choosing to fatten the Harper Cabinet by 11 MP’s at a cost of $20 million annually. This is reminiscent of Marie Antoinette's response to her starving people crying for bread: “let them eat cake!”.
The Harper government deceived Canadians when they continued to pretend that there is no fiscal deficit. They deceive with their assertions that the opposition's suggestion to the Governor General is undemocratic, and they further deceive when they suggest that an agreement with the Bloc is traitorous.
The proposed coalition government is between the New Democrats and the Liberals only. The Bloc will continue to sit as an opposition party; they have only agreed not to bring the coalition government down, on a confidence motion, for 1 1/2 years in order to allow for stability of governance in a national crisis. Yet, the Conservatives deceive Canadians by suggesting that the Bloc will be part of a coalition government.
Steven Harper's government performs the ultimate deception when it denies its own past agreements to form similar alliances with the same political parties.
