Friday, August 29, 2008

Question for Michaëlle Jean: Canada or Haiti north ?


Jean Léopold Dominique (July 30, 1930 – April 3, 2000) was a noted Haïtian journalist who spoke out against successive dictatorships.


Harper is planning to usurp the by-elections and the proper functioning of a democracy. A by-election process he began, and now a by=election process he is whimsically terminating for reasons solely related to himself.

This is like robbing a bank....in broad daylight.

The GG should forbid this. This isn’t Haiti after all, the Governor Generals’ country of birth....and the scene of this despicable backwater form of democracy that Stephen “Haiti” Harper has a penchant for.

Over to you, Governor General. Do you wish to play a hand in replicating in Canada, the electoral abuses of the country you fled?



Launch of election campaign expected as early as next week, pre-empting three by-elections


TheStar.com - Canada - PM to meet Duceppe, Layton as vote looms

August 29, 2008
Allan Woods
Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be clear to launch a federal election as early as this weekend after he meets two of the three opposition party leaders, Conservative sources say.

A last-minute schedule change will allow Harper to sit down with Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe at 11 a.m. today at 24 Sussex Dr. for a highly anticipated discussion on whether the government's agenda for the fall should be supplanted by a campaign and mid-October vote. Harper meets NDP Leader Jack Layton tomorrow.

The meetings aren't likely to throw the election march off course.

Duceppe has vowed to introduce a motion of non-confidence in the government as soon as possible should Parliament actually return from its summer break on Sept. 15. Layton, who initially said the Prime Minister should not ask Governor-General Michaëlle Jean to dissolve Parliament, is also talking tough. He said he doesn't expect to find common ground with Harper and will do nothing to dissuade him from calling a vote.
"I'm going to tell him that if you want to quit your job, I'm going to apply for it," he told CBC-TV from Denver. "I think the fix is in. I think he's going through a charade here."

Harper has already written off a proposed Sept. 9 meeting with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, which would come one day after three scheduled by-elections, saying it's a delaying tactic that shows Liberals aren't serious about working with his government.

"All the signs indicate that this Parliament is at the end of its productiveness," Harper said at a cabinet meeting in Inuvik, N.W.T.

In the 308-seat House of Commons, the Conservatives hold 127 seats, the Liberals 95, the Bloc 48 and the NDP 30. There are four independent MPs and four vacant seats.

Still, the strategy behind the timing of the election call remains delicate and two Tory sources said the party hasn't decided exactly when it will launch the campaign.

A government source said yesterday that an election call as early as Sept. 2 "could happen," but it would be a surprise because word had not gone out as of yesterday for Conservative staffers to start clearing out their Parliament Hill desks.

"It'll be at least another week," the source predicted.

A source in the Conservative party added that an election call as early as Tuesday is "unrealistic" as there are still issues to be cleared up such as putting election machinery in place and nominating candidates.

"Everything is very volatile," the source said.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Prime Minister is undermining the rule of law in this country by ignoring his own fixed elections law, see the OpEd by Professor Errol Mendes in the Ottawa Citizen:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=d24396f8-fb42-4856-a01e-03eb128d1dcf

Anonymous said...

Once a liar, always a liar.

Anonymous said...

Brent,

This would mean that the Governor General would actually be worth the millions it costs us for her upkeep.

What a useless position.

Dr Mike said...

In 1926 the Governor General refused to dissolve parliament , so there is precedent.

Time for number two.

Of course , maybe people had bigger cojones in those days.

Dr Mike Popovich.

Anonymous said...

"I think the fix is in. I think he's going through a charade here."

That's about the only cogent statement Layton has ever made.

Anonymous said...

I say, Diane Francis for new GG!

She's the only person in the media I know of with real cajones. And since being in the media is the prerequisite for this job, I'd say she's over qualified.