Harper is lying
To save his own government, Stephen Harper is deliberately trying to
deceive Canadians about the facts surrounding a proposed Liberal-NDP
coalition, former NDP leader Ed Broadbent said Wednesday.
"I've never seen the leader of a Conservative party, certainly not Bob
Stanfield, certainly not Joe Clark, lie — I choose the word
deliberately — the way Mr. Harper has," Broadbent said.
The former NDP leader, who helped negotiate Monday's deal between
the New Democrats and the Liberals with the support of the Bloc
Québécois, said Harper also lied when he said the three opposition
leaders refused to sign their agreement in front of a Canadian flag
because Gilles Duceppe, a Quebec sovereigntist, objected.
In fact, there were at least two flags present at Monday's signing
ceremony, as well as a painting of the Fathers of Confederation.
Broadbent said Harper is conducting a "shameful operation" by trying
to turn certain defeat in the House of Commons into a national unity
crisis.
"I'm concerned I have a prime minister who lies to the people of
Canada and knows it," Broadbent said. "It's one thing to exaggerate.
It's another to deliberately tell falsehoods."
The former NDP leader also accused Harper of lying about the details
of the proposed coalition, including his charge that the Bloc Québécois
is a formal partner and that six Bloc MPs would be offered Senate
positions under the coalition government.
The Bloc has said it will support the Liberal-NDP coalition for 18
months in the House of Commons, but none of its members will sit in a
cabinet led by Stéphane Dion as prime minister and a Liberal as finance
minister.
"They make it up," he said of Harper's Conservatives, who have been quick to label the proposal a "separatist coalition."
"They lie. They pay people to destroy things."
He said Harper was betraying the honourable legacy of past party
leaders by continuing to delay a confidence vote in the House of
Commons. The prime minister pushed back the confidence motion brought
by the opposition parties until next Monday and could delay a vote
indefinitely by proroguing Parliament.
"I had, my predecessors had a sense of integrity. Bob Stanfield, a
Conservative, Joe Clark, a Conservative, had a sense of integrity,"
Broadbent said.
"They would have done the proper thing. If we lost the confidence, then we would accept that and have to resign."
1 comment:
Ed was solid on CBC The Current this morning. He even refused to let AMT interrupt him likes she tends to do with her CPC inspired questions/accusations.
We must find ways to stop Harper from controlling the media with his PR machine. The CPC are desperately trying to fracture support for a coalition government.
Media pundits that support Harper are grasping at straws. Unfortunately, they are having their impact.
On that note, we might as well borrow some of the CPC supporters' tactics, like voting on useless online polls to reflect how our viewpoint is shared by the majority of Canadians.
We managed to get the pro-coalition viewpoint winning polls in the G&M, Winnipeg Free Press and Edmonton Journal. We need to keep that up.
On that note, check out this poll and vote:
http://www.mysask.com/portal/site/pc-saskatchewan/
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