Jack Layton for Prime Minister

Young Liberal pushes 'Stop Harper' coalition; Conservatives brag on economy - The Globe and Mail
...

Indeed, an
Angus Reid poll yesterday showed that the Conservatives led by
Stephen Harper would defeat a coalition led by Michael Ignatieff 40 – 34
per cent.

But with Bob Rae as Liberal leader, the coalition and Conservatives
would be tied; if Jack Layton were leading the show, the coalition would
win.

...

After they see that Iggy is just Dion in wolf's clothing, will the Liberals toss him out and elect Bob Rae?

CBC.ca News - Political Bytes - Obit: the coalition

With Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal party accepting the latest Harper budget, asking little in concessions, we see that things are back to exactly the way they were before the election. The Conservatives putting forth bad policies, and the Liberals, although saying the policies are bad, backing them. Nothing has changed. The majority of Canadians are still shafted.

Maybe the Liberals will see their error in choosing Iggy and turf him out in favour of Bob Rae. It remains to be seen.

I'm not keen on the same old coalition - Conservatives & Liberals - with the Conservatives making the policy, and the Liberals either abstaining or going along with things even though they don't like it (instead of standing up for what they believe is right).

The Liberals have thrown away a large voice for Canadians in Parliament. The people who voted Liberal no longer have a Liberal voice in parliament - they have Conservative supporters instead (that's not what/who they voted for). The only federal opposition voice left is the NDP. And in Quebec, I can see the Liberals losing more seats to the Bloc next election for this.

"Ignatieff says he is prepared to swallow"

globeandmail.com: Tories put on probation; coalition declared dead

Is Ignatieff the same or worse than Dion here?
Not only is he accepting a bad budget, the Liberals are going to vote for it (instead of abstain from it, like the Dion Liberals), and demand pretty lame concessions.

James Laxer ponders what will Ignatieff do

No time for Ignatieff to play Mackenzie King | rabble.ca

If Ignatieff's idea of leadership is to provide confidence for the Harper government as his first act, he could be dooming himself to a short and unhappy career at the helm.

The Liberals would then wear the Harper record on the economy as their record. And while the Conservatives are bound to include some stimulus measures in the budget, there is no way that Harper and Flaherty are going to propose the overhaul of the Canadian economy based on very extensive public investments. And that is what the country needs.

Much though Ignatieff may wish to avoid it, he faces a clear choice. If he keeps Harper in power, it will be Harper who will hold the strong hand. He will determine the date of the next election, and he could well go on to win it. Meanwhile, the NDP, the Bloc and the Greens will feel deeply betrayed if Ignatieff dumps the coalition and allows Harper to remain in power.

At a date, not of his choosing, Ignatieff would go on to face the electorate, squeezed between the Conservative base vote on the one hand and the one third of the electorate already inclined to support parties other than the Liberals and the Conservatives on the other.

For Ignatieff, the WLMK option is a chimera. "A friend to all is a friend to none," Ignatieff could say if he comes to his senses, that is if Aristotle hadn't already said it.

To date, Bob Rae is showing a much clearer understanding of the lay of the political land than is his former roommate.

Click the link above - read the whole post

How does Stephen Harper respond to this global economic challenge? He locks the doors of Parliament so he can desperately cling to power.

"Today’s families have spoken loud and
clear – we need action on the economy right now. Action to create jobs,
to protect your pension and retirement, to build the green economy of
tomorrow. Stephen Harper didn’t act.

That’s why the
New Democrats have joined with the other opposition parties to put
forward an alternative government – a coalition for real change.

How
does Stephen Harper respond to this global economic challenge? He locks
the doors of Parliament so he can desperately cling to power.

Now
you and I can send a strong message to Stephen Harper. Change is coming
– and even Mr. Harper must respect the majority of Parliament and the
majority of Canadians." - Jack Layton

Naomi Klein on this moment in Canadian history

Naomi Klein: 'We can't lose this moment' | rabble.ca

Just to be clear, what I mean by the shock doctrine, as you know, is the use of crisis to push through unpopular pro-corporate policies. This bundling of a whole package of policies: denying the right of public sector workers to strike, the attack on public financing of political parties, with the economic program - that is what failed, and people were offended by the opportunism of it.

This is what so many of us were worried about during the election - the context of a Tory victory in an economic crisis, because we know that there is this pattern of using an economic crisis to push through policies that were nowhere during the campaign.
...
... what I find most exciting about what is going on right now - beyond
just getting rid of Harper, which is exciting in and of itself - is
that we have this opportunity to show what proportional representation
(PR) would look like, because all of this talk that this is a coup is a
joke.
...

To me the best case scenario that could come out of this is, one,
you get the coalition, and, two, the NDP uses this moment to really
launch a national discussion about why we need PR and that that becomes
one of the things that comes out of this crisis.

Now, they don't have the mandate for that right now, but we could
come out of this with a national referendum on proportional
representation. People might actually like it, which would be really,
really exciting.

...

The way in which public financing for political parties has been
presented in the press is "oh the politicians, they just got mad when
they went after their money," right? This is another key point that I
think is somewhat related to the issue of proportional representation.
We need to be talking about our political process here, and the issue
of public financing for political parties in elections is key to
protecting and deepening democracy in Canada, and for keeping it out of
corporate control. It is not for nothing that the Tories are attacking
that. They see attacking public financing of political parties as a way
to entrench their power.

...

So, what is exciting about this political moment, and how people can
get involved, is that this is building on that. The political parties
caught up with the grassroots movement that was happening anyway with
those initiatives like voteforenvironment.ca, Department of Culture, and people like Murray Dobbin
who have been making these arguments pretty steadily outside of the
political parties. Now it is happening, and it is happening thanks to
Stephen Harper and his extraordinary arrogance and over-reaching. We
can't lose this moment.

I just want to emphasize this point: If even through smart tactics,
Harper pulls this off, if he prorogues Parliament; if the Governor
General lets him get away with it; if the Liberals lose their nerve
over Xmas, then the Harper we will have in January will be a deeply
chastened Harper.

What everybody agrees with is that he made a massive error, that he
massively overreached, and his own party, his own base agrees with
that. Worst case scenario we dodged a bullet here. Best case scenario,
we leverage his overreach, his attempt to use a crisis to push through
his ideological pro-corporate agenda to have a deeper democracy in our
country, and to prevent forevermore a situation where a party with 35
per cent of the vote is government.

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Jack Layton's response to Stephen Harper's speach

CBC.ca - Video

"... Stephen Harper has broken his trust with the Canadian people, and
because of that he’s lost the confidence of Parliament. He seems to be
more interested in his job than in protecting your job. Now that’s
simply wrong.
...
Stephen Harper’s job was to ensure that Parliament would work, but
he refused to do that. By locking the door behind me he is rejecting
the democratic choice of 62% of Canadians - your choice - and every
Member of Parliament will see his right, his democratic right to
express his confidence in the government refused.

Every Member of Parliament will be denied their vote. Every Canadian
will be silenced because this House will not be permitted to speak . We
will have a Conservative government without legitimacy at the time of
an economic crisis. That doesn’t have to happen because this is a
remarkable moment in Canadian history. The opposition parties acted
together, with a common goal, to give hope back to Canadians and help
them to come through these difficult economic times. For the first
time, the majority of the parties chosen by the people set aside their
differences for the welfare of everyone.

The majority of Members of Parliament - the people’s representatives
- have set aside their differences for the good of Canada, and for the
good of every Canadian. This is a time of hope. Tonight, only one party
stands against the welfare of the Canadian people. On Monday, two
leaders of the proposed coalition sent Her Excellency, the Governor
General, a letter making it crystal clear that the majority of Members
of Parliament no longer have confidence in this Conservative
government. Nothing we have heard tonight changes this fact. Tonight,
Mr. Harper had an opportunity to chart a new course - to accept some of
the ideas we have been putting before him. But he did not. And tonight
we are announcing that if it pleases Her Excellency, we will arrange
that every New Democratic Member of Parliament will indicate
individually and together - formally - a lack of confidence in this
government.

A new government is possible, and ready to serve. A new kind of
government with a new kind of politics is ready to serve. One that will
put the economy and working families first. Thank you very much."

Harper is lying

Harper 'lies' about coalition details: Broadbent

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."

A summary of what led to the formation of the Coalition Government

TheStar.com | Opinion | Harper to blame for political crisis

Update to this article: Most of you know now that the details have been hammered out, and that Stephane Dion will be the leader of the new coalition.

The Choice of Dion for Leader of the Coalition Government

Some may say that choosing Dion to lead the coalition is a bad idea.

I'll admit that I don't think much of Dion's leadership skills considering how he did with the Liberals in the past as their leader, and leading up to the election. But, this coalition government will be altogether different. I think the fact that the Liberals and NDP, and the Bloc for that matter, will have to work closely together to make things work (and they have agreed to do this now) will change things for Dion in such a way that he will be taking more direction from the new cabinet and less from close personal advisers.

Also, for the Liberals to chose Dion to lead the coalition instead of one of the 3 leadership candidates is probably a smart move. Think about it. What if the coalition fails? If so, then the failure will seem connected more to Dion and less to the 3 leadership candidates in the Liberal party. Dion is on his way out as leader and has nothing to lose here. And, if the coalitions works, then this looks good on all involved in the coalition.

Dion will lead the Liberal-NDP coalition.

Dion tapped to lead Liberal-NDP coalition

Liberal caucus members agreed unanimously on Monday that Stéphane Dion
will stay on to lead a Liberal-NDP coalition, following reports that
the two parties reached a tentative agreement to replace the minority
Conservative government.

Layton to the Conservative party: "Good riddance to you!"

Winnipeg Free Press

Layton ridiculed the Conservatives over the issue Sunday night at an Ontario NDP event in Toronto.

"It's entirely possible the Conservative party is recording what I'm saying here right now," Layton told the partisan audience. "Here's what I have to say to the Conservative party tuned in: 'good riddance to you!' "

Coalition Deal Reached!

NDP, Liberal party reach deal to topple minority Tory government

As reported in the CBC News a few minutes ago, The Liberals, NDP and the Bloc have reached an agreement on the coalition. The NDP would get 25% of the seats in the new cabinet. The Bloc would not be in the coalition, but will support it. The coalition government would be for 2.5 years.

As they said - more to come.

Tories force the oppositions parties into starting to talk about a coalition

globeandmail.com: Confidence vote: Opposition parties say they will vote no

If the Liberals can come to terms with things within their party, they could form a coalition government with the NDP and Bloc, and thus, Canada would be governed by a majority government, an actual majority. Lets hope.