Only weeks ago Canadians went to the polls and gave the Stephen Harper government a second minority government. That was a mistake! I have argued against minority governments because it only plays into the hands of politicians who care more about political games in search of power than they do about governing the country.
Canada is facing an economic crisis like it has never faced in decades and now Stephen Harper has provoked a political crisis that cripples the minority conservative government’s ability to manage day to day government business let alone the economic crisis.
Canadians are outraged with the current state of events and blame Harper for having caused the political crisis by acting as if he had a majority government. He unnecessarily provoked the opposition on issues that were clearly not on the front burner like taxpayer-funded contributions to political parties and his attack on unions. These may be conservative ideological issues, but they are not important issues to Canadians at this time or maybe ever. These were issues Harper never discussed with voters when he was campaigning in the last federal election. It is clear that Stephen Harper got himself into this crisis and has now been forced to back down even though some members of his cabinet still support the provocative measures that are at the root of this political crisis.
On the other hand, it is insane for the opposition parties to think Canadians will tolerate their move to force Harper out of power by asking the Governor General to allow them to form a coalition government. Having Canada run by the separatist Bloc party, the radically left Layton NDP and the near dead liberals lead by their lame duck leader Dion should be totally unthinkable to any reasonable Canadian. The opposition parties were elected to oppose not to govern.
So who should be blamed for this political crisis? I say all 308 Members of Parliament are guilty. Conservative members failed to stand up to Stephen Harper and tell him it was time to keep the focus on the economy and not his personal ideological beliefs. That it was time to put Canadians and this country ahead of his own personal ambitions. As for the opposition parties one can only believe that they are attempting to form a government simply for the sake of power without the consent of Canadian voters. This whole mess is wrong from any way you look at it and Canadian voters are being forced to suffer the consequences. It is an assault on democracy.
If another election is forced on Canadians we need to all get out and vote and elect a majority government and then hold each of our elected officials to account. Our politicians have failed us again. If Canadian voters don’t actively become involved in the electoral system and get control of their politicians then we can expect this political crisis to continue indefinitely. Think political reform!
