Politics: Here We Go Again

TORONTO, ONTARIO - I've substantially kept my fingers off the keyboard with respect to Canadian politics for basically the entire summer. It's not that nothing has happened, but various events have been pretty well-covered by the mainstream media and I didn't really have any further insight to offer. (Some of you probably think I never do, and I wonder why you are even bothering to read this entry.)

Now, with yesterday's announcement by Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff that his party will no longer "prop up" the Conservative government and will defeat it at the next possible opportunity, the free-for-all of election preparations is suddenly underway. While it is far from certain that there will be an election this fall--the NDP and Bloc Québécois could suddenly decide to support the government, or the Conservatives could adjust policies and make Ignatieff change his mind (though that seems pretty doubtful), the conventional wisdom seems to hold that there will be one by the end of the year.

At least three of the four major parties have said and done some bizarre things this week. Ignatieff accused the Conservatives of fiscal imprudence by not addressing the deficit and at the same time faulted the government for inadequate action on the economy. How exactly was the government supposed to do both? The Conservatives--and satirists--are going to have a field day with this. Could not have Ignatieff picked one or the other and emphasized that?

In response to the Liberal announcement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper predictably countered that Canadians did not want an election. Do Canadians EVER really want an election? This time, Harper cited the state of the economy as a reason to not have the distraction of an election. It's a little hard for him to credibly make that argument when it seemed perfectly okay to him to prorogue parliament in the middle of addressing a recession. Emphasizing stability can be argued much more (if not fully) credibly, and it would probably serve him best to stick with taking the argument only that far.

Meanwhile, the NDP suddenly seems to be looking for any excuse to "prop up" the government after complaining about the Liberals doing that 71 times. Despite party leader Jack Layton stating that Harper did not seem interested in the four main points of the NDP agenda that would have to be addressed for the NDP to support the Conservatives, the NDP is now adamant that it will keep trying to talk to the government. Do they want more time to figure out a new party name? My advice to the NDP: Start campaigning on issues before the Liberals take all the oxygen away.

As often happens in situations like this, only Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe comes off looking reasonably sane and consistent. So far, Duceppe has simply stated that whether or not his party votes for the government will be determined by what they think is good for Quebec. I guess that's more clear than "If my grandma had wheels, she'd be a tractor." Since Harper took office, that's meant voting against the government at every opportunity. Has what is good for Quebec changed? It would seem to me that's only true if Harper makes some sort of concession to the Bloc.

So, don't want to deal with another election? It seems to me you'd better be hoping for the Conservatives to convince the Bloc it isn't good for Quebec.