Time to Pull the Trigger!

Liberal leader, Stéphane Dion has taken a lot of flack over the last little while for not voting down the Conservative government on various confidence bills that have come up during the course of his leadership.

Most recently, Dion was attacked for choosing to support the latest budget. I have to say that I admire Dion for not allowing himself to be pushed around. Much to my displeasure, the Liberal party was ousted from power in January of 2005. Canadians elected a parliament of their choosing, which happened to have a weak Conservative majority. We Liberals do not have to like or agree with this choice, but we do have to respect it, and try to make parliament work, so that Canadians can have the benefit of the government they elected. Obviously, this is an obligation shared by all parties in the House of Commons, including the government.

Don't get me wrong, elections are not some kind of punishment, but the fact is that while they are an essential part of democracy, so is a government that governs well. During an election, everything stops. Not only does parliament cease to legislate for several weeks, but work within the civil service slows down significantly, since the public servants do not know whether or not a change in the county's leadership will take place or not, which can cause a change in policy, priorities, etc. I might also add that there have already been numerous provincial elections this year (Québec, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, etc.), in fact, they are in the middle of one right now in Alberta.

I can't say that I blame Prime Minister Harper for bringing forward some of his more controversial legislation at this point in his mandate. After all, his government is already more than two years old, which is a little more than the average duration of a minority government. But the fact is that if the government makes a budget and a compromise to the Afghanistan situation that are acceptable to the Liberals, it is irresponsible to trigger an election, because clearly parliament is working.

Sadly, things have changed. With the publication of "The Chuck Cadman Story", the wife of former Reform, Canadian Alliance and Independent MP, Chuck Cadman (may he rest in peace), new allegations of corruption have surfaced to once again bite the Tories, this time; it is Prime Minister Harper himself who stands accused of trying to bribe Cadman into voting against a budget bill that would have brought down the Martin government earlier than actually happened. Normally, even I would be pretty sceptical of such accusations, since Cadman himself denied them and he is no-longer alive, so he cannot even change his story. Unfortunately for the Conservatives, a tape has also surfaced, in which Prime Minister Harper can be heard admitting not only that he had knowledge of an offer being made to Cadman, but also that he gave it his blessing.

Now of course, Prime Minister Harper, like everyone else in Canada is entitled to a presumption of innocence, and admittedly I would like to hear the entire tape before deciding on his guilt or innocence, but as it stands, this looks REALLY BAD for him! The fact is that this is more than just an accusation coming from a political rival; it is the Prime Minister's own voice on tape! I say that if he does not order an investigation immediately, the opposition leaders should unite and propose a no-confidence motion at the first opportunity.