This Fall It's Shopping, Not Voting

Looks like an early election (just two or three weeks before Christmas) is off the agenda. The NDP is not going to support the Liberal amendment to the Throne speech (so it will be defeated) and the Liberals are not going to vote against the throne speech as whole (so it will pass).

Sure there will be other confidence votes too. Such as the vote over the new "omnibus" anti-crime bill and probably the "ways and means" motion after the fiscal update in early November. But it's unlikely the Liberals would vote down the anti-crime bill (which is a part of the throne speech) just weeks after abstaining from the vote on the speech itself. Same with the fiscal update. If there are any tax cuts proposed in it, the Liberals will find a way to get around without voting down the "ways and means" motion. Unless of course they want those tax cuts to become a campaign issue in an election to which the Liberals are not ready.

So, the fall sitting will be short (just 6 or 7 weeks), yet productive. The government will try to get the job done, coming up with new initiatives and finishing what couldn't be done in the previous session, while the Liberals will have to cut back on filibustering and get busy sorting out their own affairs first.

Unless the Liberals recover their footing, Parliament appears to have elected a majority Conservative government in legislative power if not in democratic seats.

More >>>

Sounds good enough for me.