Liberal / NDP Deal With The Bloc — Ripping The Country Apart

Dion doesn't want to be the only Liberal leader in almost a century which doesn't become a Prime Minister. But so far, his leadership has resulted in nothing but the biggest electoral defeat for the Liberal party. In order to overturn the defeat in the polls and to become Prime Minister, Dion is willing to pay generously - even if it means breathing new life into the Bloc and boosting Quebec separatism. Unlike the NDP, the Bloc won't get any cabinet seats. But they will get Senate seats instead. As well as at least $1B more in handouts for their supporters.

There is no specific mention in the coalition documents, but Marois said the immediate consequence of the agreement is the new Conservative formula for equalization payments is dead in the water; so instead of a $75-million increase in transfer payments, Quebec would get $1 billion in 2009-2010 because the old formula will apply.
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But on the same show, we learned of other coming pay-offs: There are 18 vacancies in the Senate, including four in Quebec. Not only are the Bloc in line for patronage pay-offs, but Elizabeth May, the Green Party leader, was on Parliament Hill today, and she wouldn't deny that she, too, was offered a Senate seat.

It's a fire sale in Ottawa! Senate seats, billions of dollars, whatever you want -- just make Stephane Dion the prime minister!

Fire sale -- or looting, I'm not sure.

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So, it almost looks like Quebec is going to be the winner. Almost. Because empowering separatists, giving lifetime appointments to unelected quasinational socialists whose only goal is to perpetuate Quebec's problems for political gains - that's hardly a victory. Handouts too will only prolong the rotting, creating an illusion of stability, allowing the government to postpone much needed reforms. Thus - Quebec too will lose on the long run.

But idea of three opposition parties uniting to topple the Conservatives angers the Western provinces, that are to lose a lot more on the short run. Not many there (especially in Alberta) like the idea of having to pitch in more to bankroll a tax-and-spend Prime Minister and his hard-left and separatist-left coalition partners. Here's the kind of response that some Alberta politicians are recommending for their Premier:

1. Serve notice of Alberta's intent to withdraw from the current Federal Transfer Program.
2. Initiate measures for Alberta to begin collecting its own taxes;
3. Initiate discussions on a Regional Equalization Program involving the four Western Provinces;

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And it would be interesting to look at the public opinion. Here are the results of some CTV polls:

When it comes to who should govern the country, 31972 respondents (62%) say - Conservatives. The Lib/NDP coalition is backed by 19977 respondents (38%). Well, you can't just throw away a party that has won almost twice as many seats compared to the Liberals, can you?

When it comes to a question whether the Liberals and the NDP should form a coalition, the idea of a coalition only wins 38% support (7886 respondents) with 12959 respondents (62%) opposed. Almost 3 in 4 respondents (73%) regard the coalition as nothing more than a power grab, with only 27% (4681 respondent) claiming that it reflects the will of the people.

About 60% of respondents agree that the Parliament should be prorogued until the budget day. (18078 for vs 12045 against.) The move to eliminate per-vote handouts to political parties is supported by nearly 80% of the respondents. So if there is an election anytime next year - the Conservatives might as well make it a part of their platform.
Finally (here's an Angus-Reid poll for a change) - almost 2 in 3 Canadians aren't comfortable with Dion becoming Canada's prime Minister.

So we have over 200,000 Canadians signing a petition for an early election. As well as over 80,000 people joining the "Canadians Against a Liberal/NDP Coalition" group on Facebook. Rallies against the proposed power grab are planned in more than a dozen cities from coast to coast. If the coalition wants to govern - they should win that right at the polls, not through a back-room deal.