Stephen Harper the instigator of Canadian Division – GG gives cool-off period

Stephen Harper caused this parliament crisis and is now the instigator of Canadian division.

The Stephen Harper Conservatives were on their way to an easy majority government until he decided to pass a controversial legislation, just before the elections, that would let 14 year olds be trialed as adults. The move was supported in the west but not in the east, Quebec. This move gave new life to the Bloc Quebecois who were, until then, on their way to the political party extinction list.

The parliament crisis began when the Harper Conservative decide to make a political move, during this time of economic crisis, to cut the funding of political parties that would make less popular and smaller political parties like the NDP and the Bloc suffer. You may not like or vote for the NDP or Bloc but they do bring up issues that both the Conservatives and Liberals would find mutually damaging and this benefits the Canadian democracy. The liberals formed a coalition with the NDP and Bloc who are about to have their funding cut. The Harper conservatives backed out of their legislation and tried the political line that they wanted to “lead by example and tighten their belts”. The decision was made, and the alliance was created “we have no confidence in this government”. The Harper Conservatives, the same conservatives who tried to form an alliance with the Bloc a few years ago, accuses the Liberals and NDP of being traitors and in bed with the separatists. The Harper rhetoric and Quebec bashing alienates
Quebec further and probably gives more life to the Bloc, and also creates more division among Canadians during this period of the worst economic crisis in decades. If the rest of the country has not noticed, Quebec is also about to have its elections with the Liberals and Parti Quebecois, the separatists.

Stephen Harper’s line of attack, rhetoric and Quebec bashing, continues and says the other parties are a threat to Canada given the fact they have an alliance with the Bloc and that their move is also anti-democratic. Given the fact that the members of parliament are about to have a vote of no confidence, Stephen Harper approaches the governor general and prorogues parliament. We may not know why the governor general agreed to prorogue parliament, but perhaps it was to give parliament time to cool-off and stop the rhetoric and Quebec bashing. One crisis, the economic crisis, is enough at this time without creating another, the unity crisis which Stephen Harper is now trying to create. It’s also another fact that with these actions the Harper Conservatives are not going to win any votes in Quebec anytime soon, so they may continue this rhetoric in an attempt to win more votes in west.

The problem in Canada is that this lack of leadership could not have come at a worst time, during the worst economic crisis in decades. The Conservatives, who think it’s a good idea to try to cut other political parties funding, which would weaken our democracy, during this economic crisis instead of working with them, probably had the best economic platform to deal with the economic crisis. The Liberal platform of “we are going to tax pollution and cut your taxes”, and the 40 billion dollars workout, trust me I’m an economics professor just like Bernanke in the US, does not work. The NDP might have visions of giving everyone $50 an hour jobs with early retirement and indexed pensions, but that does not work either. The Bloc, imagine if the Bloc became majority leaders, thank God for the Senate Mr. Stephan Harper, Stephen Harper wanted to abolish the Senate and probably still does.

This cool-off period maybe what’s best to give these Canadian leaders time to think of what is the current priority at this time? Political moves and creating division or all work together on an economic plan that will help this country. Given the fact that they would all have to work together and agree to this economic plan, it could be a good and a well balanced one.