My Reaction to the Liberal NDP Coalition and Prime Minister Harper’s Conservative Government

I am not thrilled with the idea of a Liberal NDP coalition however since it is allowed within the Canadian constitution and is democratic I think the coalition should be given the opportunity to govern. While the Conservatives did win a minority mandate to govern during the recent election it was with only 37% of the popular vote, hardly a resounding mandate. In fact the Liberal NDP coalition had 44% of the popular vote. It is true though that the Liberals were pounded on election night and that Stephane Dion does not have the confidence of the people to lead.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has miscalculated in a big way. His partisan politics with the economic update of last week was ridiculous. He made the mess he's in and it appears he will say and do anything to stay in power. There have been suggestions he should resign and that's not a bad idea. I don't think a majority of the public has confidence in him anymore. If he does ask the Governor General to prorogue parliament and succeeds in doing so I think he will be furthering his problems and in the next election he will pay for his miscalculation, especially if the Liberals have a stronger leader.

Now while I'm not a Stephane Dion fan either perhaps he will step up and lead well during his opportunity should he get it. However he would only be Prime Minister until the Liberals select a new leader in May. Hopefully that will be Michael Ignatieff. And should Ignatieff become Prime Minister I hope he will wait long enough before calling an election so that people can see what kind of leader he could be.

Politics in Canada has never been as heated as it is now, at least in my recent memory. And I, like most Canadians, am looking for stability and strong leadership in these challenging economic times and I don't see our Government stepping up to meet these challenges at this time.