Federal Conservatives hold on to power for at least a month more

On Friday, Dec. 5, the Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, granted Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s request for a prorogation of Parliament.  

Coming on the heels of the creation of an NDP-Liberal coalition, supported by the Bloc Québécois, Harper has delayed for the short-term and possibly long-term, if the coalition disintegrates, the demise of his minority government.  

Warding off a vote of confidence will keep the Conservative party at the helm of the Canadian government until at least Jan. 27, when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will deliver a much anticipated budget during these uncertain economic times.  

The NDP-Liberal coalition, along with the Bloc, has essentially called the prorogation a cowardly move on the part of the Conservatives. However, the member of Parliament for the Yellowhead Riding, where Jasper is situated, Rob Merrifield, said “prorogation has allowed a cooling off of what was obviously, from our perspective, a power grab and nothing more than a power grab.” 

Merrifield said he does not “believe that there’s anyone in Yellowhead who believes that a socialist agenda driven by the extreme left, or a party that has a trump card that has only one intent, which is separation from Canada, would be in the best interest of decision-making for the people of Yellowhead.”  

Additionally, Merrifield stated that the coalition with the Bloc and NDP, even though the Bloc are not officially part of the coalition (a fact Merrifield disagreed with), was hatched right after the election and had little to do with the economic update.  However, these discussions between the NDP and the Bloc were surreptitiously recorded and subsequently released to the media by the Prime Minister’s office. Merrifield dismissed this, saying “we have leaks in... many caucuses over the years and... the walls breathe around here.”  

This is not the first time the Conservatives under Harper’s tutelage have caused a stir with secret recordings. Gurmant Grewal, then an opposition member of parliament, released an edited version of recordings between himself and Liberal cabinet member, Ujjal Dosanjh, supposedly offering Grewal and his wife, also an MP, cushy positions in the government if they did not vote against Paul Martin’s Liberals. Dosanjh was cleared by the ethics commissioner and Grewal would later go on stress leave and not run for Parliament again.

Merrifield, who is also the Minister of State for Transport, believes that prorogation will create positive effects for his constituents and Canada.  “It’s much better for Yellowhead to have a stable government in there and a government that is working on the best interests of the people of Yellowhead and the best interests of Canada,” he said, adding that a stable government is especially important during an economic slowdown.  

Ken Kuzminski, Jasper resident and NDP candidate for the Yellowhead riding in the last federal election, took an alternate point of view.  “I think it was wise to have an agreement with the Bloc, especially in our economic times right now. Having the sovereigntists... taking their sovereignty issues off the table for the next 18 months will put the economy first from coast to coast...”

Kuzminski believes that the coalition is “strong,” but the vote on Jan. 27 will “come down to what is presented on that day.”  Needless to say, Merrifield is not wishing the coalition much success.  “I think the... whole reason for prorogation is a timeout and hopefully cooler heads will prevail in the Liberal party because there isn’t one individual in Jasper or in Yellowhead that voted for the NDP or the Liberals, that voted for this coalition,” he said, “...so this coalition gets zero votes.”

When questioned about using the national unity card for expressly political purposes, Merrifield replied, “I would say if you think that, you’re not understanding the intensity or seriousness of the situation.” 

Kuzminski believes that “what Stephen Harper has said has created more of a division and more of a crisis within our national unity than having the Bloc in parliament supporting any coalition...,” adding that “Canadians don’t promote hatred of other Canadians. Canadians always try to work together.”

Whether or not Stephen Harper’s rhetoric has fomented a national unity crisis – which was relatively dormant – is up for debate, but anecdotally, on Monday a Liberal majority returned to office in Quebec, with the Parti Quebecois gaining 15 seats, making them the official opposition and granting them more power than they have had since 1998, when they were the majority.  

With the coming coronation of Michael Ignatieff as the Liberal party leader, who is seemingly ambivalent about the coalition, we’ll see if the NDP-Liberal pact with the support of the Bloc will last until the bringing down of the budget on Jan. 27.