Thousands at pro-coalition rally in Ottawa

From xtra.ca

The country was mostly watching the door of Government House. The heavy, wooden doors opened, then closed, then opened again and Stephen Harper immerged.

On his advice, Governor General Michaëlle Jean prorogued Parliament until Jan 26, 2009. That means Harper and the Conservatives will not face a confidence vote next week which would have surely toppled Parliament and replaced it with a Liberal-NDP coalition.

Minutes after Harper stepped away from the microphone, Parliament Hill erupted with the shouts of thousands of pro-coalition supporters.

PROTEST PROTOCOL. An upbeat crowd shouted traditional chants. Hey hey, ho ho, Stephen Harper's got to go.

(Marcus McCann)

The demonstration was planned earlier in the week — the first of two dozen pro-Liberal-NDP coalition rallies being held in the next three days.

The timing of the Ottawa rally gave opposition leaders a chance to address throngs of supporters about the latest development, news that had just started circulating among supporters, many of them on their lunch breaks from downtown office jobs.

Stephane Dion spoke first.

"For the first time in Canadian History," he says, "the Prime Minister of Canada is running away from the Parliament of Canada."

NDP leader Jack Layton echoed the sentiment.

"Stephen Harper just put the locks on the House of Commons so that we can't vote him out of office," says Layton. "I call on all of you not to give up for one second."

TEMP JOB. Stephane Dion addresses the crowd on Parliament Hill Dec 4. He insisted that Harper's grip on the Prime Ministership was failing.

(Marcus McCann)

The event was hosted by former Rabble editor Judy Rebick. Rebick says that the Conservative government has to be held accountable for its economic update, a document many have criticized for being overly partisan.

"What we've seen in the lasy few days is the return of the reform party, their anti-feminist policies, the anti-worker policies, the vicious anti-Quebec policies," she says.

Jean's decision ends days of speculation about the immediate future of the government.

Turnout at Ottawa protests are often tepid compared to the outpourings at sister rallies in Toronto, Vancouver, and smaller Canadian cities like Hamilton and Halifax. But with more than 2,000 supporters turning out for the daytime rally, every indication is that subsequent demonstrations will be even bigger.

For a list of demonstrations over the next three days, go to makeparliamentwork.ca.

SUPPORT. Representatives from the public sector unions, dressed in orange vests, handed out chocolates and signs declaring their support for a coalition government. (Marcus McCann)

FIGHTING FORM. Layton gave a fiery speech where he told the crowd Harper had put a padlock on Parliament. (Marcus McCann)

Banner and Poster to support the "Coalition Government Now!"

It's time to organize!

Banner for Vancouver Rally:



Poster "Let's make Parliament Work!" (pdf)



LINKS
- Let's make parliament work - Coalition Government Now!

The NDP and the Cadman bribe: "Tommy Douglas must be spinning in his grave like a lathe"

Not my words, but those of Don MacNeil:

Tommy Douglas must be spinning in his grave like a lathe.

The former leader of the New Democratic leader, chosen as the Greatest Canadian of all-time, would be shocked to find out what his party under Jack Layton has devolved into.

This week the New Democratic Party of Canada has decided it will not support an Ethics Committee investigation into the Chuck Cadman Affair.

Yes, yes, we know this. Anything else about the NDP?

Pat Martin, an NDP representative on the House of Commons Ethics Committee, says the Cadman affair is not “a good fit for the ethics committee” and that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police should investigate.

Pat Martin and the NDP may be the last people who still have faith in the Mounties. The Liberals have also asked the RCMP to look into the matter as well, but have also proposed it go to the Ethics Committee. The Bloc Québecois support the Liberals but Jack Layton and the Conservatives oppose public committee hearings into allegations of bribery leveled against the prime minister.

I agree, it's weird for the NDP to fully trust the RCMP. By the way, on other corruption files the NDP had no problem handing it over to an ethics commission first. Double standards for sure.

The Cons motives are obvious. The same could be said about the Liberals and Bloc but the puzzling thing to some is why the Dippers aren’t willing to get to go along.

The conventional wisdom has the NDP in league with the Harper Gang in trying to silence the Chuck Cadman Affair, because they are afraid the only beneficiary, politically, of the whole scandal will be the Liberal Party and the New Democrats would rather be complicit in a cover-up than risk being hurt politically.

Indeed, we can't trust the NDP on the Cadman file. Shame on the NDP!

Pretty strong language, I agree, but then again it’s a pretty strong topic. This has the makings of the greatest Canadian political scandal since the Pacific Scandal that brought the end to the first Conservative government of John A. Macdonald.

So the question (again) is why is Jack Layton running interference for Stephen Harper? If the answer turns out to be for purely personal partisan gain than Layton and Martin have hands as dirty as they allege the Harper Gang’s are.

Exactly! Dirty hands are appearing everywhere I look.

Also the NDP are coming off a bribery scandal their own.

Really?

One where they had to apologize in the House of Commons and pay a cash settlement to a Liberal candidate in the last election that they accuse of trying to bribe one of his rivals. The story was a complete fabrication by a NDP candidate and the party paid a heavy price, both financially, and what would be more important to Tommy Douglas, to their reputation as being the conscious of the commons.

It might be something they want to avoid as the Cadman Affair may do collateral damage to Jack Layton’s political objectives.

Read the whole story: It's not too late to build a better world

Wanna topple the Conservative Government? Focus on the Cadman Bribery, Stupid!

Adam Radwasnki in the Globe and Mail today:

In the same Question Period that Jack Layton calls for the head of his chief of staff, Stephen Harper praises the NDP leader for asking good questions.

Naturally, this was in the context of the Liberals not asking good questions. One is left to draw two conclusions:

1.) If the Prime Minister enthusiastic about questions on the NAFTA leak, and angry about questions on the Cadman affair, that's a pretty good indication which topic the opposition should be focusing on. (Hint: not NAFTA)

2.) If you're the leader of an opposition party, and the Prime Minister is saying nice things about you in Question Period, it's pretty obvious you're not doing your job properly.

He couldn't be more right.

LINKS:
- Globe and Mail: Too cute by half