Liberals Pretend to Oppose Tory Budget

In a bold move yesterday the leader of Canada's Natural Abstaining Party declared "Liberals will vote against the budget but not in sufficient numbers to defeat the government".

This was further clarified: "A senior Liberal, talking on background, said the party will probably register its opposition to the budget through absences of MPs from the confidence votes in the weeks ahead".

Another Majority, Another Coup – Ottawa City Budget Passed

A majority of the members of Ottawa City Council passed the City budget last night and according to the Ottawa Citizen a "coup" has been staged by a "coalition" on Ottawa City Council and President Stephen Harper Mayor Larry O'Brien doesn't like it. How dare this coalition go against the elected President Mayor.

The city’s 2009 budget debates took a dramatic turn Monday night when a group of councillors, not including Mayor Larry O’Brien, brought and passed a package motion that results in 4.9-per-cent property-tax increase and avoids serious program cuts.

It was a coup from a new coalition on council made up of some very strange political bedfellows, and Mr. O’Brien was powerless to stop it.

As the Citizen reported:

Council had managed to close the gap by several million, and the meeting was heading into debate on some of the of more serious cuts to bus routes.

It was then that the coalition made its move with the package motion tabled by College Councillor Rick Chiarelli.

The coalition declined to make many of the cuts that more than 200 people had argued against during last week’s public submissions portion of the budget process.

Apparently if your not a right wing minority then your just another "coalition" imposing a "coup" and it just isn't right.

Stéphane You Have A Responsibility to The People of Canada

Canada is a Parliamentary democracy. As such, the government must retain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons in order to continue to govern. The government’s budgetary policy is always a matter of confidence.

The CBC reports that “The Liberal caucus will meet Wednesday to decide whether to abstain or vote in favour of the budget.”

The Liberal Party, as “Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition”, have a responsibility to decide whether they support the government’s budgetary policy. Not caring is not an option. The choice is not whether they want, or are prepared for, an election. The choice is whether they support the budget, whether they have confidence in the government. It requires a Yes or No, answer, “We don’t know” will not do.

It is time for Stéphane Dion to prove once and for all whether the Conservative Party claims that “Stéphane Dion is not a leader” are true or false. The Liberal Party, and it’s leader, have a responsibility to the people of Canada to take a stand.

Larry O’Brien’s Three Big Ideas

Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien finally laid out his much anticipated , “plan” for a zero means zero tax freeze, and in true Larry O’Brien fashion it turned out to be nothing but more recycled right wing platitudes.

In the spirit of solving the City’s problems by telling everyone else to just “work smarter” he is going to tell City staff to find more administrative savings, again.

He also put forth the standard right wing solution to municipal costs - to reduce wages by back-door union busting, also known as contracting-out or privatization. This, of course, is a solution that would potentially mean more profits for the company whose Board of Directors the mayor sits on, Calian Technologies. Mr. O’Brien thinks the people that provide the municipal services that we all depend on should bear the brunt of the rising costs the City is facing. Better they take a major wage cut than we face a moderate tax increase. Interestingly enough, the example he used to justify privatization was a service that the City makes money off of - parking.

The mayor also trudged up the age old solution used by companies in financial crisis - sell off parts of the company. Of course, in the private sector they usually sell of a non-profitable part of the company to someone who thinks they can turn it around and make a profit. Mr O’Brien wants to sell of Hydro Ottawa, a company that makes a profit for the City.

This is just more of the same non-leadership in a record that will be remembered for proving that the City can function without a mayor.