Bullies dont stop bullying till you stand up to them.

re Impolitical’s assessment that Harper was handed a minority government and should govern as such,
implying that PMSH should do his job and the Opposition’s job too.

Give your heads a shake.
Canadians handed the Opposition parties a majority.
Do your own job!
Don’t expect PMSH to restrain his government, that’s what Canadians expected you to do.
PMSH has not abused the powers given to him, the Liberals haven’t used their powers.

IMO, Canadians don’t want PMSH and his government replaced,
they want the Opps to oversee (not disrupt) Conservative policy.
Get back to work in committee,
and do your job for Canadians.

If you can’t handle being in Opposition (being bullied)
why should Canadians think you could handle government any better?

but they’ve been bullying because we the Liberals have been allowing them to get away with it.

Would that include persistent trolls like Wilson being allowed to hijack discussions all the time?

Yes, I know how it works, and I know it’s your blog…I just don’t think Liberals need to present such easy targets for people dialoguing in bad faith.

Whooee! What I’m wonderin’, ScottFeller, is will the Grits force an election before or after they’ve lost the support of “election hawks” like yerself an’ good ol’ Steve V. I agree a hunnert percent’s worth with you fellers. Bring it on!

But how much kowtowin’ and enablin’ are Grit supporters willing to put up with? Is there a line in the sand? If the Grits allow two more years of senseless war, wouldn’t that be enough? How ’bout if they allow sweeping changes to our immigration system without any Parliamentary debate? What if they allow the Con’s to quit standin’ up fer Canadians unjustly imprisoned and/or facing execution abroad? Would that be enough to make liberals walk away from the Liberal Party?

What if there was absolutely no liberal principle they would not sacrifice for a few more months of staving off an inevitable difficult election?

Sorry to be so harsh on yer party, Scott, but they really have been bringin’ it on themselves. Yer right as rain. Bullies need standin’ up to. I hope yer MP’s catch on before they lose too many of their intelligent, principled supporters — if it ain’t already too late.

JB

Whooee! BillG sorta nails it with, “…the party that wins the minority cant be expected to pass legislation or policy that is opposite of their own…”

This is at the crux of the problem. If the majority of MP’s push something through, it should not be possible or even desirable for the minority to block the will of the majority.

Bill’s right about us bein’ destined fer a whole lotta minorities in the future. If those minorities are to work, the idea of “majority rules” must be allowed, even when it is painful to do so. If the ruling minority cannot see fit to allow democracy and the majority to have its way, they should stand aside and invite one or a coalition of the other parties to assume power.

Minority government cannot work if one minority insists on getting its way against the wishes of the majority. We need to accept the necessity of cooperation in what promises to be perpetual minority governments. There ain’t much of that happening right now.

JB

Billg you have, in a nutshell, stated the NDP position perfectly. The Liberals and Conservatives might as well create a formal coalition government. They are much closer to each other than the Liberals are to the NDP. At least a coalition would be more honest than the “symbolic” opposition the Liberals are putting up these days.

If it were a honest coalition, there would be some Libs in cabinet and some Lib-sponsored legislation and policy would be promoted. “…how can anyone blame him?” Easy. He could just as easily work together with the opposition to ensure that all Canadians are better represented. Or, he could cynically use procedure, threats and loopholes to damage Parliament and our basic democracy. He chooses to obstruct and deny the will of the majority. For that, he can most certainly be blamed.

JB

Greg, billg

After a while refusal to oppose, does equal implicit support.

This is a sad situation, if don’t like the Conservative running over the independence of the judiciary or giving away our tar said oil resources with effectively no royalties. The world is consuming oil at an ever increasing rate. Not only is accessible oil running out, we are destroying the world that supports our very lives.