Blue Like You

Is it possible that Parliament’s passage of C-16 was actually a calculated risk by the Harper government designed to expose the weakness of the Official Opposition? The risk of course is two-fold: That this Government could be taken down at a moment in time that would not be of their liking, and of course there is the undeniable fact that the CPC could be put in the same awkward situation when they are someday back on the other side of the House (although I hope that never happens).

However, right now it is working to the advantage of the Conservative government. Stephane Dion is increasingly cast in the role of a stumbling, bumbling fool who can’t make up his mind what to do one day, and then the next he is painted as stubbornly resisting the sage advice of others who are eager to actually do what they were sent to Ottawa to do, which is to vote and be counted.

This has generated an internal struggle and lack of solidarity that is becoming increasingly difficult to contain. Even Lawrence Martin , the Globe’s resident Liberal apologist is starting to have problems defending the party. He even points out that although Ralph Goodale is a "good chap," he "reeks of old politics" and "needs a new assignment."

Yikes! Talk about tough love!!

Now the Conservatives and NDP are planning to expose the Liberals’ lack of accountability to their constituents, by targeting the no-shows. (Does anyone have a list of House of Commons votes and who didn’t show up?)

Clearly there are some influential Liberal caucus members who are sick and tired of sitting on their hands and having to defend their hypocritical position, when they rail against the government one day, and then refuse it bring it down the next.

They include, but are not limited to Bob Rae, Michael Ignatieff, Ralph Goodale, Karen Redman, John McCallum, and Dominic LeBlanc.

One thing for sure – The longer the Liberals say one thing but do another, the more they will be taunted by the other parties for their hypocrisy.

And contrary to Ralph Goodale’s assessment of the other two opposition parties, the NDP’s plan to poke the LPC on this one will yield results far greater than "the square root of nothing."

* * * *

Afternoon Update : Liberals show divisions on timing of Carbon Tax Plan – CTV.

Steve Janke – The Carbon Tax Grab: Garth Turner blinks.

Well, my hunch is that Garth is very hot for an election, and the perfect timing for said election will occur precisely at the moment that his Red Messiah delivers the sermon from the Hill.

Evening Update: Warren Kinsella was on MDL advising Dion to defer the Carbon Tax plan, and go for an election now. Another interesting item was his (dare I say) admiration of the CPC’s clever use of earned media.

Also, via Calgary Grit we have this Globe link with an intriguing line: …Later, one Conservative official laughed, saying the Liberals “took the bait.”

CTV – House passes controversial immigration reforms:

With several Liberals abstaining, the House of Commons has approved controversial Conservative reforms to Canada’s immigration laws by a vote of 121-90…

I want the stats for that one!

* * * *

Tuesday Update: Please watch this awesome video (Slacker’s Unite!) by Hunter at Climbing out of the Dark, showing your tax dollars hard at work!!!

And via Diogenes Borealis, we have this gem from the OLO:

Dion again asserted yesterday that he didn’t want to provoke a July election and said, as he did last week, that he didn’t think July was the right month to seize his chance because it’s "the only month of the year with sun and heat."

I think I need a T-shirt.