- 11:42 AM Jonathan Keebler - The entire country’s eyes are glued to the door
- 11:42 AM Jonathan Keebler - They should really shut that door to conserve some energy.
- 11:43 AM Jonathan Keebler - Harper has been in there for a long time. The CBC commentators seem to think that’s a bad thing for Harper.
- 11:44 AM Jonathan Keebler -
- 11:44 AM Jonathan Keebler - That’s a photo of Harper going in
- 11:46 AM Jonathan Keebler - Nice Christmas decorations around the door
- 11:46 AM Jonathan Keebler - The blonde woman at the door is wearing a nice pant-suit
- 11:47 AM Jonathan Keebler - If the GG won’t shut-down parliament for Harper, what do you bet he leaves through the side door
- 11:48 AM Jonathan Keebler - Dion should take his request right to the Queen next time
- 11:49 AM PollyPrissyPants - They really are letting the heat out of her house…she’ll be getting a giant bill for this time.
- 11:51 AM PollyPrissyPants - No! There’s no camera on the door…what if he sneaks away and we miss him?
- 11:52 AM Jonathan Keebler - He’s gotta come out some time
- 11:52 AM Jonathan Keebler - Here’s what we’re watching:
- 11:52 AM Jonathan Keebler -
- 11:54 AM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, CBC is really vamping around their lack of new information
- 11:54 AM PollyPrissyPants - How funny would it be to catch him leaving by a window?
- 11:55 AM Jonathan Keebler - I wouldn’t put it past him, followed by an OJ-style chase through the streets of Ottawa
- 11:56 AM Jonathan Keebler - Maybe Harper ate some bad cookies and has the trots in the GG’s bathrooom
- 11:57 AM Jonathan Keebler - See that guy with the boom-mic waving it around the window? I sense a broken-window in his future
- 11:57 AM MDM - What happens when he comes out? Does Canada implode?
- 11:57 AM Jonathan Keebler - Only if the GG doesn’t grant his request…according to him
- 11:57 AM PollyPrissyPants - I want to see the CSIS guys take that boom mike guy out…
- 11:58 AM Jonathan Keebler - GREAT, CBC just said that there’s no guarantee that the GG will make a decision today.
- 11:58 AM PollyPrissyPants - So why are we watching this again? Thanks, CBC
- 11:58 AM Jonathan Keebler - CBC learned some tricks from CNN
- 11:59 AM Jonathan Keebler - It’s been about 1 1/2 an hour since Harper went in
- 11:59 AM Jonathan Keebler - MOVEMENT
- 11:59 AM MDM - We need a briefcase cam or an inside spy.
- 11:59 AM PollyPrissyPants - Watching Don Newman without sound is quite entertianing…
- 11:59 AM Jonathan Keebler - Damnit, it was just the changing of one of the CSIS officers. They need some more ceremony for that
- 11:59 AM MDM - Polly, are you at work?
- 12:00 PM PollyPrissyPants - @MDM – I am indeed
- 12:00 PM MDM - @ Polly Nice!
- 12:00 PM Jonathan Keebler - Inside Government House: Harper: “Pleeeeeeeeeease! Common! I already unpacked all my junk in 24 Sussex! Do you know how expensive movers are?! Pleeeeeeeeease”
- 12:00 PM MDM - LOL!!!
- 12:01 PM Jonathan Keebler - Some guy just came out and yelled at the reporters
- 12:01 PM Jonathan Keebler - And the doors just closed
- 12:01 PM MDM - Pretty Please. Common. Please…
- 12:01 PM PollyPrissyPants - Oh that was awesome…”get off my lawn!”
- 12:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - lol The guards were cold inside so they closed the doors
- 12:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - hahaha CBC has found a side-entrance and they are tracking it. Good work
- 12:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - The door are open again
- 12:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Now they are closed again. DAMNIT
- 12:03 PM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, check out the throngs of reporters in the reflection of the doors.
- 12:03 PM PollyPrissyPants - I think the guards are just messing with the reporters…like cats and mice.
- 12:03 PM MDM - Someone really needs to take control of that door
- 12:05 PM PollyPrissyPants - Are they debating why the doors are opening and closing?
- 12:05 PM Jonathan Keebler - I think it’s morse-code.
- 12:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - So if we see black smoke…that means prorogue? Or possibly if Harper sees his shadow?
- 12:06 PM MDM - What channel are you watching?
- 12:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - CBC
- 12:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - CBC Newsworld
- 12:07 PM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, some interviewee (Derek Lee) just drew a comparison to the burning of the German Bundestag. Too soon?
- 12:08 PM Jonathan Keebler - Aren’t there other people who need to use this front-door? Like, doesn’t the mailman come today? Rogers cable guy?
- 12:08 PM MDM -
- 12:09 PM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, Don Newman (CBC) is coming up with all these crazy scenarios of what Harper could do e.g. find someone else in his party to rule
- 12:10 PM Jonathan Keebler - I know what we need: Obama to come up and save us
- 12:11 PM MDM -
- 12:11 PM Jonathan Keebler - Nice shot of the door
- 12:12 PM PollyPrissyPants - It’s classy door.
- 12:12 PM PollyPrissyPants - Can news really be breaking if they’ve been sitting at Rideau Hall for over an hour?
- 12:12 PM Jonathan Keebler - Don Newman thinks that our parliamentary tradition is threatened by these coalition actions. Normally, the Conservatives would have just given them a couple pages in the throne speech to shut them up
- 12:14 PM Jonathan Keebler - Good point from NP:
Shane Dingman: Jane Taber on CTV is adding some common sense to the whole situation, mentioning Ms. Jean “is making the most difficult decision” … it’s true… if you sign up for parties and trips abroad, and you end up being front and centre on an issue of constitutional precedent that could affect the Canadian political system for generations, you might take a while to figure it out. - 12:14 PM MDM - Take a look at this guy.
- 12:14 PM MDM -
- 12:15 PM Jonathan Keebler - Did the cameraman kick his ass to get him out of the shot?
- 12:16 PM MDM - I think it is the camera man. Ooops!
- 12:16 PM Jonathan Keebler - Did a giant yellow chicken just walk in front of the camera?
- 12:16 PM MDM - LOL!
- 12:16 PM MDM - Thats a fair bit of shine coming off that forehead.
- 12:18 PM Jonathan Keebler - See the reporters hoping up and down to keep warm? They must be freezing out there
- 12:18 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper has cancelled his trip to Woodstock for this afternoon. Take from that what you will
- 12:19 PM MDM -
- 12:19 PM MDM - Lots of traffic at the hill.
- 12:20 PM Jonathan Keebler - Julie Bonner: Calgary thinks that they have more at stake in this decision today. Ya, like the rest of us don’t?! “Western alienation” is being tossed around a lot
- 12:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - Doors are open!
- 12:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - They look like they are open for real this time
- 12:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - I see people coming down the stairs
- 12:23 PM Jonathan Keebler - Door Watch 2008
- 12:23 PM MDM -
- 12:23 PM Jonathan Keebler - LOL The doors open and they throw to their reporter in Ottawa to get a sense of what it means. Like she knows anything from 2 doors opening
- 12:24 PM PollyPrissyPants - It means the guards inside managed to stave off frostbite and are willing to risk the elements again.
- 12:24 PM Jonathan Keebler - Did you guys see the BBC reporting on this story yesterday?
- 12:25 PM MDM - Nope, anything funny happen or said?
- 12:25 PM Jonathan Keebler - The blonde woman is back outside. They are from the PM’s security detail
- 12:25 PM MDM -
- 12:26 PM Jonathan Keebler - @MDM Nope, just noticed that it was their #2 top story. It’s getting some international attention
- 12:26 PM PollyPrissyPants - That guy on the left is smiling…there’s no smiling in poltical maneouvering!
- 12:26 PM PollyPrissyPants - It was the #2 headline on CNN.com last night too.
- 12:26 PM MDM -
- 12:26 PM Jonathan Keebler - No way! Nice
- 12:27 PM Jonathan Keebler - The GG should tell Harper “See You Next Tuesday”
- 12:27 PM MDM -
- 12:28 PM Jonathan Keebler - Is that CNN?
- 12:28 PM MDM - Yes. Number two on the world watch.
- 12:28 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper’s car is at the side-door. We might be watching these doors for nothing
- 12:29 PM PollyPrissyPants - I’m still crossing my fingers for a bathroom window escape plan.
- 12:29 PM MDM -
- 12:29 PM PollyPrissyPants - PODIUM!
- 12:29 PM Jonathan Keebler - They are putting a podium infront of the door
- 12:30 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper is going to come out and speak!
- 12:30 PM PollyPrissyPants - We have movement…it’s either GG or Harper are going to talk or one of the CSIS guards has something he really wants to get off his chest.
- 12:30 PM MDM -
- 12:30 PM Jonathan Keebler - In Ottawa, do they just have their portable podiums all over the place?
- 12:31 PM PollyPrissyPants - They grabbed that out of their tickle trunk in the front yard.
- 12:31 PM MDM -
- 12:31 PM Jonathan Keebler - lol The technician is at the podium. Maybe he’s our new PM
- 12:31 PM PollyPrissyPants - No sign of a teleprompter…could this mean Harper will actually speak without a plan?
- 12:32 PM MDM - Sooo exciting…
- 12:32 PM MDM -
- 12:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - Watch Harper come out and say “No comment”
- 12:32 PM MDM - Ladies and gentlemen our new prime minister. Yellow Jacket!
- 12:33 PM Jonathan Keebler - Lots of shadowy figures in the Government House front hallway. I think I just saw Cheney
- 12:33 PM PollyPrissyPants - Or “ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to DisneyWorld!”
- 12:33 PM Jonathan Keebler - Here comes someone kinda official looking at the podium. Bah, he left.
- 12:34 PM Jonathan Keebler - Great, the GG will probably never speak about her thought-process on this…unless she writes a book
- 12:34 PM PollyPrissyPants - Appaarently he was the official podium authenticity checker. “Yup, it’s a podium…it’s go time”
- 12:35 PM MDM - @ Jon That guy looked like he was counting the steps to the podium.
- 12:35 PM Jonathan Keebler - omg, I’m so on-edge. WTF is going on in there!
- 12:36 PM MDM -
- 12:36 PM Jonathan Keebler - There is no legal remedy to the GG’s decision today. That’s a fun-fact. I wish I was a Queen-proxy…that came out wrong
- 12:36 PM MDM - LOL. I love all these podium testers.
- 12:37 PM MDM -
- 12:38 PM Jonathan Keebler - DAMNIT! The Conservatives are saying through back-channels that prorogation will go aheadc
- 12:38 PM PollyPrissyPants - Who said that?
- 12:38 PM PollyPrissyPants - What…is Harper, like, texting them?
- 12:39 PM Jonathan Keebler - Don Newman from PMO’s office
- 12:39 PM PollyPrissyPants - Ah…well, he is the man.
- 12:40 PM Jonathan Keebler - The PMO has officially announced that prorogation has been granted
- 12:40 PM PollyPrissyPants - So there are restrictions on what a government can do/accomplish during a prorogue period…so it has yet to be seen what this breathing room will actually allow teh Conservatives to do.
- 12:40 PM MDM - A prorogation is the period between two sessions of a legislative body. When a legislature or parliament is prorogued, it is still constituted (that is, all members remain as members and a general election is not necessary), but all orders of the body (bills, motions, etc.) are expunged. (In the British parliament, this has now changed somewhat in that Public Bills can be carried over from one session to another.)
In the British and Canadian parliamentary systems, this is usually due to the completion of the agenda set forth in the Speech from the Throne (in the UK, called the legislative programme, and also “the Queen’s Speech”). Legislatures and parliaments, once prorogued, remain in recess until summoned again by the Queen, Governor General, or Lieutenant Governor, and a new session is begun with the State Opening of Parliament and the Speech from the Throne.
- 12:41 PM Jonathan Keebler - The government can’t do anything during prorogation. It’s a complete time-out
- 12:41 PM MDM - What a great time to do nothing in Canada.
- 12:41 PM Jonathan Keebler - OMG, now we have to deal with 1.5 months of campaign-style arguments from politicians. Damnit!
- 12:42 PM Jonathan Keebler - What a dick! We need our government now more than ever! And he has it suspended for political reasons?!
- 12:43 PM MDM -
- 12:43 PM Jonathan Keebler - The press isn’t going to be allowed to ask questions. Typical Harper-style
- 12:43 PM PollyPrissyPants - Great – an election without an actual election. Just what we all wanted.
- 12:44 PM MDM - Lets hope the people will be able to see through the coming conservative PR campaign.
- 12:44 PM PollyPrissyPants - Doesn’t this just essentially put off the inevitable? Which is a vote of no confidence?
- 12:44 PM Jonathan Keebler - I hope the parties have some dollars left in their advertising budgets
- 12:45 PM PollyPrissyPants - It’s official…we have become the States. Mark it…Canada, time of death…11:45 am.
- 12:45 PM MDM - @Polly Yes but they can use the next 1.5 months to get the public behind them for the next election.
- 12:46 PM Jonathan Keebler - Parliament is in Question Period right now. When this announcement hits, it will just stop and the ministers will stream out
- 12:46 PM MDM - WHO’S paying for all of this. Hmmmmm I wonder.
- 12:46 PM PollyPrissyPants - True…but wasn’t that going to happen anyway? If the coalition takes over, all parties involved will get a backlash in the next election, whether they do well or not. Because the Canadian people won’t educate themselves on the issues.
- 12:47 PM Jonathan Keebler - There will be no spending limits on the PR campaign to follow! Ka-ching!
- 12:47 PM MDM - You can bet on that.
- 12:47 PM Jonathan Keebler - If the coalition ultimately gets power, Dion will only be PM for 4 1/2 months.
- 12:47 PM MDM -
- 12:48 PM MDM - Please. Please. I beg you…no more elections!
- 12:49 PM Jonathan Keebler - Great, after the time out, then Harper can go back to the GG and ask for an election! omg, this could go on for a LONG time
- 12:49 PM PollyPrissyPants - I love this – having an election with having a real election. Fantastic. Then he’ll want to call an actual election. My head hurts…
- 12:49 PM Jonathan Keebler - What is Harper doing in there? Finishing his plate of cookies?
- 12:50 PM PollyPrissyPants - CBC livestream
- 12:50 PM MDM - Lets hope they call an election and no one shows up to vote.
- 12:51 PM PollyPrissyPants - Harper’s having a little pie…with Cool Whip. Then he’s coming out to talk.
- 12:51 PM Jonathan Keebler - Cool wHip? You can’t have a pie without Cool wHip
- 12:51 PM MDM - @Jon Should we wait until he comes out before lunch
- 12:51 PM Jonathan Keebler - @MDM yah
- 12:52 PM PollyPrissyPants - This could go on for awHile.
- 12:52 PM MDM - oh Hreally.
- 12:53 PM Jonathan Keebler - It’s started to rain in Ottawa
- 12:53 PM MDM - 60 sec.
- 12:53 PM Jonathan Keebler - A prepared text was just put on the podium. I guess he was inside writing it. God-forbid he speak off-the-cuff
- 12:54 PM PollyPrissyPants - That’s because proroguing makes Mother Nature sad.
- 12:54 PM Jonathan Keebler - They are going to allow 4 questions from the press: 2 English, 2 French
- 12:54 PM PollyPrissyPants - Here he is.
- 12:55 PM Jonathan Keebler - I see Harper!
- 12:55 PM Jonathan Keebler - He’s at the podium
- 12:55 PM MDM -
- 12:55 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: The GG has agreed to prorogue parliament
- 12:55 PM Jonathan Keebler - Says the men & women of Canada want him to keep working on his plan
- 12:56 PM Jonathan Keebler - When they come back, the first item on the agenda will be another budget
- 12:56 PM Jonathan Keebler - (it’s now hailing on him)
- 12:56 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question 1: Why were you in there so long? What took so long to convince? And how will the prorogue help?
- 12:56 PM MDM - It seems appropriate that a storm is brewing.
- 12:57 PM Jonathan Keebler - Answer 1: “I can’t discuss the content of my discussions with the GG”
- 12:57 PM MDM -
- 12:57 PM PollyPrissyPants - Harper: Proroguing will give us a chance for us all to work together to take on the economic issues.
- 12:58 PM Jonathan Keebler - He finally admits all the parties are elected
- 12:58 PM PollyPrissyPants - Wow…all of a sudden he’s in favour of working together! Sounds like the GG made him write it 100 times until it sunk in.
- 12:58 PM Jonathan Keebler - But then implies that the Bloc isn’t one of the parties working together for the greater good of Canada
- 12:59 PM PollyPrissyPants - One step forward, one grand jete backward.
- 12:59 PM Jonathan Keebler - I hope a piece of hail smacks him in the face
- 12:59 PM MDM -
- 12:59 PM Jonathan Keebler - In House of Commons, they start shutting it down
- 12:59 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: The economy is the priority now, not parliament
- 12:59 PM PollyPrissyPants - I wish there were snow so a reporter could launch a snowball right at his head.
- 1:00 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question 2: Did you make a mistake in your economic plan last week?
- 1:00 PM Jonathan Keebler - Question 2: Did you make a mistake last week when you pulled the financing of the other parties?
- 1:00 PM MDM - The regular CBC channel just went to commercial.
- 1:00 PM PollyPrissyPants - Answer: We believe that everyone needs to tighten their belts…including political parties.
- 1:01 PM Jonathan Keebler - Answer 1: We believe that political parties should lead by example
- 1:01 PM MDM -
- 1:02 PM MDM - Its really coming down now. The snow and the bull.
- 1:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: “We need to do some bridge-building, on both sides”
- 1:02 PM PollyPrissyPants - Answer: The other parties say the allowance isn’t the issue – it’s the financial stimulus package. But any government only sitting for 2 weeks can’t provide one without consulting with people.
- 1:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, Harper is getting pummelled with hail
- 1:02 PM MDM -
- 1:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: The opposition parties don’t have the skills to produce a better budget quicker than this. January 26th.
- 1:03 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: “I would encourage them to engage with the government”
- 1:04 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: the 3 parties working in the interest of the country need to work together (implying again that the Bloc shouldn’t be a part of it)
- 1:04 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: “consensus”
- 1:04 PM PollyPrissyPants - I don’t think Harper understands what a coalition is…
- 1:05 PM Jonathan Keebler - Today the Harper-who-wants-to-work-together showed up. So insincere after the rest of what he has been saying this week
- 1:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: “It’s my sole responsibility now…to fulfill my mandate”
- 1:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - It really seems like the GG impressed upon him the importance of him reaching across the aisle. Otherwise, he’d lose her support.
- 1:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - Question: Are you just delaying the inevitable now? Are you just wasting government resources on an election-style campaign?
- 1:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - WHAT? His responsibility to fulfill HIS mandate. Wow…arrogant much?
- 1:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - Nice question from the CP.
- 1:07 PM PollyPrissyPants - Harper will not be using public money for the campaign.
- 1:07 PM Jonathan Keebler - Answer: My focus will be working on the federal budget. Won’t have time to do much else (Ya right!)
- 1:07 PM MDM -
- 1:08 PM PollyPrissyPants - From Mike M. (an observer at work): He got a 38% mandate.
If he were in school, they’t take away his pencils so he doesn’t hurt himself. - 1:08 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper basically saying it will be work-as-usual for him for the next month, working on the budget
- 1:08 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: The coalition got in a “side deal with the Bloc”
- 1:09 PM MDM -
- 1:09 PM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, he is really ragging on the Bloc! I guess he’s writing off Quebec now. That’s going to hurt him the next election I think
- 1:10 PM PollyPrissyPants - That is going to REALLY hurt him in the next election. This is why he doesn’t speak off the cuff mostly…
- 1:10 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: “I’ve never put myself in a position where I would be beholden to the Bloc”
- 1:10 PM PollyPrissyPants - He just LIED.
- 1:10 PM MDM - I have to say that I am not fond of the “Federal” Bloc either. Lesser of two evils perhaps.
- 1:11 PM PollyPrissyPants - He had to get their support to pass his previous budgets! Wow.
- 1:11 PM Jonathan Keebler - I am not either, but he’s trying to imply they are part of the coalition which is not true
- 1:11 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe speaking now: “He’s done this just to save his own skin”
- 1:11 PM PollyPrissyPants - Yup – I’m not a fan either, but as I’ve said…as of now they’re a federal party and should be treated as such. He can’t discount them when they don’t help him out.
- 1:12 PM PollyPrissyPants - Duceppe: “Worst attack on Quebecers since Meech Lake.”
- 1:12 PM MDM - He may have just signed his death in Quebec. There goes his 10 seats.
- 1:12 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe: the election cost $300M this past September
- 1:13 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe: On Oct 14th, the voters gave us a clear mandate: prevent Conservatives from carrying-out their ideology
- 1:13 PM PollyPrissyPants - Duceppe (paraphrasing): The Conservative leader held an election at a major cost to the country…for the “sake of the economy”…but he keeps putting off dealing with it.
- 1:13 PM Jonathan Keebler - IT’S ON!
- 1:14 PM PollyPrissyPants - Wow…this is fantastic! Call him on it, Duceppe.
- 1:15 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question: Can the coalition survive?
- 1:15 PM PollyPrissyPants - Answer: Ask those in the coalition!
- 1:15 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe: “We are still prepared to support the coalition”
- 1:15 PM PollyPrissyPants - Duceppe: Harper is just trying to play for time.
- 1:15 PM Jonathan Keebler - Oh it’s on!
- 1:16 PM MDM -
- 1:16 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe: Harper asks me what I want to see the in throne speech. I was just as much a sovereignist then as I am now.
- 1:17 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question: In terms of Quebec’s interest…if the budget gives Quebec what it wants, will you support it?
- 1:17 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe: “(Harper) is trying to make fools of all of us”
- 1:17 PM PollyPrissyPants - Answer: I very much doubt Harper will meet the demands. It would include agreeing with Kyoto despite the fact that Harper calls it a “socialist plot”.
- 1:18 PM Jonathan Keebler - What was that tractor comment?
- 1:19 PM PollyPrissyPants - Gotta love French proverbs: “If my grandma had a wheel, she’d be a tractor.”
- 1:20 PM PollyPrissyPants - Duceppe: “I don’t make predictions, but he did say elected Quebec politicians have less importance so…”
- 1:21 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton is up now
- 1:21 PM PollyPrissyPants - Have I mentioned how much I love Gilles Duceppe? I don’t always agree with his politics but since he has nothing to lost nationally, he always calls everyone on their bullshit.
- 1:22 PM MDM -
- 1:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: “He has put a lock on the door of the House of Commons”
- 1:22 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: Harper is unwilling to face the representatives of the people of Canada.”
- 1:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: “He has used a monoeuver to escape responsibility”
- 1:22 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: A sad day for parliamentary democracy.
- 1:23 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: We were trying to implement a plan to take bold action like other countries. The PM decided to play politics instead
- 1:23 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: political manoeuvering taking precendence today over dealing with our desperate economic issues.
- 1:24 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: Harper decided to save his own job and not the jobs of Canadians.
- 1:25 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: Harper cannot be trusted. We have already given him our opinions on the stimulus package..he rejected them. His concilliatory manner now cannot be trusted…he’s just trying to protect his job.
- 1:25 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: I don’t think Canadians really trust him to listen to everyone’s concerns. If he comes up with interesting ideas over the next weeks, we’ll listen and make them part of our coalition government
- 1:26 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: The coalition will not give up in terms of their goals – to bring the Canadian people what they need.
- 1:26 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: It’s very clear the MPs have lost confidence in Harper
- 1:27 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: Harper promised us we would have a vote on Monday
- 1:27 PM Jonathan Keebler - The coalition should have gone underground until Sunday before the vote
- 1:28 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question: Has Harper just delayed the inevitable?
- 1:28 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton…in so many words…”yes.”
- 1:29 PM Jonathan Keebler - Question: Would you deny The People the ability to hear the (new) budget in January by voting it down instantly?
- 1:29 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: Confidence isn’t going to be restored by “7 weeks of propaganda”
- 1:29 PM PollyPrissyPants - Answer: We’ve already given him that oppotunity…the confidence has been lost. Our confidence won’t be restored by the end of January.
- 1:30 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton is stepping around the Quebec issue.
- 1:31 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: Harper took away my right to vote as an MP, took away a fundamental right in a democracy
- 1:31 PM Jonathan Keebler - Question: How will you counter the “6 weeks of propaganda”?
- 1:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: Ideas are always worth more than money
- 1:32 PM PollyPrissyPants - I like Layton…but his talking points drive me nuts. Stop saying locks on the doors.
- 1:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - And with that, Layton walked away. He seems pissed
- 1:32 PM PollyPrissyPants - Well, that line kind of sums up the NDP platform!
- 1:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion is expected to respond later
- 1:34 PM Jonathan Keebler - I’m going to go get some lunch
- 1:34 PM PollyPrissyPants - Dion is currently speaking to a rally in Ottawa in support of the coalition.
- 1:34 PM PollyPrissyPants - Lunch break.
- 1:37 PM PollyPrissyPants - Don Newman has Bob Rae with him.
- 1:38 PM PollyPrissyPants - Rae: “You can run but you can’t hide.” There will be a vote of confidence for the budget in January. He’s lost not only the confidence but also the trust of the house.
- 1:40 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question: How can you vote against a budget you haven’t seen? Rae: Because it’s not about the budget…it’s about trust and confidence. His actions are unprecedented and he is misleading Canadians while alienating those Canadians who hold a different viewpoint.
- 1:40 PM PollyPrissyPants - Rae: This is a time that tests all of us. Do we want to have a government and a leader who won’t face the House of Commons?
- 1:41 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question: Is Dion the general to lead the coalition?
- 1:42 PM PollyPrissyPants - Rae: This issue is a lot bigger then the liberal leadership…it’s about the Harper regime.
- 1:43 PM PollyPrissyPants - Rae: The PM basically called those that oppose him (on national tv) traitors to his country. It’s unacceptable…we have to take this to the people.
