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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Wed May 11, 2005 6:55 am Canadian Government Declines to Resign |
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| Quote: |
CNN.com
Canadian govt. declines to resign
OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Canada's 10-month-old Liberal minority government lost a key censure vote in Parliament on Tuesday but ignored opposition demands that it resign and call an election.
The official opposition Conservative Party denounced the government's refusal to quit and said it would take unspecified "additional steps" on Wednesday to address what one top party legislator called a full-blown constitutional crisis.
Minutes earlier, by a vote of 153-150, the House of Commons approved a motion instructing a committee to ask for the resignation of a government which has been hit hard by a corruption scandal.
"Goodbye!" shouted one opposition legislator as the result of the vote was announced. But the Liberals made it clear they would be going nowhere.
"We will continue to govern on behalf of Canadians," Liberal minister Tony Valeri told Parliament to catcalls and howls of outrage.
The opposition said the motion clearly expressed a lack of confidence in Prime Minister Paul Martin and should trigger an election, but the Liberals said it was only a procedural matter.
Earlier in the day Liberal officials said that, in any case, opposition parties would get the chance to put forward formal confidence motions at the end of May.
Governments in Canada have to resign if they are defeated in the House of Commons over their budgets or on a formal confidence vote.
"Mr Martin's behavior has gone from dithering to desperate and now to dangerous and this is a very serious situation. Let me assure you that we will take additional steps to deal with this situation tomorrow," Conservative leader Stephen Harper told reporters, but gave no further details.
Fellow Conservative parliamentarian Jay Hill declared "Parliament is over after tonight" and suggested the party could boycott the House of Commons.
"We're into a situation of full-blown constitutional crisis," he told Reuters.
Gilles Duceppe of the separatist Bloc Quebecois said one option would be to visit Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, who represents Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state, and formally ask her to dissolve Parliament and call an election.
The continuing political uncertainty is depressing the Canadian dollar, which immediately dipped against its U.S. counterpart after the vote.
To try to bring down the government, the Conservatives and the Bloc have seized on a scandal involving allegations of kickbacks to the Liberal Party in return for government contracts.
In addition, they say a Liberal spending blitz of close to C$20 billion ($16 billion) in the last three weeks jeopardizes Canada's standing as the only member of the Group of Seven industrialized nations to be running a budget surplus.
Valeri had earlier played down the impact of Tuesday's vote, saying opposition parties would get a chance to present formal non-confidence motions in the last week of May.
The House is likely to be given the chance to vote on the federal budget before then. If the Liberals lose, the country looks set for an election in late June or early July.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Wed May 11, 2005 3:14 pm |
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Yes, it's starting to get heated now. I want Parliament to stop accusing and maybe, oh, I don't know . . . pass laws.
I agree that the Liberal government is "corrupt" in that we need new leaders. Yet the Liberal party is still better than any of the alternatives, in my opinion. And I don't see anyone except the Opposition calling for an election--this is entirely a power play.
The Liberals will probably not lose the vote on the budget. Combined with the NDP, they do have less than a Bloc-Conservative coalition, so it depends on the votes of the three independents. The Conservatives don't seem too eager to trigger an election over the budget, however--they keep on saying they want to do it on their terms. Of course, this is from the same people who said they would call an election when the people want it. 
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Dirt
Exercise Boy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 2086
Location: a tree
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| Wed May 11, 2005 3:41 pm |
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Canada is soooooooooooooo gay, silly dumb country filled with peasants only capable of saying eh, or I like chicken, 
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Leo Wyatt
Sweetest Angel
Joined: 25 Feb 2004
Posts: 19045
Location: Investigating A Crime Scene. What did Quark do this time?
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| Wed May 11, 2005 3:44 pm |
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 Dirt Ok.
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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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| Wed May 11, 2005 3:53 pm |
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| Dirt wrote: | | Canada is soooooooooooooo gay, silly dumb country filled with peasants only capable of saying eh, or I like chicken, |
That could be be offensive in so many different ways
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Wed May 11, 2005 4:17 pm |
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Since it was directed at one specific person, no warning.
-------signature-------
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Founder
Dominion Leader
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Posts: 12755
Location: Gamma Quadrant
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| Wed May 11, 2005 4:23 pm |
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| Theresa wrote: | | Since it was directed at one specific person, no warning. |
Are you saying we can make fun of countries if we don't specify any person? Crazy....
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Lord Borg
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 27 May 2003
Posts: 11214
Location: Vulcan Capital City, Vulcan
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| Wed May 11, 2005 4:25 pm |
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| Dirt wrote: | | Canada is soooooooooooooo gay, silly dumb country filled with peasants only capable of saying eh, or I like chicken, |
Sounds like thats a poke at Tachyon and Dan to me.
I dont know what to think really about this whole thing
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Wed May 11, 2005 4:31 pm |
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Chris is right. He was aiming that at Tach and Dan. He needs to behave, though.
-------signature-------
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Wed May 11, 2005 4:35 pm |
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Anyway . . . moving on . . . use the scroll whell (or buttons). . . .
| Lord Borg wrote: | | I dont know what to think really about this whole thing |
The problem is that with the entire sponsorship scandal over the Liberal party supposedly giving more money to Liberal-friendly ad firms, Parliament is no longer doing anything useful. The Conservatives are exploiting the opportunity by trying to force an election--obviously with the idea of making a majority Conservative government.
In short, Parliament is descending into the bowels of bureaucracy and power-grabbing. >_<
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LightningBoy
Commodore
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 1446
Location: Minnesota, U.S.A.
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| Wed May 11, 2005 4:38 pm |
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Why not set a date every four years, and have the elections then?
I've never understood why any government system needs someone to "call for elections". Then again, the U.S. government has ridiculous loopholes too (Judical Fillibuster)...
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Dirt
Exercise Boy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 2086
Location: a tree
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| Thu May 12, 2005 12:47 am |
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| Theresa wrote: | | Chris is right. He was aiming that at Tach and Dan. He needs to behave, though. |
idk who in the world tach is, but yeah, aimed at Dan
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