COSIGH!!!!!

Quote:

I really hope the budget passes, and I think everyone should just wait for the Gomery Inquiry to be over, and then call an election.

The Conservatives and the Bloc are apparently going to vote for the budget but will vote against any amendments.


Apprarently, Peter Mackay only found out hours before Belinda's big announcement. They are no longer a couple.

I picked up tickets today from my MP and will be sitting in the public galleries tomorrow to watch the whole thing unfold. I don't think Kilgore will vote with the Government, Martin basically shut him out by not increasing, on paper at least, the Canadian commitment to Darfur. The fact that the Sudanese Government has rejected the offer aside. As for Cadham he says he is going to wait till after the debate to decide, I know he was polling his home riding, and from some of the polls i have seen in his riding, by Canwest i believe, it looks like if he follows the will of his constituents he will be voting with the official opposistion. I think perhaps the biggest thing will be the Conservative East coast MP's who are being pressured by the provincial governments to vote with the Liberals in order to solidify the Atlantic Accord. Eitehr way it will be an extremly interesting day on the Hill. For the last week all of the pubs downtown have changed their TV's from TSN and Sportsnet to CPAC, perhaps that is an indicator of how important tomorrow will be. Either way if the Government loses we have an election and most likly another minority, If the government wins we remain with a stalemated parliament. Lose/Lose if you ask me.

I am sitting in the prime spot..in a Liberal MP office with some drinks on hand to see how it all unfolds.

Oh and here is a song for Stephen Harper after Stronache:
"Its my party and i'll cry if i want to ,cry iif i wantto, cry if i want to..you'd cry too if it happen to you!! badadada!"

Well, we still have a government... for the time being. Apparently Harper is going to give it a rest at least until after Summer recess...


CBC

Government survives two confidence votes
Last Updated Thu, 19 May 2005 18:25:19 EDT
CBC News
OTTAWA - By a razor-thin margin, Paul Martin's minority government survived a confidence vote late Thursday afternoon, staving off a snap election.

With the support of Independent MP Chuck Cadman, the House voted evenly 152 to 152 on Bill C-48, an amendment to the budget that adds $4.6 billion in social program spending and delays corporate tax cuts.


Independent MP Chuck Cadman votes during confidence vote on the federal budget in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday, May 19, 2005. (CP photo)
That left Speaker of the House Peter Milliken, who is a Liberal MP, to break the tie and vote for the budget. The Speaker only votes in the event of a tie.

If the amendment had failed, Martin would have asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and call a general election likely for the end of June, only a year after the last election, in June 2004.

The amendment was one of two-non-confidence votes that could have toppled Martin's government.

But there was little drama over the result of the Liberal's budget bill, Bill C-43, as Conservative Leader Stephen Harper had already said his party would vote in favour.


YOUR SPACE: Send us your thoughts

It was expected the second non-confidence vote would be decided by a couple votes.

With the defection of former Tory MP Belinda Stronach to the Liberal fold, the Liberal-NDP coalition on the budget amendment totalled 150 votes leading up to the vote – one fewer than the Conservative-Bloc Québécois coalition.

(A Liberal MP agreed to sit out the vote as a courtesy because cancer surgery was keeping Conservative MP Darrel Stinson away from the House of Commons.)


Prime Minister Paul Martin leaves his office to take part in confidence vote in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Thursday, May 19, 2005. (CP photo)
Independent MP Carolyn Parrish, a former Liberal, had said she would support the budget, giving the Liberals 151 votes.

Earlier Thursday, Independent MP David Kilgour had confirmed he would vote against the amendment, meaning all eyes were focused on Cadman.

Cadman had said that he wanted to hear from his constituents before making a final decision on how he would vote. But after a recent poll of 600 eligible voters in his riding of Surrey North indicated two-thirds of respondents didn't want an election, he had hinted that he would support the budget.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has indicated he will not continue to test the government with more non-confidence motions before the House breaks for summer recess next month.

Interesting.... an apology to the people of Quebec from Harper, for failing to defeat the Government (shades of the Bloq ;) ).... and yet no apology for the labeling of Belinda a prostitute or whore...

I have to hope that the calls for respectful debate, and an end to bitter partisanship by Martin, Layton, and Chuck Cadman will be heard by Harper and the Conservative/Alliance boys.

The behavior of Harper and other Conservative members in the lead up to this confidence vote actually pushed me to hand in my membership to the party - they've drifted to far into the American Conservative platforms... away from the Tory platforms of old that I supported...

Lots of happenings of late...

Let see PCs releasing Grewal's taped recordings of the Liberals allegedly "bribing" him... but now it turns out that experts can show it was doctored and edited - hmmm doctored or false information being presented by Conservatives to advance a political agenda... were have I seen this before? (Perhaps Haper should dump the Republican "advisors")
Ethics commissioner probes Grewal tapes; more questions about authenticity
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...rewal_tapes_17

Now Grewal flips out in an airport - he's now on "stress leave". Hmmm? could the stress stem from the fact that a rather amaturish attempt to create a PR disaster for the Liberals is backfiring (and the RCMP are investigating)?
Harper cites personal pressure, says Grewal will take stress leave
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20050...grewal_airport

On the Liberal front now we see that an MP has broken from the party and declared himself an independent (for now) over the issue of same-sex marriage... considering that 30+ Liberal MPs where threatening to vote against the budget in order to scuttle the same-sex marriage legislation - this could signal a truely serious break or hemoraging in the party.
O'Brien quits Liberals over gay marriage bill; threatens to topple minority
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20050...NlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Finally over in Poutine-land... one of the founders of the Bloq Quebois and leaders of Seperatism has called it quits and retired as leader of the partie - I wonder who's going to come out on top; and more importantly what this will mean for seperatism and federalism.
PQ seeks leader with thick skin to make peace between radicals and reality
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20050.../pq_leadership

>>>> BUMP >>>>

Well with the Gomrey report out the legal and political wrangling begins...

and already the first "shot" has been fired by the new GG :D Who knew she she enjoys cracking Jon Stewart-esqe jokes at functions:
PQ leadership hopeful irked by Governor General's cocaine jokes
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/natio...ean051103.html

I'm sorry but I find the crack about "following the party line" funny. As for the questions regarding whether or not the minister's coke hook-up was mob related - I don't know was he hanging with Jose Theodore at the time? :cool: :p