home  re. Tory hold on power may not be as secure as it looks Chantal Hérbert's suggestion that the Liberals and the NDP form a coalition government misses two important points. Firstly, the NDP and Liberals have very little in common, unless the Liberals choose to actually keep their election promises. Since they haven't seen fit to do so in the past, why should they now? Secondly, given that a Liberal / NDP coalition would not have nearly enough votes to form a majority, what would be the purpose of such an alliance? The Liberals, or for that matter the Bloc or the NDP, could just as easily form a government by themselves. As long as they get support from other parties in the house, they can govern. This is no different from Harper's situation. As David Emerson's defection to the Conservatives shows, differences between Liberals and Conservatives are little more than election dressing. After all, it was only two weeks ago that Emerson promised to be "Stephen Harper's worst enemy" and now he is a prominent member of his cabinet. Given Harper's condemnation of Stronach's crossing of the floor to assume a cabinet post, it seems that both parties subscribe to values of convenience. And this leads to the question of Harper's much hyped "ethics package". Can he now introduce or support legislation, such as the NDP's Bill C-251, to prevent people from crossing the floor to assume a cabinet post? It seems it only took two weeks for the Conservatives to stoop to the Liberal's ethical standards. How will they be able to stand up for Canada while bent over the trough? It just proves the old rhyme "Liberal or Tory, same old story." Gary Dale |