Greater Sudbury Northern Life Reporter Bill Bradley
There is a national backlash rapidly growing against the attempt to dump the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, according to local Tories.
“There is outrage from coast to coast in this country,” said Ian McCracken, who ran for the Conservatives in Nickel Belt in the Oct. 14 federal election.
He was referring to the coalition of Liberal and NDP parties with the backing of the Bloc Québécois, which would have enough seats combined to defeat the Conservatives as early as next Monday on a confidence motion.
“This is unprecedented. The NDP, a party with 37 seats, is to get six cabinet posts in an unelected government. Then there is the Bloc. They will be holding a guillotine over the head of the other two parties - the Liberals and the NDP - over every decision to be made,” said McCracken angrily Tuesday morning.
Gerry Labelle, who ran for the Conservatives in Sudbury in the last federal election, was also offended by the events unfolding in Ottawa.
“I have yet to speak to anyone who is not unhappy about this. People voted for a minority Conservative government, not for a coalition,” said Labelle.
“The people of Canada need to decide who is to run the country. What the parties have to do is to get on with running the country and quit finding ways of making things not work,” he said.
The best prospect would be a cooling off period, called a prorogue, before next Monday's vote, said Labelle. That means parliament would be called back in late January for a Throne Speech and then a budget.
“It is setting the reset switch. There is nothing happening here, so let's start all over again. Hopefully, the hot heads will cool off. People need time to understand what is going on. If we don't do this, parliament has basically been taken over and no one has a chance to say anything. I, as a voter, never mind as a politician, object to this,” he said.
Failing this, the other option is an election.
Both McCracken and Labelle said they are willing and prepared to fight another election.
“I will run again,” said McCracken.
“Absolutely, I am prepared to fight another election. It takes a lot of time, effort and money to do that, but I would. I am so upset I cannot explain or express how upset I am. This is a travesty. This is awful,” said Labelle.
As for his prospects, Labelle thinks he will do even better next time.
“I have knocked on a lot of doors. I will knock on even more doors. I think we will do very well. But the best option is to clean up this mess in Ottawa now.”
Fred Slade, president of the Sudbury Conservative riding association, said he too is hearing negative comments about the situation in Ottawa.
“If it was not so serious it would be laughable. What is going on is insane. I do not think it is serving the interests of the country. Everyone I talk to says the same.”
Slade thinks the Conservatives would do even better in another election.
“Our new Conservative Party is relatively new, only four years old. The party has grown in strength each time we have gone to an election,” he noted.
“The first time we were narrowly defeated, holding Mr. Martin to a narrow minority. The next time we achieved our own minority. The last time we strengthened that minority, 12 seats shy of a majority government. I think we would gain more seats, particularly when people are so concerned about the motivation of this coalition. That would favour us.”
Slade even doubts the coalition could hold together for very long.
“We all know what happened the last time Jack (Layton) and Jill (Gilles Duceppe) went up the up the hill (of Parliament),” said Slade.
Slade, Labelle and McCracken said the backlash to the coalition's attempt to grab power was now so intense that rallies were being organized in major Canadian cites, to be tentatively set for this Saturday.
“Go to http://www.rallyforcanada.ca/ website. Cities across Canada are organizing rallies Saturday, Dec. 6 from noon to 2 pm,” said McCracken.
The rallies mostly take place outside city halls in Calgary, Kitchener, Saskatoon, and London though the one in Montreal takes place outside of Stéphane Dion's office. McCracken was not sure if a rally is to be organized in Greater Sudbury.
“The e-mails are flying back and forth. We will keep people posted,” he said.
