Politics

There's a political meltdown happening in Ottawa in our federal government, though no other countries have yet noticed. Seven weeks after winning an increased minority in our Parliament the ruling Conservatives have riled the three opposition parties so much that they say they need to bring the new government down. The Conservatives created this situation by introducing legislation to prevent federal workers from striking, to remove the right of women to use pay equity legislation to file complains about inequities in pay and, most of all, changing rules for political party financing that would ensure a fiscal advantage for their own party. In spite of thousands of auto and forestry workers being laid off every week the Conservatives introduced a new budget that offered no economic initiatives that address their situation.

The election in October wasn't exciting and really changed nothing. The voter turnout was a record low. But this showdown has upset the nation and stirred voter interest. I had hoped it would work against the Conservatives and possibly help bring them down, but the immediate general reaction has been in their favour, putting them in range of a majority government if a new election is called. The public seems to be saying the opposition parties are only interested in gaining power at any cost and not doing this for the public good.

That poll, released this afternoon, has me in a funk. I am suddenly sick of all the speculation and hype. The Governor General, Michaelle Jean, has allowed the Conservatives to suspend (prorogue) Parliament until the end of January to allow the situation to cool and to delay an opposition coalition from deposing the Conservatives next week. At 30 below, January can cool a lot of things down in Ottawa, but the problem isn't going to go away. The government might call another election at the end of January if the budget fails as expected. I just hope it doesn't result in a majority for the tyrannical Conservatives. Both sides will be bombarding the country with their side of the story over the next seven weeks. On top of Christmas hype this will be overload.

To prevent us from turning down their forced wage offer, the Conservatives have offered federal government workers like myself a $4,000 signing bonus. Hopefully our union can get their act together to have us ratify the offer before the Conservatives fall from grace (power). In a lose-lose situation it is best to get what one can.