Thursday, October 29, 2015

How We Can Bury the Harper Cons Forever



As you know the Harper Cons have set out on a long journey through the political wilderness to choose a new leader, after the shocking loss of the only one they ever had.

And now it seems that journey could be an even longer one.

Debate is growing within the leaderless Conservative Party about how long to wait before picking a new chief, sources say. Some Tories are urging party brass to put it off for as long as two years, while others advocate for concluding a race for a permanent leader by the middle of 2016.

With the so-called Red Tories trying to buy themselves some time to come up with a good candidate. 

And above all trying to stop Jason Kenney, who would like the job TOMORROW !!!



And whose desperate grab for power I am supporting.

Even though that deranged zombie just blocked me from reading his Twitter feed !!!!



In the firm belief that if he ever became leader he would bury the Cons for a generation.

But luckily there is a better way to make sure the Cons are buried, and not just for a generation but FOREVER.

And it's called electoral reform. 

If there’s any part of the Liberal platform that should terrify Conservatives, it is this: “We are committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.

For as Tasha Kheiriddin points out, proportional representation would be fatal...



Proportional representation (PR) would sound the death knell to any form of small-c conservative government. Majorities would, of course, be a thing of the past. And even assuming the Tories got 40 per cent of the seats in the House, they would need to form a coalition with one of the other parties to govern, or form ad-hoc coalitions on confidence votes such as the budget.

What might this lead to for the Conservatives? Paradoxically for a party that won government by coming together, it could result once again in it splitting apart.

And as Evan Solomon points out, so would a ranked ballot.

Liberals could ram through a new electoral system that would put the Conservatives adrift on the political tundra, gnawing on their boots to survive while waiting to be discovered by a Franklin-style search party. That system is called the Ranked ballot, and it just happens to be the one Trudeau prefers.

The Cons know that and they are terrified...



Conservatives already sense the trap. At a recent post-election gathering hosted by Maclean’s, the Conservatives’ former spokesman Kory Teneycke thundered on about the need for full public consultation in the form of a referendum.

So the only questions that need to be answered are:

Can Jason Kenney be restrained?



What system could kill him and his Cons off sooner? 

And will Justin Trudeau, after benefiting from the present system, keep his promise to reform it? 

All those who believe we need electoral reform are looking closely at Trudeau. While this might not be an issue that voters key into during an election—one wag told me that democratic reform is the Dungeons & Dragons of the Parliament Hill crowd—it has huge impact.

Tasha Kheiriddin thinks Trudeau will use the courts to break his promise. But I think he'll keep it. Because I think I can trust him, and it alone would assure his place in Canadian history.

It will likely determine if the Trudeau government does practise politics differently or if power inevitably favours the status quo.

And when all those who lived through the nightmare years of the Harper regime, understand that electoral reform could make sure that nightmare never happens again, the pressure on Justin will be impossible to resist.

For who could resist this shimmering vision?



Talk about sunny times.

For the first time we have the will and the means to destroy the Harper Cons forever.

And nothing is going to stop us...

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28 comments:

Steve said...

destroy them at the molecular level, nothing else is sufficent

Anonymous said...

Canadians need to keep up the pressure on the Liberals. They've made promises before that they've broken and we can only be hopeful that the Harper Cons will fade from the planet when we have electoral reform implemented, legislated and available in the next election. If they fail to do anything by end 2017, we know they aren't serious about their promises and will have to be toppled.

thwap said...

This was rich:

"former spokesman Kory Teneycke thundered on about the need for full public consultation in the form of a referendum."

This from a guy with the party that gave the public either lies or absolutely nothing at all, before dropping massive omnibus bills on us with little time for debate.

Fuck 'em all.

And they might as well select Kenney. The "Red Tories" aren't worth a damn either. "Peter MacKay"??? The whole party is bottom-of-the-barrel.

Kirbycairo said...

I am not sure if Trudeau will keep his commitment to the electoral reform. But if he is thinking strategically and in his own interest, he will make it a major priority. PR or even ranked ballots could keep Trudeau in the PM's office for a nearly unlimited time if polls on "second choice" in the last election are any indication. More than half of Conservative voters refused to name any 2nd choice and of the remaining half about 75% of them named Liberal as their 2nd. Meanwhile somewhere around 75% of NDP voters named Liberal as second choice. As you say, the Conservatives are terrified of electoral reform because they know that only wedge politics could ever keep them in office. I saw that event with Kory Teneycke and the crowd cheered when the Liberal said something to the effect that the Tories changed the electoral system more than any party in history without any public consultation.

If Trudeau wants to stay in office longer than Harper and totally destroy Harper's status and reputation (whatever little he has left that is), Trudeau will definitely institute electoral reform. And if they do decide to have a referendum they should not have one that chooses between electoral reform or not, but between two different types of reform (such as ranked voting vs PR), and that is exactly what I suspect he will do. Such a referendum will take the winds of protest out of the Conservative Sails while simultaneously forcing the Conservative to either shift back to the centre or face political oblivion.

Anonymous said...

"I am not sure if Trudeau will keep his commitment to the electoral reform."
Great point, Kirby. I alluded to the same thing the other day here at Simon's with the result being that some bitchy clown that refers to itself as scrotum (it was something that began with an "s") going off on a tirade of whining about the new red world we live in and that we should just all lick it up and stop ever having a doubt about the liberocons keeping their campaign promises (see wynne in Ontario for reference and corroboration of that misgiving of mine which she, as of date, has conveniently backtracked on or ignored many of the major points of platform she ran on).
I guess that because Justin isn't over 50 yrs old yet, we are expected to just swallow anything that he presents to us without any thought of challenging it because after 9 years of doing just that, it worked out so well for us individually and also as a country.
Definitely on point and on the right page, Kirby. Thank You for the dose of common sense. Some of us obviously need it much more desperately than others who got past the high school cheering section mentality portion of our lives.
I voted Liberal just so everybody knows. Strategic, but I couldn't see another 4 years of christofascist dictatorship ruining Canada any further and the NDP had already committed political seppuku. I would do it again today if needed and be glad of the same results. I hope Justin does what he promised us.
Shimon Goldmannsteinberg

jrkrideau said...

I tend to believe that Trudeau is serious about electoral reform and I believe the Greens, the NDP , and the Bloc all support some version of proportional representation. Heck, I think the Communist Party of Canada does.

With that kind of backing in the House on the opposition side (well without the Communists) it would not likely be easy to dodge the issue

Tasha Kheiriddin writes:
While some may say this type of PR would be good for democracy — hey, let a thousand flowers bloom! — it would also mark the end of any kind of national political vision in a country already riven by differences in geography, culture, language and economy.

It seems to me with a coalition government one is more likely to get a national vision evolving -- not as rabid as the Cons-- but one which must, in fact, accommodate regions and different philosophies

double nickel said...

+1

mizdarlin said...

I see from these comments that Junior is still in honeymoon mode, even with so-called progressives..but let's not forget that he represents the party that as going to abolish the GST, that Daddy jumped the gun completely with the War Measures Act and implemented the hated Wage and Price Controls that only ever managed to freeze wages for those who could ill afford it. and junior still only wants to lower taxes for those making 40 grand..not exactly prime time, Junior..... and that really the only thing I can remember of any consequence that any Liberal in power in the last 40 years did of any positive consequence, and it was a big one, was Chretien keeping us out of Iraq..and I've thought more of him ever since...Now, if in fact JT does implement PR that could easily be the one thing that would forever make the history books..we'll see.. cannot believe his corporate masters who have managed to manipulate 'democracy' for so long will be willing to accept this plan..we'll see...
After all, PT did finally do the decent thing and give us our Charter..sort of..guess Liberals are capable of at least one great political act..and PR wold certainly be a big one...

marie said...

miz drlin, you are sounding like the Cons and a disappointed vote for the NDP. Did JT say he was going to abolish the GST or did you just dream that up?

Signs of a poor loser mizdarlin

David said...

http://operationmaple.ca/the-stephen-harper-non-answer-generator-part-6

David said...

Here comes the sun. -- The Beatles

Here comes the sunny ways.

Here comes the son (of Pierre!)

e.a.f. said...

don't like the cons. never have, most likely never will However, they are a legal party in Canada and as part of a democracy there is a need for them to exist. We may not like them, but they were voted into office 3 times and still hold almost 100 seats in the House of Commons. All those who voted Con have the right to be represented by the type of M.P. they wish. To deny them that right is just as bad as the Cons acted against others in this country.

Am not that sure about the proportional representation thing. It may give other parties more seats in the Commons or where ever, but is it really democracy as we have always know it, first past the post.

What proportional rep. means to me is a chance for those not elected to majority to have a larger say.

We need to ensure more Canadians vote. This time we improved voter turn out. You get the government you deserve. You can't complain if you don't get out to vote. To get people ought to vote, just give them a 100 tax credit. works for me, then I've voted since the day I was old enough too. Just considered it my civic responsibility.

Anonymous said...

The bottom line... if the Cons rush the leadership, Kenney would be elected. If they take some time to seriously consider why their party went off the rails and wait a couple years, the odds are very slim that Kenney would win the leadership.

Simon said...

hi Steve...that's a great expression, I hope you don't mind if I borrow it sometime... ;)

Simon said...

hi anon...I agree we do have to keep up the pressure for change. But I think Justin trudeau is off to a great start. In less than two weeks he has made this country look sane and like Canada again...

Simon said...

hi thwap....yes, Evan Solomon goes on at length about that, and how the Cons did everything to manipulate the present system to their advantage. But unfortunately for them it didn't work, and now we should show them no mercy. Change the election process to favour our side, and write the Cons out of history. Or force them to become a more Canadian party. Either way we can't lose...

Simon said...

hi Kirby...as I said in my post, I think Trudeau will keep his promise, because I think he is his own man, and will not want to be seen to be breaking his word. And f course because if he goes with the ranked ballot it will probably favour his party more than the others. It is the only democratic way to go, and we should take no lesson on democracy from the Cons. If the Harper regime hadn't been so ghastly it might have been hard to engage Canadians in something like electoral reform. But after what happened I'm hopeful that if properly explained it could be quite popular....

Simon said...

hi Shimon...I understand why some Canadians won't believe it until, it happens. Especially since the Liberals did benefit from the present system, to win their majority. But I want to believe in Justin Trudeau, he seems like a decent person to me, even if I didn't vote for his party. After so much grimness I feel the need for hope, I'm enjoying the feeling, and I hope it never ends...

Simon said...

hi John...I agree with you, it finally has the support it needs, and it's an opportunity we simply can't waste. And yes I don't agree with Tasha Kheiriddin's gloomy prediction. She would be gloomy because she is a Con. But I believe that coalition government's are good because they reflect the spirit of compromise which people always forget is how this country was created. So it couldn't be more Canadian...

Simon said...

hi mizdarlin.... OMG. What am I going to do with you, always the pessimist. ;)
But seriously how can you let your partisanship cloud our great victory. Justin has done nothing so far to suggest that he isn't going to be a refreshing change. He has really inspired a lot of young Canadians, who see him as representing generational change which is good and healthy. And it really isn't fair to blame Justin for the sins of Pierre. For while the War Measures Act was a stain on his record, and I don't agree with his position vis a vis Quebec nationalism. I thought it was old fashioned and harkened back to the Duplessis era. Let's not forget that his famous omnibus bill decriminalized homosexuality and abortion, which took a lot of courage at the time. So if Justin has even some of that courage, he could make a great Prime Minister. So give him a chance, he has enough enemies out there. So for at least another three weeks can we at least celebrate our great victory?

Simon said...

hi David....that's the spirit. Sometimes I can't believe how gloomy this country has become. We love to tear down our own, and it's so depressing. We just achieved something great after a hideous nightmare, so I for one am still celebrating...

Simon said...

hi e.a.f. I'm not denying them the Cons the right to exist, I just want to see them fragment or atomized so they can never threaten our values again. They'll still be there, but the difference is that after electoral reform they will have to learn to compromise and that can only be good for them, for us, and the country.
And as for getting out the vote, we can always do better. But we did do better than we have in 22 years so that is something to celebrate....

Marmalade said...

We are all in this together, so Canadians need to pay attention to what is best for our country as a whole.

mizdarlin said...

Simon, I realize you are young but even you must know about the old Chretien unkept promise to abolish the GST, a legacy of the Mulroney years..
Am I disappointed..yes...but I am also bemused at every one of you still beating the pointless drum about the Cons..they are gone, history, no mystery what will happen next..and for you to make it personal is one of your weaknesses, not mine..I'm just pointing out while all you Junior Trudeau fans start lining up the old Con regime at the guillotine, you might want to think about the fact that no government except the Libs a has ever been held to account for anything much that they did, although Mulroney was put through the mill re the Airbus affair..
If i sound like a 'con' then you sound like a broken record..there are other things going on in the world. besides this fixation on an illusion of 'revenge..it won't happen...

Simon said...

hi anon....exactly and that's why some in the party, especially the so-called Red Tories are trying to extend the date of the convention beyond next fall. Right now Kenney would probably be chosen. But yes, the longer they put it off, the worst Kenney's chances. And since he's only too aware of that, it practically guarantees that the Cons are in for a rocky ride...

Simon said...

hi Kathleen...there is nothing we could do more for our country than to make sure the Cons are never in a position to form a majority government. So electoral reform has to be one of our biggest priorities....

Simon said...

hi mizdarlin...I have to admit I found your comment rather disappointing. Firstly, how would you feel if I started a comment to you by saying I realize you are old. Wouldn't that be rude and irrelevant? Secondly who cares about Chretien and the GST? Thirdly I don't think you are in any position to rule on anybody's weaknesses since you're not exactly a pillar of strength yourself, And your contribution to the campaign to defeat Harper was minimal at best. Especially since you were such an avid supporter of his racist anti-niqab campaign. And since I never said you sounded like a Con, you calling me a broken record is not very nice. I'm not looking for revenge I'm looking for justice, for all the Cons did during the last ten years. Because you may not care about his many victims, but I do. And I'm certainly not going to forget what the Cons did, in a matter of weeks. But whatever, your bitterness is corrosive, and you are only hurting yourself...

Anonymous said...

All yours Simon