Harper 'on probation' as Barack Obama plans trip to Canada

Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal leader, ensured the survival of the minority Harper government by agreeing to vote for its budget as long as it agreed to provide regular reports to the House of Commons. The government agreed and Ignatieff says, Harper and company are "on probation."

Reaction: Jack Layton, the NDP leader was not at all pleased with Ignatieff's decision, and says there is now a Liberal-Tory coalition. The one his party entered into with former Liberal leader Stephane Dion, propped up by Gilles Duceppe, and the separatist Bloc Quebecois died. Duceppe more or less shrugged at Ignatieff`s knowing that in politics you do what you gotta do!

Layton is obviously very angry that his bid to become a cabinet minister through the back door failed with the collapse of the coalition. The NDP would have had six seats in a 24 member cabinet. The NDP has launched radio ads attacking Ignatieff. Nasty, nasty Jack!

Politics makes strange bedfellows: Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, a Liberal is gushing with praise for the Harper government's budget, while Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, a Conservative, and Quebec Premier Jean Charest, now a Liberal but former leader of the national Conservative party (then called Progressive Conservatives) are unhappy. Only in Canada!

But the REALLY BIG news is that US President Barack Obama is coming to Canada on February 19, his first official visit to another country since becoming president. He will meet with the prime minister and other important people. All want to at least have a photo op with Obama. He has an 80% approval rating among Canadians, much more popular than any Canadian politician. President Obama will not be staying overnight -- he arrives in the morning of the 19th, and will likely be back in the White House before his children go to bed.

Enjoy your day

Stephen Harper: "a victim of his dark side"

The Toronto Star quotes Tom Flanagan, a long time Conservative party strategist as saying that Prime Minister Stephen Harper may have become "a victim of his dark side" as he attempts to survive politically.

The article by Richard J Brennan and Bruce Campion-Smith lays out several ways that Harper seems to have betrayed his "conservative" principles in a bid to stay in power.

They quote Flanagan, a former Harper campaign organizer and strategist, as saying that Harper has been "transformed from a conservative ideologue to a political survivor, but remains a victim of his own dark side.

'Both sides are real ... but what you see more and more is the political Harper,' said Flanagan, author of the acclaimed Harper's Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power, " according to The Star story.

Full story: http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/577188

One expects that the Toronto Star would be critical of Harper, but it surprised me greatly that Flanagan. who I have watched defend the Conservatives many times would say the prime minister has become a victim of his dark side, where political survival is more important than his principles.

As Canada`s parliament resumes today with a speech from the throne and a budget tomorrow, this is no time for survival games by the prime minister or for that matter the leaders of the opposition parties. Their responsibility to all Canadians must go beyond their own lust for power, and for once in their lives, let them put the country first.

I have been following Canadian politics since Louis St Laurent was prime minister, and I have seen a lot of things happen, but this is the first time I think we should be concerned about the truth of Lord Acton`s famous dictum that `power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolùtely.

Therefore. let the House of Commons resume. Let there be a healthy responsible debate on the budget presented by the Harper government, and then let there be a vote on it. No games!

If the government is defeated in the House of Commons, the prime minister goes to the Governor General and gives advice. The Governor General has two options: call upon the leader of one of the opposition parties to see if his party can get the confidence of the house and form a government or dissolve parliament and call an election.

However, before we get to an election, or another party leader being called upon to form a government, throughout our history we have perfected the art of compromise to keep the country together. Given the economic climate today let each and every member of parliament say: CANADA FIRST!

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