Ottawa, Shmwattawa

Tim had a short but sweet little post about the shenanigans in Ottawa today that I felt the need to rebut. So rebut I shall.

Ahem.

If the Opposition parties are going to bring down the government and try to snag power, I'd rather it be over something worthwhile, like, oh, THE BUDGET, than whatever has stuck in their craw. Yes, Harper stirred up the hornets nest by trying to pass that funding cut, but the Opposition fell right into his trap by reacting the way they did. Hell, the fact that the funding cut was yanked so fast just shows that it was the bait.

Beyond bailing out the auto industry, which I've already said I'm against, please tell me what this slap-dash coalition would do to benefit the country (as opposed to the political parties involved) and why, after only TWO WEEKS back in parliament, the minority party in power is the evil which must be destroyed.

I think that we need the break until Parliament is resumed in January for the MPs to a) cool their jets a bit and b) go out and see if their constituents, WHO JUST WENT THROUGH AN ELECTION, think that these machinations are what they really want. I didn't vote Conservative. Hell, I've voted Green and NDP over the past two federal elections. That said, I'm a fan of some governmental stability. I know that minority governments can fall and don't last long. This is not the way to go about it.

If the government falls in January over something legitimate, like a budget or Harper growing a tail, fine. But by pursuing the course of action that they have, the Opposition is setting themselves up for a major drubbing at the next election and they have nobody to blame but themselves. Dion and Layton might finally get a brief taste of power and keys to the PMO, but it will be a bitter pill for their party faithful to have to swallow over the long term.