Canada's conservative government falls in non-confidence vote

[News_Editor]

Canada's conservative government falls in non-confidence vote

2011-03-26 03:23:41 GMT+7 (ICT)

OTTAWA, CANADA (BNO NEWS) -- Canada's conservative government, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on Friday was defeated in a non-confidence vote, the Canadian Press reported.

Members of the Parliament voted 156-145 in favor of a Liberal motion and expressing non-confidence in Harper's government. The PM announced that he will dissolve the government on Saturday and elections will be held in May.

The ruling Conservative government (Tories) was defeated after Liberal, New Democrat and Bloc Quebecois MEPs united to demonstrate their opposition to the minority conservatives.

The Canadian House of Commons has 308 seats from which Tories have 143 seats, the Liberals 77, the Bloc Quebecois 47 and the NDP 36. In addition, there are two independent MPs and three vacant slots.

PM Harper said he was disappointed with the voting results that drove Canada to its fourth election in just seven years and fifth in the last ten years. Three of those polls have resulted in the election of minority governments.

Harper also accused the opposition of forcing an election that no Canadian wanted. On the other hand, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said that Friday's voting at the House of Commons was a result of a scandal-plagued government.

"A government that breaks the rules and conceals facts from the Canadian people does not deserve to remain in office," said Ignatieff. "We did not seek an election but we need one to replace a government that doesn't respect democracy."

In February, the Tories party and four of its top officials were accused of election overspending. Harper and his conservative government is also blamed for undermining Canada's economy.

Ignatieff added that the current administration failed to address vital issues for Canadians including health care, child care and assistance for families in poverty, energy efficiency, and better support for retired people.

The non-confidence vote came days after the government presented the 2011-12 federal budget which Harper labeled as a 'responsible plan during a fragile economic recovery'.

The opposition strongly rejected the budget as they considered that it did not address the Canada's working class problems or introduced initiatives to strengthen the financial security of the population.

"We find that the priorities of this government are not the priorities of ordinary Canadians. There's nothing on affordable housing, there's nothing on child care. We're forced to reject the budget and we're also forced to reject a government that shows so little respect for parliamentary democracy and our democratic institution," said Ignatieff on Tuesday.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-26

[whybother]

Oh, they do work sometimes.

[canuckamuck]

The world economy is on the brink of collapse and the libs want more spending on social programs. I hope Harper gets a landslide to shut them all up.

[geriatrickid]

The world economy is on the brink of collapse and the libs want more spending on social programs. I hope Harper gets a landslide to shut them all up.

Here's my prediction

Liberal support collapses in Ontario with a heavy loss of Liberal and a few NDP seats outside of Toronto. The Tories will hold most of their Quebec seats perhaps losing a couple. The liberals will lose seats in Atlantic Canada and BC to the tories. Popular support for the NDP will drop. The Bloc will gain a couple percentage points and maybe a few seats. The end result either be a slim Tory majority or another minority government with the Liberals trying to make a coalition government with the NDP that will cause the public to react with anger and a new election will ensue a year later.

[canuckamuck]

The world economy is on the brink of collapse and the libs want more spending on social programs. I hope Harper gets a landslide to shut them all up.

Here's my prediction

Liberal support collapses in Ontario with a heavy loss of Liberal and a few NDP seats outside of Toronto. The Tories will hold most of their Quebec seats perhaps losing a couple. The liberals will lose seats in Atlantic Canada and BC to the tories. Popular support for the NDP will drop. The Bloc will gain a couple percentage points and maybe a few seats. The end result either be a slim Tory majority or another minority government with the Liberals trying to make a coalition government with the NDP that will cause the public to react with anger and a new election will ensue a year later.

Crikey! That is beginning to sound like Thailand, I hope they don't start wearing same colored shirts.

BTW, I think you are right.