Hey Canada dudes, what's going on with your government?

[Nev]

Seriously, I saw some headlines that looked like some serious drama -"Liberal government narrowly avoids collapse after Speaker breaks tie on budget issue"...

[Julius Seeker]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/election2005/

[SineSwiper]

So, they voted on two things. I don't understand how this would "topple" their party/government. What minority party does the liberals side with anyway? (You have four parties, correct?)

[Oracle]

In this last vote, the NDP and Liberals voted together.

How would this topple the government? The issue was also a vote of non-confidence. If the government had been defeated in the vote, the Prime Minister would have been obligated to call an election. Odds are, if this would have happened, the Liberals would not be voted back into power.

[Julius Seeker]

I doubt the Conservatives would defeat them though, especially since they have shot themselves in the foot by alligning themselves with the BQ.

[Zeus]

So, they voted on two things. I don't understand how this would "topple" their party/government. What minority party does the liberals side with anyway? (You have four parties, correct?)

Since there's 4 parties in power and 3 indepedents, when we have a minority government, they can't get anything passed without the help of one or more of the other parties. Since it was a minority goverment (for the Liberals, our basic version of the Democrats), the main opposition (the Conservatives, our version of the Republicans) tried to go after them with a no-confidence vote, which would have sent the country to the polls 6 weeks after the motion passed. Of course, in order to help get that passed, they needed the help of one of the other 2 parties. The Bloc Quebeqois (the separatist party which won a lot of seats in Quebec, where the idiotic French live) sided with the Conservatives. That gave them 152 votes (it was 153 until some chick defected, but that's another story) with two of the independants (think of a congressman with no party affiliation). The Liberals got the NDP on their side (our version of Nader's Green party) by putting concessions into the budget to please them (that was the other thing voted on in the same day).

So, it boiled down to 152-151 with one independant left to vote. He voted and ties it and the Speaker of the House (I'll let you figure that one out), who is, of course, a Liberal (since they are the most represented party) voted to break the tie. First time ever.

This is the downside to having multiple parties. The primary opposition will try and gain power if a minority government comes in. In theory, it should work well as at least 2 of the parties need to be represented in order to pass anything. That way, you SHOULD have more of the population covered in any budget, motion, etc. But you have to get the power struggle out of the way first, which is what's happening now

[Julius Seeker]

Well, I am perfectly alright with how things happened, the NDP got their way, and the NDP is my party =)

[SineSwiper]

What's a confidence/non-confidence vote? Can the opposition decide to vote for elections any time they want?

[Zeus]

What's a confidence/non-confidence vote? Can the opposition decide to vote for elections any time they want?

No, they can hold a "no confidence" motion which all the members in the House vote on. It basically means that those who vote "no confidence" have no confidence (go figure) in the party's ability to lead the nation, and thus, an election must be held (if a majority vote this way). Not really sure on the restrictions/requirements of this vote, but I THINK it's linked to other motions (in this case, the budget).

I really despise politics, so I never bothered with their petty little procedures. It all means nothing in the end anyways......

[SineSwiper]

Heh, I really wish we could do a no-confidence vote on our leader, but then again, our idiotic nation just voted for him again recently...

[kali o.]

Well, I am perfectly alright with how things happened, the NDP got their way, and the NDP is my party =)

Geeze, the NPD would be your party nerd.

It'll be Liberals on the Westcoast for the next long while. Even though everyone dislikes (alot) some of their recent policies, the NDP was such a massive fuckup when they were around...

[Julius Seeker]

What the hell atre you talking about? The NDP has not had any power whatsoever in over 30 years; and that was a very productive time in Canadian history.

I support the NDP party because they are the strongest supporters of the medical field, which is my field. What about that does not make sense?

Also, didn't Vancouver vote all liberal and NDP in the last federal election?

[Zeus]

What the hell atre you talking about? The NDP has not had any power whatsoever in over 30 years; and that was a very productive time in Canadian history.

I support the NDP party because they are the strongest supporters of the medical field, which is my field. What about that does not make sense?

Also, didn't Vancouver vote all liberal and NDP in the last federal election?

He was talking about when the NDP ran Ontario. They weren't prepared at all, it was a disaster