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Liberals, In trouble...

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J.P Chater (PC)

Posted: Apr 22 2005, 09:47 AM

Unregistered

QUOTE (CBC)

Opposition unmoved, election threat remains
Last Updated Fri, 22 Apr 2005 10:00:13 EDT
CBC News

OTTAWA - Leaders of the three federal opposition parties condemned the prime minister's speech to the nation on Thursday, saying Paul Martin was trying to make a national emergency out of what was, in fact, a Liberal scandal.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper denounced the prime minister's offer to call an election within 30 days of Justice John Gomery's final report on the sponsorship scandal. Harper called the address "a sad spectacle" of a leader "so burdened with corruption in his own party he is unable to do his job."

"The government has no vision for the nation, because Mr. Martin is consumed by the image of corruption and he is crippled by dithering instead of deciding."

Harper said Martin knew what he was doing when he called an election in 2004 before the facts of the sponsorship scandal could come out.

"Don't forget, never forget," Harper said in French, "the sponsorship scandal is not a Quebec scandal, it is a Liberal scandal that occurred in Quebec."

Bloc Qu�b�cois Leader Gilles Duceppe could barely contain his contempt. Duceppe said Martin's extraordinary move was nothing more than an attempt "to save the Liberal Party of Canada.

"The Liberal party said it wanted to promote federalism, but in reality the Liberals tried to buy the soul of Quebecers," Duceppe said in English. "It's not a Quebec scandal, it's a Liberal scandal created in Ottawa."

"It has now been proven that the Liberal Party of Canada misappropriated public funds for its own purposes and covered up acts of corruption, which is profoundly anti-democratic."

Although less strident, NDP Leader Jack Layton also said it was a "Liberal crisis, not a national one."

Layton appeared to offer some support to Martin, if the Liberals move to change some elements in the budget legislation.

"The NDP's in no rush to judge the scandal, but we are in a rush to get something done through getting a better budget passed," said Layton.

But from the tenor of the Conservative and BQ leaders, it appears Martin's plea for the opposition to wait until Gomery hands down his final report has been rebuffed.

Dominique-Luc LaRousseau (NDP)	Posted: Apr 23 2005, 10:33 AM
Unregistered	So long as Harper doesn't take control, I am happy.

J.P Chater (PC)	Posted: Apr 23 2005, 10:35 AM
Unregistered	I've just received the newest Maclean's magazine, and by the looks of things - it looks like a Tory government. I'm guessing a minority.

Micheal Stewart (Lib)	Posted: Apr 23 2005, 12:44 PM
Unregistered	When I read the Liberals were in trouble...I immediatley thought that you meant in this game...

J.P Chater (PC)	Posted: Apr 23 2005, 03:52 PM
Unregistered	Maybe that too

J.P Chater (PC)

Posted: Apr 24 2005, 09:08 AM

Unregistered

QUOTE (CBC.CA)

NDP leader Jack Layton reiterated on Saturday that he's willing to support the Liberals if the federal budget is adjusted to remove a corporate tax break.

Layton said, however, that any talks on shoring up support for the beleaguered minority government will focus only on budget matters, not saving the Liberals.

They've seen public support plunge in recent weeks in the face of damaging testimony at the inquiry into the sponsorship scandal.

"It's really not about propping up anything," Layton told CBC Newsworld. "In fact, we now know there's going to be an election. It'll be about the corruption issue. It's a question of whether it will be sooner or whether it will be in the wintertime."

Stephen Harper's Conservatives this week introduced a motion in the House of Commons that calls on the government to resign. The first possible date the motion could be put to a vote is May 18. If passed, the motion would trigger a June election.

Layton said his offer to throw his 19-member caucus behind the minority government hinges on the Liberals' agreement to remove a tax break the NDP doesn't like.

"What we're trying to do is get something done. We've got a budget that's sitting there. It needs to be improved. It's got a giant corporate tax cut that came by surprise, to get Mr. Harper's support, I guess."

Layton said he's not sure who approached whom about holding talks between the New Democrats and Liberals. He added he hopes a meeting will be held "soon."

If the NDP sides with the Liberals, they'd still have less than 50 per cent support from the members of Parliament.

Three of the federal leaders � Layton, Harper and Martin � are scheduled to be in Toronto on Sunday to attend a Sikh community parade.

J.P Chater (PC)

Posted: Apr 24 2005, 06:52 PM

Unregistered

QUOTE

Harper says Martin wants 10-month campaign
CTV.ca News Staff

Paul Martin and Jack Layton appear to be going through the motions of making a deal for a vote on the budget, but anything they come up with is unlikely to save the Liberal government from defeat next month.

Prime Minister Paul Martin and NDP Leader Jack Layton are both in Toronto today for an appearance at a Sikh community event, as is Conservative Leader Stephen Harper. There are reports Martin and Layton will talk sometime today.

As of Friday night, the Conservatives had put in place three motions to defeat the government, something that is likely to happen in mid-May.

Martin's officials reached out to the NDP leader on Friday, one day after Layton offered to throw his 19-member caucus's support to the minority Liberal government -- if the Liberals altered their budget to cancel billions in corporate tax cuts.

Such a deal would leave the government still a few votes short of being able to halt a non-confidence motion that would be fully supported by the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois.

Public opinion polls show dramatic rise in support for Tories and the BQ, in the wake of damaging allegations from the sponsorship inquiry about how taxpayers' money was funneled to the Quebec wing of the federal Liberal party.

Harper, appearing on CTV's Question Period Sunday, had little sympathy for Martin's plea that Canadians be allowed to hear the final report on the sponsorship scandal later this year, before being sent to the polls.

Justice John Gomery, who is leading the inquiry, has recently extended hearings and won't report until November, at the earliest.

"As I pointed out, the prime minister chose last year to call an election not just without a report from Gomery but without even hearing a single witness," Harper said.

"So I don't take his argument all that seriously�. and I think we have a practical difficulty, which is we don't know when Judge Gomery will report and we don't really know if he will report."

Harper would not tip his hand about when he might force an early election, but added the prime minister is already campaigning.

"I'm in danger of not catching up, if I don't get on with an election here, but so I think it's a bit disingenuous for the prime minister to say we shouldn't have an election," Harper said.

"What the prime minister wants is a 10-month election campaign where he can go around the country throwing around tax dollars like crazy to try and smother the stench of corruption. I don't happen to think that's in the best interests of the country."

Martin, also appearing on Question Period, continued to make his pitch for an election later rather than sooner.

"I really do hope that Judge Gomery is allowed to report," he said. "I think if you're going to have an election based on Gomery, you ought to have his report in hand -- I think Canadians are entitled to those answers."

Layton said he'll be making up his mind first about a vote on the budget, and will consider the non-confidence issue separately.

J.P Chater (PC)

Posted: May 1 2005, 08:22 AM

Unregistered

QUOTE

Polls show Liberals recovering
Last Updated Sat, 30 Apr 2005 23:47:16 EDT
CBC News

OTTAWA - Four polls in the past week all indicate the federal Liberals have regained some strength at the expense of the Conservatives after Prime Minister Paul Martin appealed to Canadians in a special television address and made a deal for the NDP's support.

* FROM APRIL 29, 2005: Polls show Tories have lost their lead

New polls by EKOS Research Associates and by Ipsos-Reid were released in weekend newspapers, both confirming two other polls earlier in the week that showed the Liberals and Conservatives were close to a tie in popular support.

The Ipsos-Reid poll, published in the National Post and the Canwest newspapers, showed the Conservatives still had a nominal lead, at 33 per cent to the Liberals' 30 per cent.

* FROM APRIL 21, 2005: Martin pledges election after final Gomery report

The EKOS poll, published in the Toronto Star and La Presse, showed the Liberals slightly ahead, with 33 per cent to the Conservatives' 31 per cent. But when the polls' margin of error is considered, the two parties are statistically matched.

Both polls were conducted between Tuesday and Thursday, after Martin had struck an agreement with Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party, to support the Liberals in the House of Commons in return for big increases in social spending in the federal budget.

* FROM APRIL 26, 2005: PM shells out $4.6B for NDP's support

EKOS interviewed 1,212 voters, which gave its poll a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points, 19 times in 20. Ipsos-Reid's sample was 1,000 voters, giving a statistical error rate of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.

The NDP was given support of 19 per cent by EKOS and 17 per cent by Ipsos-Reid.

Each poll gave the Bloc Qu�b�cois 12 per cent. The Green Party was the choice of 6 per cent in the EKOS survey and 5 per cent in the Ipsos-Reid poll.

Teddy	Posted: May 1 2005, 10:05 AM
Unregistered	the hidden agenda its like I tell all the tories I know "either you drop your principles or you win, you cant do both"

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