FOR THE second time in less than two years, Canadians will head to the polls in federal elections. For only the second time in their history, they will do it over the Christmas holidays. Their exasperation with their politicians over this state of affairs is palpable.
Unfortunately for them, few Canadians have anyone they can turn to in order to 'punish' their leaders: Most everyone is somehow culpable.
The Opposition, wanting to force elections on an unpopular government, but unwilling to take the blame for a holiday election, proposed a compromise whereby the government would promise to step aside in early January. The Liberal government called its bluff, saying that it could only step aside if parliament voted non-confidence in it. That happened on Monday.
The loss for the governing party means an election for all 308 seats in the lower House of Commons, on January 23. Martin and his Cabinet would continue to govern until then.
Opposition leaders last week called for the no-confidence vote after Prime Minister Paul Martin rejected their demands to dissolve Parliament in January and hold early elections in February Monday's vote follows a flurry of spending announcements in Ottawa last week, with the government trying to advance its agenda ahead of its demise.
The result of the no-confidence vote is a holiday campaign, which the government is hoping Canadians will blame on the opposition Conservatives, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois.
That eventuality is far from certain. Polls indicate that public opinion in Canada has held remarkably steady. Unless one party pulls off a very effective campaign, the likelihood is that the elections will return a new parliament very much like the old one. The result would be another minority government, probably Liberal.
The only clear winner may be Quebec's separatists. Emboldened at a time of weakness in Ottawa, they may push for yet another independence referendum (dismissed by weary federalists as
'neverendums'). Fear of that eventuality may actually benefit the Liberals. But they are so unpopular, even fear may not help them.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
