Thursday, October 22, 2020

Any Bets?

Justin Trudeau's government survived yesterday. But the Conservatives are already serving up another motion. Susan Delacourt writes:

The first wave of COVID-19 may have bridged some differences between the parties in the minority Parliament, but the second wave is hardening them.

Normally, political parties can ride out public anger about an unnecessary election, which tends to fade after a few days into the campaign. The stakes in 2020 are higher, and the anger might well have become an undercurrent right up to voting day, making results as unpredictable as the coronavirus.

On the face of it, Trudeau might well have the most to gain from an election before this year is out. Successive elections, at home and abroad, have shown that votes held during the pandemic tend to favour the government in charge and even offer the real prospect of gains.

But, when voters are angry -- really angry -- all bets are off:

The second wave of COVID-19 is basically an endurance test, and this is essentially the climate in which politics is now being conducted at the federal level. Just as we learned how many Canadians were living paycheque to paycheque in the first wave, Canada’s minority Parliament is lurching from one breaking point to another as 2020 draws to a close.

Is anyone taking bets on how long the present government can survive?

Image: tryQA.com


8 comments:

Toby said...

Whenever O'Toole or any of his inherited lap dogs start yapping I see Steven Harper wringing his hands with glee. As long as the CPC can cause trouble they will.

Owen Gray said...

I agree, Toby. Stephen Harper has never left the building.

Lulymay said...

Toby is absolutely correct, Owen. Harper is still pulling all the strings on behalf off HIS Reform party and therefore they will never have a hand picked leader who can deviate from the "gospel according to St. Stephen" script.

Justin was a refreshing alternative to that cold-eyed stare we had all come to know and hence that landslide. But Justin's personality was not enough to overcome the back room boys' advice he received from time to time, so here we are.

I suspect that when the next election is set, Justin will retire (his kids will all be teens with all those parental issues we have to experience) and Sophie has her own interests, so she will need help shepherding the clan into adulthood.

I just hope that voters will remember that Harper will still have his hands firmly on the tiller and we will be driven back into the land of low taxes for the wealthy and a few crumbs here and there for us regular folk. Oh, and no concern for climate change required.

Owen Gray said...

The Conservative Party changes leaders, Lulymay. But the Godfather still runs the family business.

rumleyfips said...

The reformatories think women are weak and are attacking Sophie and Maggie like a herd of rabid weasels. Sorry you old fool, Pierre Peackerhead, Aberdeen Angus et al; the times they are a changing.

Just look south. When they move into the Whitehouse, Jill Biden plans to keep working and being productive. No decorative token first lady there. Kamala will find plenty of work: the stable cleaning will take time, effort and talent.

The misogynistic trio above will get to see what women think of clowns like them Nov. 3.

Owen Gray said...

The fundamental problem these folks have, rumley, is that they start with the world they want -- not with the world they've got.

jrkrideau said...

I ran into a quote by Vladimir Putin from back in 2017 commentating on the results of the US election. Changing "Presidents" to "Conservative party leaders" we get

Conservative party leaders come and go, but the policies don’t change.

Owen Gray said...

That observation is absolutely accurate, jrk. Some folks spend their entire lives spinning their wheels.