Erin O'Toole has found his bogeyman -- a "coalition government" between the Liberals and the NDP. Althea Raj writes:
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole had a hard time concealing his smile this week as he accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of forcing a “radical Liberal-NDP coalition agreement” down the throat of Grit MPs.
This (presumed) Liberal-NDP coalition would be a disaster for the economy, O’Toole said. It would “threaten the livelihood of millions of Canadians,” mean “billions of dollars of new spending to buy Jagmeet Singh’s silence,” “shut down Canadian energy and resource sectors,” “divide Canadians,” “threaten our national unity,” and make Canada “a poorer and less relevant nation,” the Tory leader suggested.
Except there isn't any coalition:
On Tuesday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was clear. “That is a firm ‘no’ for me. There is not going to be a coalition, at all. But I am prepared to find ways to work together.”
What that could mean runs the gamut from agreeing to fast-track legislation that both parties agree on (paid federal sick leave, the conversion therapy ban, housing affordability) to a kind of confidence and supply agreement, as experienced in British Columbia in 2017 between the NDP and the Greens. The talks are in their infancy.
Singh told reporters Canadians sent MPs back to Ottawa to “work for them,” and he wants Parliament to deliver.
It would be much better for O'Toole if Parliament didn't work:
Asked twice which topics he raised with the prime minister as possible areas of agreement, O’Toole only mentioned reconciliation. The role of the opposition, he suggested, was to oppose, to question, to scrutinize, to “ask questions about the ethical conduct of Justin Trudeau” rather than to try to work with the government to influence policies.
The Liberals are looking for some stability:
They want to avoid what they view as the toxic partisanship that characterized some of the Commons’ committees during the last sitting, where MPs held late night meetings, tried to call members of the prime minister’s family as witnesses, and dragged political staff to testify. They’d welcome the breathing room a long-term co-operation agreement could provide, where the NDP agrees not to defeat the Liberals on confidence matters such as the throne speech or the budget.
The Conservatives are working from the Republican playbook south of the border.
Image: The Toronto Star
