Whisper
August 26th, 2008, 02:27 PM
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper portrayed a snap election as a virtual certainty Tuesday morning and hinted it will likely be triggered next week, before three Sept. 8 by-elections.
At an Ottawa press conference Tuesday, Mr. Harper insisted he would not be breaking his word by disregarding his own fixed-election-date law that sets voting day in October, 2009, insisting that opposition parties want to bring down the government before then, so it is up to him to remove doubts about who will govern.
“They're committed to an election well before then. If they're clearly committed to that course of action, and I think they are, then it behooves the government to provide some responsibility,” he said.
“The country must have a government that can function during a time of economic uncertainty, and if it's not this government, or not this Parliament, the public will have an opportunity to decide whom.”
Mr. Harper had said previously he wants to meet opposition leaders before the Commons resumes Sept. 15 to see if he will be able to advance his fall agenda – although he has not indicated specifically what that entails.
But Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has proposed a meeting Sept. 9, a day after three by-elections slated in Ontario and Quebec, and Mr. Harper hinted Tuesday he won't wait that long.
“The opening is to talk at any opportunity. Not to wait three weeks to have a meeting. Obviously…that indicates a fundamental difference between the government and the opposition parties”
Mr. Dion said Tuesday he is perfectly prepared to meet with what he calls a “panicking” Prime Minister before Parliament is scheduled to resume, but he stressed that Mr. Harper has no intention of holding serious talks with the opposition parties. He suggested Mr. Harper is fabricating a crisis as a way of masking that he's about to break the Conservatives' legislated promise on fixed election dates.
Mr. Dion said Mr. Harper's officials did not indicate any urgency when he was contacted about a meeting with the Prime Minister eight days ago. The Liberal Leader said Mr. Harper is simply trying to force an election before the slowing economy shows Conservative policy shortcomings, and before parliamentary committees can explore the Tories' “ethical” problems.
Although he did not set any deadline for a meeting with Mr. Dion, there could be little doubt that Mr. Harper is now leaning – at least – toward calling a national election before Sept. 8, cancelling the by-elections.
“We'll have to judge whether it's appropriate to ask people to vote twice in the space of a few weeks,” he said.
The opposition has argued that Mr. Harper has manufactured a phony crisis by claiming that the Parliament is dysfunctional when it is his party that has caused most of the obstruction.
And Mr. Dion's Liberals have asked why Mr. Harper is rushing a meeting that was initially supposed to be set before the Commons resumes sitting Sept. 15.
But Conservative election plans are all but cast in stone at this point, with the campaign machine being geared up and his advisers making little pretence that anything could stop an election call now.
Mr. Harper, in fact, said today his opponents have had fair warning:
“The opposition parties have been threatening and or demanding an election for some time, so I think if that is eventually where we have to go, I don't think they will at this point be able to say they're the least bit surprised.”
At an Ottawa press conference Tuesday, Mr. Harper insisted he would not be breaking his word by disregarding his own fixed-election-date law that sets voting day in October, 2009, insisting that opposition parties want to bring down the government before then, so it is up to him to remove doubts about who will govern.
“They're committed to an election well before then. If they're clearly committed to that course of action, and I think they are, then it behooves the government to provide some responsibility,” he said.
“The country must have a government that can function during a time of economic uncertainty, and if it's not this government, or not this Parliament, the public will have an opportunity to decide whom.”
Mr. Harper had said previously he wants to meet opposition leaders before the Commons resumes Sept. 15 to see if he will be able to advance his fall agenda – although he has not indicated specifically what that entails.
But Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has proposed a meeting Sept. 9, a day after three by-elections slated in Ontario and Quebec, and Mr. Harper hinted Tuesday he won't wait that long.
“The opening is to talk at any opportunity. Not to wait three weeks to have a meeting. Obviously…that indicates a fundamental difference between the government and the opposition parties”
Mr. Dion said Tuesday he is perfectly prepared to meet with what he calls a “panicking” Prime Minister before Parliament is scheduled to resume, but he stressed that Mr. Harper has no intention of holding serious talks with the opposition parties. He suggested Mr. Harper is fabricating a crisis as a way of masking that he's about to break the Conservatives' legislated promise on fixed election dates.
Mr. Dion said Mr. Harper's officials did not indicate any urgency when he was contacted about a meeting with the Prime Minister eight days ago. The Liberal Leader said Mr. Harper is simply trying to force an election before the slowing economy shows Conservative policy shortcomings, and before parliamentary committees can explore the Tories' “ethical” problems.
Although he did not set any deadline for a meeting with Mr. Dion, there could be little doubt that Mr. Harper is now leaning – at least – toward calling a national election before Sept. 8, cancelling the by-elections.
“We'll have to judge whether it's appropriate to ask people to vote twice in the space of a few weeks,” he said.
The opposition has argued that Mr. Harper has manufactured a phony crisis by claiming that the Parliament is dysfunctional when it is his party that has caused most of the obstruction.
And Mr. Dion's Liberals have asked why Mr. Harper is rushing a meeting that was initially supposed to be set before the Commons resumes sitting Sept. 15.
But Conservative election plans are all but cast in stone at this point, with the campaign machine being geared up and his advisers making little pretence that anything could stop an election call now.
Mr. Harper, in fact, said today his opponents have had fair warning:
“The opposition parties have been threatening and or demanding an election for some time, so I think if that is eventually where we have to go, I don't think they will at this point be able to say they're the least bit surprised.”