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And just when you thought it was safe to go back near Canada's House of Commons...
When last we checked, a rookie Conservative MP (a former contender for her party's leadership and, some gossipped, the attentions of a certain ex-President) crossed the floor on the eve of a vote on the survival of the Liberal government...
Belinda Stronach's defection shocked her party -- and most Canadians -- and was the differance for Prime Minister Paul Martin and his Liberals. Shortly before, Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal -- who once boasted to a political reporter he was a key supporter of a bloody African despot -- said he had audio tapes of a top Liberal cabinet minister and the Prime Minister's chief of staff offering him and Mr. Grewal's wife (also a west coast member of parliament) inducements for sitting out the crucial vote. Just after word broke about the identity of Deep Throat, Mr. Grewal would not say if his tapes were made as part of a sting or a fishing trip. The Tory leader, the humourless Stephen Harper, refused to say if Mr. Grewal's shenanigans were sanctioned. When Mr. Grewal finally released the tapes, at least one forensic audio expert said there were indications they had been tampered with.
Meanwhile, in mainly french-speaking Quebec, a provincial premier who had long insisted that a 50%-plus-one vote would be enough to break up the country decided a 76.2% vote in favour of his leadership was insufficient and promptly resigned. Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois and most famous for his unfortunate choice of headgear, says he's thinking of running for the leadership.
While the Liberals survived the non-confidence vote -- with the help of the left-wing NDP -- there is no guarantee the government will survive the summer. The showdown will likely come over the government's bill to legalise same-sex marriage. Last week, a group of Liberal MPs met to discuss how to scuttle their government's own bill, and one, Pat O'Brien, later voted with his feet and left the party. The leader of this renegade crew is one Tom Wappel, a so-called "family values" MP, who once opposed divorce, until it allowed him to divorce his wife and marry his secretary.
Although the Liberal-NDP coalition's majority is still razor thin, it was bolstered by the absence of Gurmant Grewal. He's now on "stress leave" after the Mounties caught him soliciting passengers in the departure lounge of the Vancouer airport...
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Metafilter.
I saw this, and thought it was a very well written overview of the current Canadian political landscape of scandals. Sort of ridiculous really.
On the one hand, we have a minority government plagued by scandals from it's decade+ in power and, recently, for what it has done to hold onto it's minority government power.
On the other, we have the ravenous and envious western canadian political machine, desperate to claim it's turn at power in Ottawa.
And in the corner, we have the Bloc and the NDP, both gaining points from all the scandals flying back and forth.
While I do elect government to govern, I suppose many people are enjoying the political soap opera.
Anyone have any popcorn?