I don't think Harper wants to provide the public with more information on Afghanistan. In concert with his big push for an election, he'll want to paint the current government in the best possible light. The fact of the matter is that we were right there next to the Americans taking the country apart, but nobody at the time seems to have put any thought into how to put it all back together again once Dubya was done playing cowboy. For a force that's known worldwide for our peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts, that's just shameful.
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Originally Posted by Ace_O_Spades
I don't like the Conservatives, no. I'll admit that. However, I also believe a minority parliament demands compromise between the various parties in order to come to a solution that represents the interests of all Canadians, not just the ones that put Conservative MP's in office during the last election. By flat out rejecting any amendments to their confidence motions, the Conservatives are just asking for an election, passing up any real opportunity for constructive input on the issue in favour of a troop "surge".
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QFT. A minority government by it's very nature suggests that the PM is
not speaking from the position of having the bulk of the country's support. Normally this keeps itself in check (and I don't think any Canadians reading this need a lesson in how parliament works, so I won't go into how) but with Harper basically holding parliament hostage with this whole confidence motion idea of his, the way things normally work go out the window. To be fair to Mr. Harper, though, it's not entirely his fault. After all, who's going to stand up to him? Layton? I don't even know how Dion managed to get into parliament in the first place. The man is completely ineffectual as a party leader. Until the Grits get their act together, Harper does basically have a free pass. Why wouldn't he take advantage of it?
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Originally Posted by Ace_O_Spades
This is something that is the antithesis of the Harper government: transparency. He has such a stranglehold on his ministers that they might as well not even exist. They are not allowed to comment outside of established Harper doctrine, and are not allowed to speculate on affairs they are qualified to comment on. They are generally just conduits for talking points coming out of the PM's office. This is not a healthy government, it is Harperville. [section edited out because it was a tangent]
This is about far more than what government is in power. The Conservative government seems more concerned about going to the polls than about negotiating a sound and competent strategy for Canada's future in Afghanistan.
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Also agreed. And this, in my mind, is Harper's biggest problem. If the man were getting things done my personal politics would be a non-issue. However, he seems far more concerned about the politics, and about not having to fill out change-of-address forms after the next election that he's raring for. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan people are getting killed. Young Canadian men and women, yes, but not just them. And yet nobody seems interested in coming up with a solution to this. I don't blame our troops for not wanting to be there. Why would anyone want to be in a country where they face death every day and are accomplishing so little that it's hardly even worth recounting?