In the Upside-Down World of Quebec Sovereigntists ...

... it's all about imagining the past and remembering the future.

Get past it, mes amies. Your forebears may have lost that bygone war, but over time you eventually won the erstwhile peace. It's all been pretty much on your own terms for a while now.

And no hard feelings. Heck, when I was a kid, I was even a Habs fan in Leafs country.

So relax. People come to Quebec City for the history. And the history may bring in a good dollar or two. Under the current economic situation, you just might want to reconsider that whole 'cancelling the Plains of Abraham re-enactment' thing.

Federal Politics and the Quebec Election

In politics, as in comedy, timing is everything. But there is nothing particularly funny about the ill-considered timing of the three amigos' coalition accord, and the manner in which the Bloc has successfully manipulated the spin surrounding it.

As Quebec voters enter the final lap of the race for the stewardship of the National Assembly, the Parti Quebecois is feeling energized. They believe they are gaining momentum and the wind is at their back. And they have the Bloc to thank for it.

Separatist leaders are hailing Gilles Duceppe's skillful manipulation of the coalition partners, Messrs. Dion and Layton.

According to the Montréal Gazette, via the Journal de Montréal Jacques ('money and the ethnic vote') Parizeau "praises Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe for his “impressive victory,” in prying enough concessions out of the coalition of the New Democratic Party and Liberals to agree to back them."

Add to Parizeau's thumbs-up buoyancy the jubilant reaction of PQ leader Pauline Marois who "is using the crisis to advance her own cause in the provincial election campaign."

She says the agreement allows Quebec to get $1 billion in equalization payments it would not have otherwise had. On the other hand, Marois also says the crisis shows the Canadian federation no longer functions and Quebec should separate.

But as the spiritual leader of the PQ hardline, Parizeau’s comments can only help Marois stir Péquiste to get out and vote for her.

“This victory sweeps aside any hesitation Quebecers might have had on the presence of the Bloc in Ottawa,” Parizeau said.

It seems Christmas might have come early for the dynamic duo of fractious politics in Quebec.

And hey, did you hear the one about the three federalists who blindly reignited the separatist flame ...? Define irony.

Mississauga News Smacks Down Coalition

Just weeks ago, in the run-up to the general election, the Mississauga News gave its endorsement to Stephane Dion and the Liberals. No real surprise there. They might have endorsed Morris the Purina spokescat if he were a Liberal.

So, only weeks later, with the announcement of a possible Liberal-NDP coalition that relies upon support of the secessionist Bloc, the Mississauga News has come out white-hot against this configuration. If Mississauga South M.P. Paul Szabo picks up his usually friendly hometown paper, this is what he will read:

Canadians did not elect Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe as Prime Minister. Canadians did not elect New Democrat leader Jack Layton as Prime Minister. Canadians did not elect Liberal leader Stéphane Dion as Prime Minister.

What makes those three think they have the right — or the support of Canadians, as a whole — to overthrow a duly elected government and ignore the will of the people?

How dare they ignore the democratic process, trample on the rights, will and wishes of the Canadian people, and turn our electoral system into a joke?

[...]

In their quest for personal power, have Duceppe, Layton and Dion forgotten they are simply representatives of the Canadian people, individuals who serve the wishes and needs of the Canadian people, or has their greed and desire for the country’s ultimate political seat deluded them into thinking they are the ones who will determine the future of Canadians?

The leadership of this country should not be determined by a bunch of backroom political hacks whose parties couldn’t win support from voters.

This newspaper did not support the Conservatives during the election a mere six weeks ago. However, the Canadian people did support the Tories and elected them, and their leader, Stephen Harper, as our federal government.

When the people speak, all political parties would be wise to listen, or face the most dire consequences. Canadians will not soon forget the treacherous actions of Duceppe, Layton and Dion — not if we can help it.

And for those who read headlines, not analysis -- the same people who mistake a slogan for an argument -- the editorial is entitled "Party Leaders Lack Honour."

And, just to be clear, the News editorial finds the behaviour of all four major parties to be "sickening" and "shameful."

The Axis of Weasel

Conspirators of the Bananadian coup.

h/t SDA

Welcome to Bananada

El Primo Ministro Harper grafted a poison pill onto his minority government's economic statement. The opposition gangs balked.

The Harper government, in announcing a $28-million-a-year cut to taxpayer subsidies for political parties, thought it had a winner. Voters, feeling the pinch of tough times, surely would appreciate a measure that cut benefits for politicians.

What the proposal was really designed to do was give governing Conservatives a hefty partisan advantage into the future.

Conservatives are the most effective fundraisers in Parliament; their party doesn't need the taxpayers subsidies.

Secret meetings were held over the weekend between Papa Doc Chretien and Don Eduardo Broadbent to plot the details of a new Canadian junta to be installed after a pending parliamentary coup.

The official said NDP Leader Jack Layton asked Broadbent to call Chretien with the idea that the two elder statesmen could finesse a deal to defeat the minority Conservative government and form a coalition with support from the Bloc Quebecois.

The NDP and the Liberals together don't command a majority of the Commons seats.

A Librano hit man believes that it is imperative that Signor Harper and the Conservative gang of 143 be whacked ... now!

This becomes relevant because suddenly, he is weak. In fact, at this particular moment, he is almost unable to defend himself. Owing to a ridiculously ill-considered act of hubris, he has laid himself vulnerable to his opponents. Their imperative could not be more clear: kill him. Kill him dead. Do not, whatever you do, provide him with an opportunity to extend his hold on power. Because you can be damn certain he will never again be so reckless as to give you a chance to finish him off.

Generalissimo Dion and Colonel Layton have discussed the terms of the coalition junta and the division of powers, perks and entitlements.

A cabinet would be composed of 18 members from the Liberal Party and six from the New Democratic Party. The Bloc Quebecois agreed to support the coalition should it form a new government, the newspaper said today, citing unidentified people.

The coalition may vote to defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s six-week old government as early as Dec. 8. Liberals are undecided on whether the prime minister in such a coalition government should be party leader Stephane Dion or whether an interim leader be chosen, the newspaper said.

But would the new junta throw Generalissimo Dion under the bus?

The Liberals are taking the prospect so seriously that some MPs are privately discussing ways to dump Leader Stephane Dion without waiting for their party’s scheduled May 2 leadership vote.

And to add to the intrigue, Colonel Layton and rebel leader Duceppe had negotiated toppling the government some time ago. The pieces were already in place before the government's economic statement, rendering disingenuous any reference to that statement, or its lack of a "stimulus package" as the reason for an impending constitutional crisis.

Layton, however, appears deadly serious when he pitches the coalition as a potentially unifying force in federal politics.

"Nothing could be better for our country than to have the 50 (BQ) members out of 75 who've been elected in Quebec actually helping to make Canada a better place. We just approach it on that basis and say, 'We're willing to make that happen. Here are the things we're going to be investing in and transforming together.'

"If they're willing to work with us, we're willing to accept that offer."

All this for $1.95.

Parties currently receive $1.95 for every vote they receive in a federal election, provided they win at least two per cent of the nationwide popular vote. The annual subsidy is used to pay for staff and expenses.

On the surface, it would appear Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives have the most to lose if subsidies were cut because they garnered the most votes in the October election. The Conservatives earned $10 million in subsidies, compared to $7.7 million for the Liberals, $4.9 million for the NDP, $2.6 million for the Bloc Québécois and $1.8 million for the Greens.

But because the Conservatives have such a strong fundraising base, their subsidy represents only 37 per cent of the party's total revenues.

By comparison, the subsidy amounts to 63 per cent of the Liberals' funding, 86 per cent of the Bloc's, 57 per cent of the NDP's and 65 per cent of the Greens'.

In the throws of a nascent global economic crisis, the "axis of weasel" has chosen this moment to add political instability to the mix.

The last word here rightly belongs to the lonely voice of reason in this sorry affair.

Absolutely no one pins even a sliver of blame on the Liberals, the NDP or the Bloc. Of course not. Faced with the unreasonable and extreme proposal that they raise funds in the same way as the Conservatives have been doing for years — by asking people for their money, rather than taking it from them — they really had no alternative but to seize power. What on earth were they supposed to do? Revamp their moribund fund-raising organizations? Find a message and a leader capable of motivating large numbers of Canadians to click the “donate” button on their websites? Get off their collective duffs? What were the Tories thinking?

No. No, the sensible, restrained, pragmatic thing to do when threatened with the loss of subsidy is to take down the government. The sober, reasonable, moderate thing to do in this time of economic uncertainty is to provoke a constitutional crisis — to cobble together a coalition without a prime minister or a program, propped up by a separatist party, and demand the governor general call upon it to form a new government, replacing the old one we just elected. It’s been six weeks, after all.

Thank God that Canada has such statesmen in this time of peril, willing to put partisanship aside in pursuit of high office. What a contrast to those hyper-partisan, power-mad Conservatives, with their insane demands that the parties make do on the millions in tax credits and reimbursements they receive outside the subsidy.

Interesting times in Bananada.