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NEWS |
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| ELECTORNIC EDITION |
| 2007-09-26 |
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GLOBAL CHINESE PRESS |
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Dion fuels election talk with throne speech conditions
2007-09-26 13:36 CBC News | Stephen Harper's Conservatives must make major changes to the upcoming throne speech or the opposition Liberals will vote against it, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion warned Wednesday, adding fuel to speculation there could be a fall federal election.
"This hidden agenda will be stopped," Dion said after a meeting with Quebec caucus members in Montreal.
He said the Tories would scrap the gun registry and anti-greenhouse gas initiatives the moment they gained a majority — a result Dion contended would allow them to shape a "right-wing" Canadian government modelled after the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush.
"They cannot do it today because they have an Official Opposition facing them," Dion said.
The meeting came amid indications the beleaguered Liberal leader will face an uphill battle in convincing Quebecers to vote for his party in the next election and amid reports of dissent within the party's Quebec ranks over Dion's leadership.
Harper's Conservatives need the votes of at least one opposition party to survive a confidence vote on the Oct. 16 throne speech.
The Liberals want the Tory government to make a firm commitment to withdrawing combat troops from Afghanistan in early 2009 and to reintroduce clean air legislation, Bill C-30, that failed to make it into law during the last session.
Dion also said he wants more help for families and combating poverty, as well as a better plan for the Canadian economy as it faces the uncertainty of dollar parity and the unpredictable U.S. market.
Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe has already outlined five "non-negotiable" conditions Conservatives must accept if they want his party's support.
The conditions include the elimination of all federal spending powers in provincial jurisdictions and a call for the government to respect the Kyoto Protocol.
Since the Tories were elected in January 2006, the Bloc has helped the minority government survive three confidence votes, including two on federal budgets.
"We've laid out our conditions, but we'll see what the Liberals and the others do, and they'll face the consequences," Duceppe told reporters on Wednesday.
NDP Leader Jack Layton has said his party will wait to hear the throne speech before deciding how to vote.
'I am pleased when people underestimate me'
The Liberals have been reeling since the party's defeats in three Quebec byelections last week, including a loss to the NDP in the Liberals' traditional Montreal stronghold of Outremont.
In a CROP poll commissioned by La Presse, only 19 per cent of Quebecers surveyed said they would vote for the Liberals — the lowest percentage since Dion became leader. The poll surveyed 1,001 Quebecers between Sept. 13 and 23 and is considered accurate within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The Liberals took another hit Wednesday as Dion confirmed former astronaut and star candidate Marc Garneau was leaving political life. Garneau resigned as head of the Canadian Space Agency in 2005 to run, unsuccessfully, for the Liberals in Quebec in the 2006 federal election.
But Dion said his Quebec caucus was "united more than ever" in its determination to show the province what the Liberals have to offer.
"I am pleased when people underestimate me," he said. "I need to fight and win against a caricature of myself. And I will win." |
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