bonoman said:
So all us Canadians, or people who follow our politics (melon), what are your thoughts?
LOL...I'm amused that you bothered to mention me.
I'm not surprised at all that Harper is going to try for another election, because the Liberals have hit a real weak point with the sponsorship scandal. Harper probably feels that he has everything to gain; if he doesn't get an outright majority or even a minority government, he probably feels that he can, at least, increase the number of Conservative MPs. We're talking about a party that's been in a slump for over a decade, so I do think that, beyond all the rhetoric, Harper is being both realistic and strategic about it. Ultimately, what does he have to lose right now?
Realistically, I know Canada probably does not want another election, but minority governments collapse in an average of 18 months. At least you can say that it didn't collapse in a day, which is exactly what happened in the early 20th century. Then the Liberal minority government became a majority in the next election.
Which brings me to my next point: elections can sometimes backfire. The sponsorship scandal is nothing new at all, and the Conservatives have continued to show their true colors during these past few months. Voters may be disillusioned with the Liberals over this scandal, but they may still not want to hand power over to Harper.
In many ways, the problems with Canadian democracy are the same afflictions hitting the UK's democracy: having to choose between a lackluster leader and a perceived "nutty" leader (although I have to say that Howard in the UK is exponentially more sane than Harper). In other words, the Liberals might be able to squeak by again, merely because Harper and the Conservatives might just be way too "conservative" for modern Canada.
Melon