At this point they are doing it because they no longer believe that Harper is amenable to working with anybody. Given that he's acting like King Stephen instead of a minority PM, I don't blame them.
Look, I don't necessarily think this is a great idea - in fact, it'll probably be a gong show. But the Conservatives have only themselves to blame - actually Harper specifically. There are reports that several Conservative MPs and Cabinet members begged him not to put the public funding provision in and he ignored them. If you watched the Q&A period today, you'll see that a couple of very prominent cabinet members, including the Minister of Justice (Nicholson) did not stand up and clap for Harper. So I think the party at this point realizes that he spent 2 years antagonizing and bullying the opposition and finally crossed the line.
Regardless of what happens, the Harper government won't last very long. I thought they'd have 2 years but clearly that's far too long. This level of ineptitude has been stunning.
Look, I don't necessarily think this is a great idea - in fact, it'll probably be a gong show. But the Conservatives have only themselves to blame - actually Harper specifically. There are reports that several Conservative MPs and Cabinet members begged him not to put the public funding provision in and he ignored them. If you watched the Q&A period today, you'll see that a couple of very prominent cabinet members, including the Minister of Justice (Nicholson) did not stand up and clap for Harper. So I think the party at this point realizes that he spent 2 years antagonizing and bullying the opposition and finally crossed the line.
Regardless of what happens, the Harper government won't last very long. I thought they'd have 2 years but clearly that's far too long. This level of ineptitude has been stunning.