While it is safe to say Tory Leader Harper will change his mind again over this, it is amazing how dense he is on his propects to retain vital seats in Newfoundland, seats he needs to ever hope to win even a slim minority mandate propped up by Quebec separatists:
The Conservatives say they will attempt to block the government's two budget bills from being passed before the House of Commons summer recess to protest against what they say is excessive and unaccountable spending. And Conservative Leader Stephen Harper warned yesterday that his party may make further attempts to force an election, although he doubts they would succeed as long as the NDP supports the Liberals.A key chunk of that non-deficit spending is the million a day Newfoundland is losing due to the delay, money it will get under the accord struck with Ottawa, the accord allowing it to keep oil and gas revenue like Harper's Alberta does, the one that makes Newfoundland a "have" province in theory. The words of Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams will turn out to be prophetic.
Comments
Alan - May 28, 2005 3:23 pm
Apparently recent performances have stabilized the perception of the Tories in mainland Canada as well as <i>The Star</i> reports:<blockquote class="smalltext">The Conservatives continue to slump in voter support despite daily allegations of Liberal sponsorship misdeeds, a new poll suggests. The phone survey by Decima Research Inc. puts the Liberals ahead with 36 per cent of decided voters compared to 27 per cent for the Conservatives and 21 per cent for the NDP. In the crucial battleground of Ontario where one-third of Commons seats are centred, the Liberals lead by 16 percentage points.</blockquote>That was a short new era of Tory hope a month ago, wasn't it.