As
noted earlier,
we’ve got a minority government embroiled in a nasty scandal and an
Opposition that sniffs blood in the water. So, what happened? The NDP, our
left-wing party, agreed to prop up the Liberal government on
condition that they get all sorts of social-democratic goodies into the Federal
budget. But that’s not quite enough votes to do the job, and the Loyal
Opposition, currently the Conservatives (Tories) and BQ (Québec separatists),
were going to try to vote down the budget and precipitate an election.
So the Liberals went out and bought themselves another vote, bribing
prominent Tory billionairess bimbo
Belinda Stronach
away to the Liberal side with a plummy cabinet job.
That still wasn’t quite enough; vote-counters came up with 151 solid votes on
the Government side, 152 against, and maverick Independent MP
Chuck Cadman sitting
on the fence.
Well, the vote happened this afternoon and nobody knew what was going to
happen up until the second they called Chuck’s name; he stood up to vote with
the Government, producing a tie, which due to parliamentary arcana that need
not concern us is a government win.
Bedlam erupted. I’m irritated because I wanted an election now, but I think
the result is probably fair because near as I can tell a slight majority of
the citizens would rather wait a few more months.
You couldn’t make this stuff up.
[Update: I’m getting lots of push-back on “bimbo”.]
Several have criticized me for calling Belinda a bimbo; most on the grounds that it’s cheap-shot sexism, one actually defending her action in this case as principled, on the ground that the Tories generally suck. I’m no fan of the Tories but the proposition that this action is principled is just too much for me to swallow. I think the cheap-sexism pushback does have a point, though.
Still, I don’t know. Belinda, daughter of a charismatic zillionnaire, dropped out of college after one year to work in Dad’s company; fifteen years later she was appointed CEO, with Dad still in the saddle as chairman. The company did well during her tenure, but based on my knowledge of how founders behave, I tend to be suspicious of who deserves the credit. She was appallingly bad as a Tory leadership candidate, and now, hey-presto, she’s maneuvered herself into a senior Cabinet position.
However, “bimbo” specifically carries tits-&-ass connotations, and I’ve never noticed her pulling those kinds of tricks. So, withdrawn. But this is still the worst kind of gender-nonspecific political whoredom. And Paul Martin is the john.
