The votes on the Speech from the Throne will either sustain Canada’s Conservative government or topple it, sending the country to the polls later this fall. And while many Ottawa insiders believe that, in the end, the government will not fall on the Throne Speech, the opposition parties sent out the call to supporters this week looking for money, just in case they have to fight an election.
I have not seen a ‘we need money’ letter from the federal Conservatives. One may exist but I also suspect that the Conservatives have plenty of cash to fight an election already. It’s the other parties that need to match the Conservatives.
Here’s Conservative-turned-Liberal Garth Turner’s pitch to Liberal supporters, contained in an e-mail that landed in my inbox today:
[Stephen Harper and the Conservatives favour] a concept called ‘incremental Conservativism’ – a plan for a right-wing government to hoodwink voters by making popular, moderate promises and then, once in majority, to unleash a pure, hardcore fundamentalist agenda.
Why would Tom Flanagan admit this in print? Because he’s telling Mr. Harper’s social conservative supporters to be patient, to lie in the weeds, and wait for unsuspecting Canadians to give this minority government a majority mandate.
My opposition to this agenda that the majority of my constituents do not want is what drove me from the Conservative caucus. I joined Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party to stand up for the agenda of tolerance and moderation and ethics in Ottawa. And now we need you.
All Canadians need to be told what the stakes are in the next election. That takes money, and your small donation will help get that message out. It is so important.
Mr. Harper and Mr. Flanagan have this all figured out. You and I and Stephane Dion stand in their way. Please take the time to donate, and give us the weapons to fight for the best interests of Canada.
Mind you, the NDP believes that Turner, Dion and the Liberals are ready to lie down and take one for the team when the Throne Speech comes down. In the NDP pitch for funds, which was sent by e-mail Thursday from Éric Hébert-Daly at NDP Election Headquarters, the NDP says only Jack Layton is ready to stand up to Harper:
You know that it’s just a matter of time before Stephen Harper’s Conservative government falls. With a confidence vote on Harper’s Throne Speech next Tuesday, we could be in an election as early as next week.
With his leadership in crisis, Stéphane Dion and the Liberals are looking inward, focusing on internal strife – they’re in no position to stand up to the Conservatives.
So it’s up to Jack Layton and New Democrats like you and I to take on Harper.
I’m writing to ask you to make a generous pre-campaign donation right now. I need your help to ensure the NDP is election-ready before this crucial confidence vote.
Stephen Harper will be using the Throne Speech vote to secure a mandate that is wrong for today’s families.
With money in the bank, the corporate-backed Conservatives are ready for an election. Harper is betting that the opposition will be intimidated into giving him a free pass.
It’s time for the other parties to show their cards. Who will stand up to Stephen Harper’s agenda?
I’m a little curious how the NDP figures the Conservatives are ‘corporate-backed’. With new campaign finance laws, corporations (or unions, for that matter) can’t give money to any party. And back in the days when corporations could, it was the federal Liberal Party that reaped the most money from Corporate Canada. Moreover, the Conservatives huge success in raising money has come as a result of being the party which is best at tapping into small ‘grassroots’ donations.
And, finally, here is Green Party deputy leader Adrienne Carr from e-mail pitch yesterday:
Last week, Mr. Harper told the opposition parties that they must support his entire agenda or force an election. Or, to use his words, “It's time to fish or cut bait.”
But what does his ultimatum mean?
It means that from now on it’s Harper’s way or the highway. It means government refusing to listen to other ideas. It means:
The last thing Canadians want is to spend millions of their tax dollars on the third general election in four years. But if it comes down to a choice between giving Harper free rein to force through his agenda unchanged or giving Canadians the opportunity to cast judgment on the dangerous direction he is taking our nation, the decision is easy.
… We need to hire people so that we can fully prepare our slate of candidates. We need to get our election signs, pamphlets and ads into production. We need to set up canvasses and phone banks to reach out to voters. We need to finalize thousands of details for Elizabeth’s campaign tour.
What we need most to accomplish all of this is money, and lots of it. Elizabeth came a close second in the London North by-election last fall. Her fully-funded $80,000 campaign needed every dollar. (Thank you to everyone who donated!)
I cannot imagine a Green who doesn’t think as I do: that this election is the chance for us to break through. The people and the planet are with us. To be a major player in this election and elect Canada’s first Green Party MPs, we must build a massive Hope Chest, and we need to do it right now. We must ready ourselves to mount a campaign the likes of which we’ve never run before.
So I am joining Elizabeth in asking you, for the sake of Canada and the planet, please donate now
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, by the way, has already launched her campaign Web site. She hopes to unseat Defence Minister Peter MacKay in the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova.