The Conservatives baked their bread now they can eat it
Snap! For aeons, the Liberals and the NDP have been in an adversarial relationship, fighting for the support of left-leaning voters (who are, in fact, the majority of Canadian voters). Because of this split, the (relatively) newly formed Conservative Party has been able to form 2 consecutive minority governments.
It was a miserable set up, and I had despaired that the Liberals and the NDP would ever be provoked enough to patch up their differences enough that they could form a coalition government. It would take some serious asshole manouvers on the part of the Conservatives for this to happen.
Luckily for us, Stephen Harper is just such an asshole. For the past few weeks, the talk has been all about Harper's new-found maturity and consensus-seeking in the face of Canada's bleak financial prospects.
Hah!
As Jeffery Simpson wrote in Saturday's Globe and Mail:
The miscalculations have been stunning. Mr. Harper's strategy has accomplished already the near-impossible: to bring the Liberals and NDP together.
He had so many other, less partisan options at a time of economic crisis and grave national concern. That he acted in this fashion, at this time, was enormously revealing. And very sad.
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