OK. So I was wrong.

When Christy Clark became the latest Con stooge to denounce Thomas Mulcair,  for simply pointing out that the Dutch Disease is killing our manufacturing sector, I said it could only mean one thing.

Big Oil and its Con puppets were scraping the bottom of the barrel.

But I forgot I was living in the sinister petro state of Harperland.

Where the bottom of the dirty oil barrel goes all the way to China.

And I forgot about the Con Senate, and particularly Pamela Wailin’ . . .

“This is a cheap political ploy to pit eastern citizens against those in the West. Will Mulcair next attack the lentil business, the wheat and grain producers who have long fed the world — or perhaps the potash industry that allows the poor to bolster their depleted farmland in overpopulated areas?

“It’s time for Mulcair to act like a Canadian.”

And that like the Con turkey Mike Duffy, Wallin is capable of saying ANYTHING.

I mean can you believe that? As if Big Lentil is as dangerous as Big Oil. As if Mulcair wasn’t right. As if telling the truth was a crime.

These diatribes against anyone who even acknowledges potential downsides or side effects of the bitumen boom seem to herald a new, dangerous tendency in Canada’s political culture. Opposing a bitumen-exporting pipeline in Canada these days makes you a foreign-financed subversive. And it seems that questioning the economic effects of the bitumen export strategy makes you equally seditious. I call this “energy McCarthyism,” and it should be rejected forcefully not just by those concerned with Canada’s de-industrialization and staples dependency, but by those worried about the quality of our democracy.

As if those Cons weren’t selling us out to foreign interests. As if Albertans haven’t been screaming at those damn Easterners for 40 years over the National Energy Program. Which did to Alberta what Harper’s oil pimp policies are doing to the rest of Canada.

Which explains why the Cons and the other Big Oil stooges are attacking Mulcair like piranhas. They know a killer issue when they see one. But why is Stephane Dion joining in the feeding frenzy?

Stéphane Dion, the former Liberal leader, says he turned down a proposal from advisors to accuse Prime Minister Stephen Harper of favouring Alberta and the oil sands industry during the 2008 election campaign because he feared it would harm national unity.

He said Mr. Mulcair is effectively “giving up” on much of Western Canada and, if he forms a government in 2015, risks having little or no representation from provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan in his Cabinet.

Oh boy. When will he ever learn…

What Thomas Mulcair understands so well. He doesn’t have to win any seats in Alberta or Saskatchewan. All he has to do is win most of the seats in Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec, and he will BURY the Cons in the Tar Sands.

Which is one of the reasons he’s looking like a winner, and thanks to people like Stephane Dion, the Liberals are going nowhere.

Liberal support in Canada is steadily slipping as the New Democrats and Tories continue to battle for the top spot, the results of an exclusive poll for Global News indicate.

While the Grits may say that their troubles lie in finding the right candidate to lead the party, Ipsos Reid’s Darrell Bricker suggests the party may be losing a distinct voice in the political arena.

“The problem they’ve got is that they’re having a hard time finding their place in a debate about economic issues,” Bricker told Global News.

Yup. Mulcair is ruthless, the kind of leader these times demand. 

He has found a mighty issue, the truth is on his side. That’s why the Cons are running scared.

For 40 years Alberta used regional alienation like a blunt weapon.

Now it’s our turn . . .

Jack Layton’s. That’s right. Mr. blown opportunity himself.

But first, let’s get something straight: when the opposition parties started moving toward a non-confidence motion back in November, they weren’t capitalizing on an opportunity to topple a democratically-elected government; they were doing their jobs. The majority of Canadians did not vote for the Conservatives, which is why they are a minority government that deserves to be toppled if it refuses to collaborate with the other parties.

Those characterizing the opposition as undemocratic ought to crack a book: the events leading up to the proroguing of parliament were completely democratic. Messy and annoying, yes. Also utterly democratic. That is not my opinion: that is a fact of constitutional law in this country.

What is not a fact, but only my opinion, is that it was Harper who used the law to thwart democracy. The opposition MPs, for whom the majority voted, were presumably carrying out the will of the people. And Harper sidestepped them, sidestepped the properly elected majority. Why is nobody angry about that?

Or asking when it’s proper to prorogue parliament. It is extraordinary to use this process in order to prevent the due process of democracy. One famous instance occurred when King Charles I of England shut down parliament in 1628. He did not call it again until he needed money. (Harper may wish to note that Charles was executed in 1649.)

It is, though, reasonable to prorogue parliament to prevent hotheaded instability within government. Two elections in the space of a few months was too much to put Canadians through and the Governor General was correct to provide us with a cooling off period, particularly during the Christmas season.

But that doesn’t excuse Jack Layton for starting all this in the first place. Let’s not forget that Layton was the idjit who in 2005 brought down Paul Martin’s perfectly functional minority Liberal government. Thanks to him, we now have an arrogant and high-handed Prime Minister running yet another minority government that may well fall to the cluster of hysterics who currently lead the opposition parties. If Harper goes, can he take Jack with him?

One thing of which you can be certain: if you’re a western Canadian prime minister, they will eventually try to get rid of you. They, of course, being the central Canadian political operatives and parties who regard it as their congenital right to run the country.

It happened to Diefenbaker, it happened to Joe Clark, and now it’s happening to Stephen Harper. One could also argue that it happened to Kim Campbell, but that was more a matter of a compliant national media doing a Sarah-Palin on her, even before there was such a thing.

I didn’t vote for the Tories six weeks ago, mind. I don’t like most of their policies, and the ones I do like, like fairer representation by population, are liable to happen over time regardless. I also thought the Liberal Party divine right of rule had, for the foreseeable future, been interrupted. Boy, was I naive.

Then again, so too is anyone who thinks the current imbroglio has anything to do with the opposition parties’ concern for the country’s economic well-being, or rights of women, or welfare of the public service sector. What it did have to do with, last week, was Harper’s stupid feint at removing public financing of political parties. Great idea, Steve: now that you have a slightly stronger mandate than before, really go for the jugular. Ignore the fact that you’re still a minority government. The opposition couldn’t possibly get it together to . . . Oh wait. They could.

Since then, of course, Harper has withdrawn the public funding grab, leaving the opposition parties having to pretend they’ve been defending higher principles all along. Right; and sharks eat fish because of their ethical concern for preservation of the food chain.

The current situation may have something to do with the clash of right-wing and left-wing values, but so what? Just because I prefer the latter to the former doesn’t mean my team gets to form the government at any opportunity. The Conservatives represent the values of a lot of people in this country, especially where I live (BC) and where I came from (Alberta). They managed to collect a lot more seats than the next guys during the election, and that means, for the time being, their values prevail, whether I, or the sun court around Dion, Layton, and Duceppe, like it or not.

So if this mess does lead to another federal election, I will vote for the Tories, just to make the point that even people who don’t live in the 416 and 613 area codes and select left-wing ridings get to exercise their franchise too. In fact, I wouldn’t put it past Harper to have that very idea in mind; yet another bun-fight in which a fed-up electorate gives him the majority he blew last time.

In which case, nice work, Mr. Harper. You finally got me, when just about nothing else would have.

CP : “The Liberal motion, which has the approval of the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, reads:

‘In light of the government’s failure to recognize the seriousness of Canada’s economic situation and its failure in particular to present any credible plan to stimulate the Canadian economy and to help workers and businesses in hard-pressed sectors such as manufacturing, the automotive industry and forestry, this House has lost confidence in this government and is of the opinion that a viable alternative government can be formed within the present House of Commons.’

“A source says the opposition parties have agreed that Liberal Leader Stephane Dion would lead the government for the next few months.

“A combative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Friday the government won’t back down on a single measure, despite the opposition threats.

“‘We’re staying on track,’ Flaherty said in Toronto. ‘This is the financial plan of the government of Canada. This is a matter of confidence.’”

My god, Jim, I think you’ve finally got it!

Here’s Harper reacting to the opposition declaration.

Okay, everybody get that?

Steve says the opposition wants to install Dion and a coalition government using the support of a party that wants to destroy Canada when he got the mandate, he got it, I tell you, with his 37% of the vote.

Bottom line — To avoid the non-con vote, Steve’s going to postpone ways and means and opposition day till December 8th.

Good. Will give the coalition time to work on their 63% mandate.

If we used the Australian system of preferential voting, I would vote on Tuesday as follows:

1. Green
2. NDP
3. Liberal
4. Satan and his Minions Party
5. Conservative

Note: #4 assumes the ability to do write-ins. I don’t think Satan is directly running a candidate in my riding.

Under this system, if no candidate got the majority of the votes, the party getting the least votes would be eliminated from consideration, and the second choice of those who had voted for them would be counted. If there was still no majority, the party now with the lowest number of votes would be eliminated, and so on until one party had a clear majority.

So let’s say I was in a riding where polls indicated the following support:

• Conservatives: 33%
• Liberals: 32%
• NDP: 25%
• Green: 10%

And let’s say actual voting is as polls predicted. In the first round, no one has a majority, so the Greens are eliminated. This can get complicated, so for the sake of simplicity, let’s say all Greens have NDP as their second choice. Second round then, the NDP has 35%, still no majority. Again for simplicity’s sake, Liberals are the universal 3rd choice of Greens and 2nd choice of NDPers. Now the Liberals have 67%, a clear majority, they take the seat.

But under our current system, it is enough to simply get the most votes, no majority required. It is possible to win the seat of a riding where the majority of residents hate your guts. There is something seriously wrong here.

If I was in a riding where the polls showed support as indicated above, I would vote Liberal. Note that this is not even my second choice. But given that I would rather see the Lord of Darkness as Prime Minister than Stephen Harper, I would have to vote strategically for the party with the best chance of beating the Conservatives, and in our example scenario, that would be the Liberals.

As it turns out, in my riding we’re not really having an election on Tuesday, we’re having a “Give Libby Davies the thumbs up” day instead. It’s a terrible waste of tax payer dollars to have an election here, since this is her riding. I don’t mean “her riding” as in “she is the current MP,” but rather that she owns it, this is hers, it is such an NDP safe seat that one really wonders why the other candidates even bother. Liberal candidate Ken Low has put a huge amount of effort into getting people to put up lawn signs and it’s so sad because you know half of them are just sympathy signs — “Honey, let him put up a sign. We know how we’re voting, but he seems such a nice, clean cut young man, and this would just make his day.”

So I can vote for whoever I want on Tuesday, it doesn’t really matter who since the outcome is such a forgone conclusion one imagines it was foreordained in the plan of some creator god before the world was made. Elizabeth May seems a pleasant, articulate woman with a lot of good ideas, so I think I’ll throw her party a sympathy vote. I know if the Greens came in second in this riding, it would just make her day.

- Eric Pettifor

I have been very interested in listening to Green Party candidates and I believe that they ought to have a voice in parliament. So if I lived in a riding with a very strong Green Party candidate, I would vote Green.

I might also vote NDP if the local candidate was strong. That is because I know Jack Layton will never become Prime Minister. To tell the truth, even as I adopt more and more socialist tools, I remain a staunch liberal. This is a small “l” liberal because I believe that the Liberal Party of Canada is still in disarray. I prefer Liberal polices over other policies but Dion hasn’t come out swinging enough to win me over.

But I am a liberal. As much as I believe in democracy with all my heart, I believe in inalienable human rights even more. I know this because democracies make huge mistakes all the time. Sometimes self-government flips into mob rule — governed by ignorance, stupidity, or plain old depravity — particularly when the electorate is threatened, or simply feels threatened. If I had to choose between living in a democracy where my inalienable human rights were not respected and an autocracy where they were, I’d take the autocracy every time because I absolutely believe in the liberal idea of inalienable human rights limiting the power of mob rule. George Bush was elected (at least once and maybe twice). Hitler was also elected. And, while this is probably a lesser disaster, the morons in my riding are going to vote Conservative. Oh, that someone could save me from the mob rule of my neighbours.

Incidentally, that’s why I am not completely socialist. The last thing I want is for a bunch of addled-brained zealots tromping all over my rights because they have an idea. Some socialists can talk themselves into some pretty heinous behaviour. I am particularly frightened by people who seek to improve me, or do me good.

Anyway, nobody in my Alberta riding has a hope of beating the Conservative incumbent but, if I lived in a riding where somebody (dear god anybody) had a chance, I’d vote for them. Generally, I don’t like to vote strategically. I like to vote for the party and the person who most closely embodies my values and preferences. But let’s face it: the only reason Harper is in office today is because the Progressive Conservative and Alliance parties got over themselves and merged. I think we’re in rough enough shape financially and environmentally that we can’t take the chance of a Conservative majority.

I found out how my neighbours are likely to vote at a nifty page that allowed me to search by postal code (www.voteforenvironment.ca). If you’re interested in how they arrived at their prediction, check out their “advanced prediction model” at http://advanced.voteforenvironment.ca/poll_list.php.

I’ll be voting Liberal, without hope. And I will be joining the Liberal Party and the NDP and start advocating for a merge. Frankly, both parties could do each other a lot of good.

Happy thanksgiving.

- Eleanor Claire

Poll from Nanos Research

The G&M; has Elizabeth May endorsing strategic voting for close-race ridings again today, mentioning both VoteforEnvironment and DemocraticSpace as sites to go to for advice/info.

VoteforEnvironment is still endorsing May in Central Nova against Peter MacKay, even though the Ekos, Decima and Nanos polls listed there all show her running a close third place behind the NDP candidate. Come on, guys, get it together — these are your own rules.

Would be very peculiar if this means Greens are expected to not vote for May in her own riding on top of her having done the deal with Dion to not run a Lib there, but last time Lizzie was quoted as coming out in favour of strategic voting, she says she was misquoted, so we’ll have to see. Her oft-stated position is that the most important thing is to stop the Cons.

I was part of a two hour radio show on SPP and the election today, with local candidates giving their thoughts. Unsurprisingly the Libs and Cons both declined to participate.

Thursday night Update : Yup, it’s happened again. May says she did not endorse SV.

Received from Adriane Carr, Green Party, 2pm:

“Media reports and suggestions from other parties that I am urging strategic voting across the country or that backroom deals are being made are complete nonsense,” Ms. May said. “As I have said over and over, strategic voting is generally not a sound strategy at all and I do not support it. Canada needs to elect Green MPs.”

Ms. May was responding in particular to the headline and opening of a Globe and Mail story that directly contradicts what she said to the reporter.

“I clearly said that voting strategically as advice is pretty useless. I also said: ‘Suggesting one should jump away from the Green Party is very bad advice indeed.’

“I want to do politics in a much different way, with collaboration, civility and respect. But I am not making deals with other parties, and the Greens are not in discussions with other parties.

“I will say it once again so absolutely no one can be confused or misled: I want Canadians to elect Green MPs.”

The G&M; had reported May as saying:

“As the leader of a grassroots party, I’m not in a position to yank anyone, or tell anyone what to do. I just think Canadians need to take a long hard look at the potential here to get rid of the government of Stephen Harper and all that it represents . . .”

“That includes Greens as elected MP’s, and to make that change it includes Stéphane Dion as a minority prime minister.”

She said it’s a bad idea to leave the Greens in most ridings in the country, but that it would make sense in a small number of ridings where there are tight races.”

I dunno. If the above G&M; quote is accurate, it clearly is a limited endorsement for SV. If that’s what she said. This misquoting business happens a lot to May. Hard to say whose fault that is.

Peterborough Politics has background on the Green reaction.

– Alison@Creekside

This is what the Liberal green home incentive that Stephane Dion proposes feels like to me. He is correct that most of us can reduce our energy consumption by up to 40 per cent. He is also correct that most of us are hesitant to invest in “greening” our homes because of the initial investment. So offering us up to $10,000 in interest-free loans is a fabulous incentive. We get the capital costs taken care of up front, we add value to our homes and we start realizing the benefits of those savings immediately while we pay back the loan with no interest added. Figure in the benefit to the environment and it’s a sensible, sweet deal.

Of course, the whiners in BC — where, compared to the prairies, they hardly need much heat — are the first to dive into the bitch fest. Will they take a double hit due to their new 2.3 per cent carbon tax on oil consumption? Not if Dion negotiates successfully with the provinces. And, um, not if they start taking the bus and turning down the heat.

In any case, it’s an investment in the future and a guaranteed cost savings that will pay off for as long your house stands, which is a helluva lot more benefit for a helluva a lot longer than Harper is promising.

- Eleanor Claire

Item: Green Party leader Elizabeth May will take part in the TV debates after all, thus further splitting the left-wing vote.

Items: Former PQ minister Jacques Brassard suggests the Bloc has run its course. Meanwhile, Quebec City Liberal candidate Simon Bedard is fired over remarks he made about Mohawk warriors back in 1990, thus shooing the local Conservative into the job.

Unless Stephen Harper is revealed sometime in the next five weeks to be a transvestite, I’d suggest the question now is: how big will the Conservative majority be?

Mind you, if Stephen Harper were revealed to be a transvestite, I might be more likely to vote for his party.

- Frank Moher

He then went on to further lower expectations by telling The Globe and Mail that he knows his English is less-than-perfect and that his goal is to be understood “by Canadians when they are hearing on the radio, just a spot, just a short clip and all the words will be perceived. That is my goal.” This is what the great dream of bilingualism has come to.

I smell blood in the water.

- Frank Moher