Canadian Govt Poised to Fall After Less Than 2 Months

Jane Taber, Bill Curry, Campbell Clark and Steven Chase
Globe and Mail Update
December 2, 2008

OTTAWA — The leaders of the three opposition parties presented their plan to topple Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority government at a press conference in Ottawa late Monday afternoon.

The leaders of the Liberal Party, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois publicly signed a coaltion accord and sent a letter to Governor-General Michaëlle Jean saying the opposition has lost confidence in the Conservatives.

The proposed coalition government between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party would last until June of 2011, but the Bloc is only pledging support for 18 months.

Under the plan, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion would become prime minister until May, when his successor would take over.

"Canadians elected 308 members of Parliament in October, not just Stephen Harper," Mr. Dion told a news conference with NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc chief Gilles Duceppe. "We are ready to form a new government that will address the best interests of the people instead of plunging Canadians into another election."

The coalition accord stipulates that the prime minister and finance minister would be Liberals, with six of 24 cabinet positions filled by New Democrats.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Earlier Monday, the three candidates running for the Liberal leadership emerged from a closed-door caucus meeting to endorse Mr. Dion as head of the proposed coalition government, which they said would pour billions of dollars into the economy.

Standing side-by-side, Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae and Dominic LeBlanc made clear they see no scenario in which the Conservative minority can remain in power. "There’s no turning back," Mr. Rae said.

The three Liberal leadership candidates said there is no deal to place them in cabinet, but Mr. LeBlanc and Mr. Rae noted there are several precedents for sitting cabinet ministers vying for the leadership.

"I support the accord because it’s fiscally responsible, it provides responsible economic leadership in tough times and it also conserves the basic principles of national unity, equality, that our party has always believed in," Mr. Ignatieff said. "We are at one, the three of us, that the only person that can lead the country is the duly elected leader of the party, Mr. Stéphane Dion."

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