Will the Government Fall?

[OpenMike]

Conservative throne speech puts Liberals on the spot


Last Updated: Tuesday, October 16, 2007
CBC News

The Conservatives will lay out their priorities in a throne speech Tuesday night, and then it will be up to the Opposition Liberals to decide the government's fate.

If enough opposition MPs in the House of Commons don't vote to accept the speech, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government will fall and an election will be called.

The Bloc Québécois and NDP have laid out strict demands that the speech must meet in order to get their support, and have suggested they aren't afraid to topple the government.

But Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has said he's taking a wait-and-see approach, and will analyze the speech as a whole before making any decisions about how to vote. This approach leaves the future of the government in his court, political analysts say.

"All eyes are on the Liberals," the CBC's Julie Van Dusen said from Ottawa on Tuesday morning.

Some political observers believe that the Liberal front bench — Dion and his shadow cabinet — will vote against the throne speech and that the back benchers will either abstain or not show up. This would allow the throne speech to pass.

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No 'poison pill' in Throne Speech, sources say

New Tory agenda will not contain measures unpalatable to the opposition, insiders maintain, thereby skirting a fall election

BRIAN LAGHI AND BILL CURRY

October 16, 2007

OTTAWA -- The Stephen Harper government is expected to unveil a new plan for governing today that sources say will not unnecessarily provoke the opposition to bring it down and force an immediate election.

Sources have told The Globe and Mail that a so-called "poison pill" that would force the opposition to kill the government is not expected to be included in the Speech from the Throne to be delivered by Governor-General Michaëlle Jean.

However, the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Québécois could still defeat the government if the bills that flow from the speech later in the legislative sitting don't meet with their approval.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has already said that he is expecting a speech that is conservative in nature and that he will consider supporting it, providing it is not too strongly ideological. However, sources said that Mr. Dion may keep Canadians in suspense until tomorrow before responding.