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Are the federal Liberals planning to bring down the Conservative government in June, triggering an election soon thereafter? While that was one of the side-issues to come out of the Liberals’ national convention held in Vancouver last weekend, it could well become a reality, according to Rivière-des-Mille-Îles Liberal candidate Denis Joannette.
‘No turning back’ – Joannette
“It’s a strong possibility, because Mr. Ignatieff has mentioned now that he’s truly in control of the Liberal Party that if there’s something he is really concerned about, it is the EI issue and that he doesn’t intend to turn back,” Joannette said in an interview with the North Shore News, the day after arriving back in Montreal. “He is asking the government to change its policy on that. I think it will turn into a vote of confidence.”
Whether the Liberals decide to try to pull the plug on the Tories will depend on the government’s acceptance of Opposition demands for Employment Insurance reform. The government is bound by an agreement to submit its economic policies for review, one of which comes up in June. If it were not satisfactory to the Liberals, nor the other two opposition parties, the government would lose their support and fall, triggering an election.
Standard rules sought
Under current EI rules, workers require between 420 and 700 hours of work experience, depending on regional unemployment rates, before they qualify to receive EI. New workers or those returning to the workforce after a two-year absence need between 840 and 910 hours. Those seeking maternity or sick benefits need at least 600 hours to be eligible. The Liberals are seeking a 36-hour standard to increase the number of Canadians eligible to receive benefits during the economic crisis.
While a random sampling of Liberals questioned by NSN had a mixed opinion of whether the Tories will comply or stand fast, Joannette sees a confrontation looming with the Grits. “He (Harper) won’t comply,” he said, noting that the prime minister was complaining to the media in just the last few days of not being cut enough slack by the Liberals. “He said that he is standing by his decision for the EI and he won’t comply to what the Liberals are asking,” says Joannette.
Harper ‘trying to bluff’
“So he’s trying to bluff, I think, and the Liberals are saying let’s see if he’s really serious about it, and I really think Mr. Ignatieff is serious, and also that the Bloc and the NDP are really serious about it. For me I think it’s a really serious issue. In an economic crisis like we’re having right now it would be really beneficial for Canadians to go forward with this.”
With the Liberal Party’s fortunes now seemingly on the upswing under its confirmed leader, Michael Ignatieff, Joannette sees the fortunes of the Conservatives falling. The Conservatives, who have increasingly been turning leftward to retain power by satisfying the demands of the opposition, are now straining under the pressure of maintaining order amidst rising discontent in their own ranks.
Tories falling apart?
“There’s a big problem within the Conservative Party,” Joannette says. “They don’t agree on almost everything. Some people are on one side of the issue while others are against it. They have serious problems within their own party. I think Mr. Harper is losing the confidence of his own executive and all his MPs. I don’t think what he is doing right now will be supported by his own group.”
Joannette says he especially agrees with his party’s main claim about the EI system, that the rules need to be standardized right across the country. “For Canadians out west or in Quebec or Prince Edward Island or even the Northwest Territories, EI has to be equal everywhere,” he says.
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