Thursday, April 07, 2011

Will Coalition Disrupt Canadian Success Story?


A party that seeks independence for the French-speaking province of Quebec has assumed a disproportionate role in the politics of Canada, the country it would like to see broken up.

The perennially strong electoral showing of the Bloc Quebecois in the province has made it all but impossible for rival parties to win a majority in the federal Parliament, allowing the separatist party to play the role of kingmaker.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/separatists-could-decide-governs-canada-20110407-075319-979.html

The CSN, the second largest union, had an extraordinary council meeting Monday to co-ordinate their strategy to do whatever it takes to beat the Harper government with a riding-by-riding choice. Duceppe’s lips were also the first loose ones last Monday to admit he will vote against the budget of a minority Tory government if that is the outcome of the current election. Layton and Ignatieff followed.
http://www.ottawasun.com/comment/columnists/eric_duhaime/2011/04/06/17903371.html

The 2010 international merchandise trade annual review reveals that exports rose 9.5% to $404.6 billion, led by higher exports of industrial goods and materials. Imports increased 10.6% to $413.6 billion, as volumes rose in all sectors.
The United States' share of Canada's trade (exports and imports combined) continued to fall in 2010, although it remained Canada's largest trading partner. The United States represented 62.5% of total merchandise trade in 2010, down from 76.3% in 2001. During the same period, Canada's trade with China more than tripled.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/110407/dq110407b-eng.htm

“The Canadian dollar upward trend remains,” said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst in Washington at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange Inc., a currency brokerage. “There’s strong underlying support there, rather than just speculative positioning, which suggests sustained strengthening.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-07/canadian-dollar-strengthens-as-rising-crude-oil-and-gold-fuel-added-demand.html

Does it make sense to replace our PM and allow Quebec separatists to decide who the next PM will be? A majority on May 2, 2011 will be the only option for voters to prevent this outcome.

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