Coalition Party: Smoke & Mirrors: Can't Win Through An Election

Photo Credit St.Vas-Empty Suit Reuters Ognen Teofilovski

The opposition parties are passing motions that are NOT binding or can be used by the Government to declare a loss of confidence. Why? Will the opposition parties use their numerical majority to engineer another "crisis" over the continued use of the 10% by introducing Question of Privilege and Contempt of Parliament?
Why won't the opposition members of parliament remove their continued support of the government through a vote of non-confidence? We hear from the opposition benches the members of parliament we don't trust the government. Really?

The opposition members of parliament are not interested in seeking support in the peoples' house from the people, through an election and continue to vote for the government in power they don't trust.
Will NDP flip-flop on their vote in Parliament behind close doors?.

"There were some (measures in the motion) where we would have done it slightly differently and so we'll have to take those issues up at the Board of Internal Economy," Layton said when pressed on the ban.
His party House leader, Libby Davies, indicated the ten-percenter vote may be the jumping-off point for a negotiation over bulk mail.

What the  ^#$%^%^$^&%^&%^&
 Why?

One of Ottawa's top pollsters, Nik Nanos, meanwhile, told The Hill Times that the only thing that could help the Liberals at this point would be a "massive mistake" by the government that would allow the official opposition party to pull off "a political smash and grab."

Mr. Nanos said the stalemate—with Prime Minister Harper also in no position to pull the plug because of the government's own low numbers and public apprehension—must be depressing for the restive Liberal party.

"You can imagine what type of psychological impact it has if you're the opposition party, the leader of Her Majesty's Opposition, knowing that there's a government that's going to survive for at least another six months because the political opportunity doesn't really exist to trigger an election," Mr. Nanos told The Hill Times.

"The only thing that could really potentially trigger an election is some kind of scandal or major mistake," he added. "The Liberals basically need the Conservatives to make some kind of massive mistake to create the atmosphere that maybe there would be, what I will say, a political smash and grab."

Parliament of Canada Act establishes BOIE as a management board, similar in authority to a board of directors of a corporation. BOIE is not as a standing committee and therefore it is not subject to the rules, direction and control of the House of Commons. BOIE has full decision making authority. Only its budget is referred to Parliament for approval in the same fashion as all voted Parliamentary appropriations.

This review is carried out in public meetings at which the Speaker, supported by senior officials, appears to answer questions on any matter concerning the budget, BOIE policies and the operations of the House Administration. This is the same process that other committees use to examine the budget and operations of government departments. Procedure and House Affairs can study and report on matters that fall under the authority of BOIE. Such reports would be referred to BOIE for consideration.

The administrative matters of the House of Commons have been the responsibility of BOIE since 1868.
Will the opposition create another publicity stunt around the use of flyers by the government and rise on a question of privilege or contempt?

Mandate and Authority

The powers and authority of the Board flow from provisions of the Parliament of Canada Act, the Standing Order sof the House of Commons, and the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act.

The Board:

• examines and approves the annual budget estimates of the House;
• approves and controls the budget expenditures of the committees of the House of Commons, and tables an annual financial report outlining the expenses incurred by each committee; and
• approves salary scales for non-unionized employees and authorizes officials of the House to negotiate the renewal of the collective agreements of unionized employees and ratifies such agreements. (The Board is deemed to be the employer of the staff of the House of Commons, except for Members’ staff, who are deemed to be employed by the Members.)

When Parliament is prorogued or dissolved, members of the Board retain their functions until they are replaced.

 Smoke and mirrors is a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The source of the name is based on magicians' illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a confusing burst of smoke. The expression may have a connotation of virtuosity or cleverness in carrying out such a deception.

More generally, "smoke and mirrors" may refer to any sort of presentation by which the audience is intended to be deceived, such as an attempt to fool a prospective client into thinking that one has capabilities necessary to deliver a product in question. - Wikipedia

Source: EKOS 

TORIES OPEN CLEAR WATER AHEAD OF LIBERALS - March 18, 2010

Highlights on demographics that reinforce long game excuse for the Liberals.

• Male vote  (CPC)
• Female vote within M.O.E
• 25 advantage (LPOC)11.2% (M.O.E 7.52)
• 25-44 vote within M.O.E.
• 45-64 advantage (CPC) 9.8%
• 65+ advantage (CPC) 16.9%   

The federal Conservative Party has re-established a clear, statistically significant lead over the second-place Liberals. This follows a six-month period during which the governing party fell from majority-government territory into a virtual tie with the opposition Liberals.

The Conservatives have the support of barely a third of Canadians, and they owe their first-place status in part to the continued weakness of the Liberal Party.

The Liberals, who surged into the low thirty percent range during January, now seem to have settled back into the high twenties.

“This is a tribute at least as much to Liberal weakness as to Conservative strength,” said EKOS President Frank Graves. “The Liberals were not able to sustain the updraft they received from the Afghan detainee issue and prorogation around the New Year. The Conservatives’ recent budget and throne speech left no hostages to fortune, and they have regained the political initiative.”

The Conservatives now lead the Liberals across the West, and are tied with them in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. Only in Quebec do the Liberals lead the Tories, and there they themselves trail the BQ.

The Conservatives have a large lead among men, though they are in a dead heat with the Liberals among women. The Liberals lead the Tories among the university educated, but trail among those with college or high school educations.

Do the strategists behind Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton, Gilles Duceppe believe they can beat Stephen Harper?