Thursday 4 December 2008

Prime Ministerial Double Talk


Double-Talk
Working with the Bloc wasn’t such a big deal when Stephen Harper did it in 2004


JOURNALIST: So why did you write that letter to the Governor General with Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton saying in the event of a confidence vote situation do not call a snap election - are we to assume that therefore you’re working to form a coalition?

HARPER: There seems to be an attitude in the Liberal government - that they can go in, be deliberately defeated and call an election - that’s not how our constitutional system works. The government has a minority - it has an obligation to demonstrate to Canadians that it can govern. That it can form a majority in the House of Commons. If it can’t form a majority, we look at other options, we don’t just concede to the government’s request to make it dysfunctional. I know for a fact that Mr. Duceppe and Mr. Layton and the people who work for them want this Parliament to work and I know it is in all of our interests to work. The government has got to face the fact it has a minority, it has to work with other people.

SOURCE: Interview with Stephen Harper, September 2004.
www.cbc.ca/sunday/harper.html

1 comment:

Mike said...

Wow, that response was fun to read. Methinks Prime Minister Steve was in need of a good night's sleep, as his answer was babble.
Of course, he should have trouble sleeping, given what he's done and the things he's said lately.