Power-hungry Liberals come first, Canadians’ best interests a distant second
By Garry Breitkreuz – June 28, 2005

The best interests of Canadians are being sacrificed by the Liberal government for nothing but political gain. The Liberals have used back-handed tactics to get their way – the latest, a written deal with the separatist Bloc Quebecois.

In a ploy to push through same-sex marriage legislation before summer, a Liberal motion to limit debate on Bill C-48 to just one hour at its final reading was passed using the Liberal-Bloc agreement. By limiting debate, the Liberals were able to quell any opportunity for Conservative Party members to defend their constituents’ views into the spending of $4.6 billion. The Liberal government agreed to pass Bill C-48, the NDP’s amendment of the federal budget worth $4.6 billion, as part of a vote buying scheme. In exchange for NDP support of the previously passed budget and Bloc support on the motion limiting debate, the Liberals agreed to immediately push through legislation on same-sex marriage. Ironically, Belinda Stronach claimed she joined the Liberals because she could not abide working with the Bloc. Now she is a cabinet minister for a government that traded a written, signed deal with the separatists for the right to stay in power.

This is not how a respectable government operates. While it is clear the minority Liberal government will make any deal and at any cost to retain minority power, only a select few Canadians are being represented by such a government.

The $4.6 billion deal struck between the NDP and the Liberal government proves that both parties are completely out of touch with what’s really needed in Canada. Everyone that was left out of the budget in the first place was left out again in the NDP deal including farmers, seniors and provinces such as Saskatchewan faced with a fiscal imbalance.

While the Conservative Party would not support the passage of the NDP budget, we did put forward every effort to speed the passage of higher priority portions of the original budget bill. In early June, a Conservative motion would have accelerated the passage of the Atlantic Accord, money for seniors and gas tax transfers to provinces, including Saskatchewan, by splitting those provisions into standalone legislation. Passage of the motion would have allowed money destined for those higher priority areas to begin flowing, while permitting time to scrutinize more controversial elements of the budget like the Kyoto provisions. Had the motion been passed, that money would already be in intended hands. It was defeated by a Liberal-Bloc coalition and even Liberal supporters believe it could now take up to a year before that money finally reaches Canadians.

The minority Liberals are unwilling to make concessions with opposition members unless they are to the benefit of Prime Minister Martin and the Liberal agenda. Canadians are paying the price and are being forced financially and morally to keep the Liberals in office. It cost an additional $4.6 billion to buy the NDP votes, and an agreement with the very party that wishes to take Quebec out of Canada. How are Canadians’ best interests being served by a party that doesn’t want to be Canadian?

Now the institution of marriage is being sacrificed. Thousands of petitions have been presented in the House of Commons from Canadians who are opposed to changing the traditional definition of marriage from the union between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. As many as 30 Liberal MPs voiced their opposition to changing the definition of marriage to include same-sex partners, yet Prime Minister Martin is ignoring even his own members.

Canadians do not want same-sex marriage legislation, yet in true Liberal form, Prime Minister Martin is adamant on establishing a ‘legacy’ for Canadians to remember. Canadians will surely remember his legacy of bribes, trickery, political manipulation, and an alliance of corruption, socialism and separatism.