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As far as the NDP is concerned, there's no question of their trusting Prime Minister Stephen Harper any more, they'll be voting against the Conservative budget on Jan. 27, and they will be bringing the minority government down, says Outremont NDP MP Tom Mulcair. "I'm convinced the government's going to be defeated on its budget," Mulcair said in an interview with NPEN. "Budgets are motions of confidence, and we have no confidence in the Conservative government. For us it's very clear."
No action on economy
While acknowledging that the budget could contain good elements, he added, "we'll be happy to include them in the first coalition budget," referring to the power-sharing agreement the NDP and the Liberals have made. "The coalition is planning the replace the Conservatives at the end of January for one good and simple reason — the Conservatives have failed to act on the economy in the best interests of the Canadian public. Nothing that they've done in the past three years has been helpful.
"We've lost 400,000 good-paying manufacturing and forestry jobs and that's because they don't care about manufacturing and forestry jobs in places like B.C., Ontario and Quebec. They only care about the oil sector in the west. We're going to change that. The only other thing I can tell you is that it comes down to a simple choice at the end of January. Do we want to prop up Stephen Harper? Or do we want to replace him? Simple as that. And the answer is, of course, we want to replace him."
Bloc MPs uncertain
Some partners in the coalition, such as the Bloc Québécois, who are lending their support on confidence motions, are submitting suggestions for the budget to the Tories and have stated they want to see if Harper takes them seriously before they decide which way to vote and whether to defeat the government. Mulcair insisted, "We don't trust Stephen Harper, period. We went through this whole exercise with him during the campaign. He was tugging at his forelock, explaining how he finally got it, he should have realized he'd only be given a minority and he'd have to learn how to work with other people.
"And then in his throne speech he once again said he was going to work with the other parties, and then there was a mugging that took place. He attacked the democratic fundraising rules that were put in place for political parties, he attacked collective bargaining rights which are charter rights under the freedom of association clause of the constitution, and he attacked women's rights which is also protected under the charter of rights …
Harper revealed
" … We think that Stephen Harper has finally betrayed his real nature. He's told us what he's really about, and we're just not going to give the man another chance. That's the NDP's point of view and we're sticking to it." Bloc MPs from Laval interviewed by NPEN have suggested their party might be willing to support the Harper government if the prime minister shows good will in the budget.
The Laval Bloc members also doubted Harper wants to risk having another election. "The real question will be will the Bloc Québécois want to prop up Stephen Harper or replace him," responded Mulcair. "Based on everything I know about Gilles Duceppe and the Bloc Québécois's current positioning — and I don't see any reason why that would change — they're going to be wanting to get rid of Stephen Harper."
A new Liberal leader
Mulcair acknowledged that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has gone on record saying he also wants to see the budget before deciding whether to vote against it. "While I totally respect that decision, the NDP is just as resolved to make sure that we do everything we can to get rid of Stephen Harper and his right-wing agenda, which has done nothing but harm to the Canadian economy and to Canadian families and communities," said Mulcair