The Conservative Party is its’ own worst enemy

Nothing can be more true than that title right now.

As this minority parliament drags on it only becomes more and more clear that no matter how much some Canadians may want the Liberals out… the Conservatives can do nothing but shoot themselves in the foot.

The Grewal scandal is the iteration of this fact. Gurmant Grewal is the Conservative MP who taped his own secret conversations with the Liberal Chief of Staff and the Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh before last months critical budget vote. He says that his tapes prove the Liberals were offering bribes to MPs if they crossed the floor.

Unfortunately, his little game of entrapment has largely backfired as many experts have indicated and the CPC now admits, that the tapes show definite signs of editing or tampering.

Then yesterday it was revealed that Grewal was being investigated by Air Canada for attempting to convince passengers boarding a plane from Vancouver to Ottawa to carry a package for him. Something that is, for obvious safety reasons, strictly prohibited. What was in the package? No one knows.

And today we hear that Grewal has gone on “temporary sick leave” from the Conservative Caucus. The Liberals must be falling over in hysterical laughter at all of this. As time goes on, the Conservative party continues to implode and the Liberal grip on power tightens. Even if the tapes, which are now under investigation by the RCMP, reveal wrongdoing by the Liberal Cabinet Minister and Chief of Staff, I simply don’t see people reacting in a strong way against the Liberals. Not with Grewals petty attempt at entrapment.

Also noteworthy this weekend was the resignation of Bernard Landry, the leader of the “Parti Quebecois” in Quebec. This after a 76% vote of confidence at the leadership convention. Under normal circumstances, 76% would be considered an impressive mandate for a leader, but for the Parti Quebecois, where the ultimate goal is sovereignty for Quebec, anything less than 80% is apparently seen as unsatisfactory to gain the support of the moderates in the party. I admit I don’t really understand it, but the interesting part federally is that Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe is being pegged as a possible candidate for leadership of the provincial party. What that means for the Bloc is unclear at this point. With an election promised 2 months after the Gomery Inquiry ends in December this may be an innorpportune time for Gilles to leave… that is, when he could be poised to deliver the most seats yet for the Bloc in Quebec. So with a referendum probably no less than 3 years away, Gilles perhaps doesn’t need to take over the PQ right away.

It’s all making for some very interesting times in Canadian politics.

Finally.. this thought became clear in my head today. I don’t think Canadians are really enjoying this minority government situation. I think if you ask most Canadians they’d say that all the politicking and wrangling and backstabbing that has gone on over the past few months has just been too much to handle. Canadians just want their government to govern.

I think if Canadians were to go to the polls today, they’d vote for a majority government… and right now, there is no alternative other than the Liberals.