Modeling Journey

John Tory, Frank Klees and Ontario PC solid against federal coalition coup

There have been a lot of questions about how united Conservatives are behind Stephen Harper. I can tell you that in the face of this coup, the entire federal caucus, provincial PC caucus, volunteers and voters are standing firm against this opposition power grab. Conservative support is at an all time high, and internally the party has never been more united. I appreciate the support offered from Frank Klees and John Tory.
-Darryl


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John Tory Scrum – Situation in Ottawa

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Question: What do you make of the going in Ottawa?

Tory: All I make of it is that the people want one thing. They want to see their elected representatives of all parties working together to fix the economy. That’s the only preoccupation the people Canada have. And so I think they will be all in favour of anything that will get people back to work fixing the economy, I don’t think most people understand constitutional niceties, I don’t think they care much about them. I think they want to see their elected representatives of all parties 24/7 fixing the economy. And anything that gets us there immediately, I think that people will be all in favour of it and so am I.

Question: even if it is a coalition?

Tory: Well no. Look I think the coalition, frankly if that’s what comes to pass, it’s going to achieve precisely the opposite. The coalition is going to achieve a period perhaps lengthy of instability, just starting with how we even get to these coalition people being asked to form a government if they are and I’m speculating on what may or may not happen. I think somehow the best thing that could happen is as I’ve said before we could almost rewind the tape and sort of say look can we get back to what people sent the parliamentarians there to do which was to fix the economy. I said the other day I’m a Conservative. I voted Conservative. People elected a government with 144 seats, just shy of a majority government, so clearly they spoke as to the kind of government they wanted and the kind of approach they wanted. I just think we should be getting on with finding a way to have these people work together to fix the economy and they should put their focus on that and nothing else. Not on politics and not on themselves.

Question asked in French, responded in English. Re: Bloc Quebecois

Tory: The Bloc Quebecois do not have the interests of a strong Canada as part of their mandate. In face their mandate is quite the opposite. Therefore if you’re looking to build a strong economy for Canada and Ontario as your top priority right now, which is certainly mine, then they don’t fit that bill. They are not people who are going to advance that agenda. My agenda, the agenda of our Party of Ontario is advancing, strengthening, rebuilding the Ontario economy and the Canadian economy. Job one, priority one, the only priority right now, and they don’t are not people who share that agenda.

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KLEES: Coalition Coup a Threat to Local Economy

(Queen’s Park) Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees called on the three federal opposition leaders to reconsider their plans to bring down the recently elected federal government and wants the Premier to join the call for stability.

"At a time when plants are closing and job losses are mounting, the last thing we need is more uncertainty," said Klees. "The actions of Messers Dion, Layton and Duceppe are wrong-headed and self-serving and threaten to plunge our already fragile auto manufacturing sector into crisis."

In a letter to the Prime Minister and the three opposition party leaders, Klees stressed the need for immediate action by the federal government to prevent the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs. He pointed to the 850 jobs that will be lost as a result of the recently announced Magna plant closings in York Region and the threat of thousands of additional job losses if a meaningful action plan for the industry is delayed.

"My intention is not to defend the actions of the federal government that gave rise to the strong opposition mounted by the three opposition parties," said Klees. "In retrospect, neither the timing nor some of the content was well advised. And in response, the opposition parties made their point forcefully and effectively. That’s the role of opposition parties in our parliamentary system of government.”

But that's where it should have ended, according to Klees. After securing the government's retreat on the controversial proposals such as taking away the right to strike by the public sector, eliminating funding to political parties and agreeing to move the date of the federal budget to accelerate the timing of an economic action plan, the opposition parties should have claimed victory and moved on to work with the government to ensure the implementation of an economic recovery strategy rather than resort to what is playing out to be an historical coup d’etat.”

"Rather than being satisfied that they had effectively performed their opposition role, the triumvirate of Dion, Layton and Duceppe formed an unholy alliance to overthrow the government," said Klees. "In so doing, they are willing to destabilize our government, risk a loss of international confidence in our economy and sacrifice thousands of jobs by even further delaying the implementation of a meaningful federal economic action plan that would assist our auto sector."

"This is a time when every member of every parliament in the country should be working together to build confidence in our governments, our economy and our manufacturing industries. The last thing we need is to be thrown into another election or to be led by a coalition of three political parties, one of which has no loyalty to Canada, have no mandate to govern, have contradictory policies, and have self-appointed the man who would be the Prime Minister should this so-called Coalition have its way. This is not the Canada I know, and we all have a responsibility to stop this abuse of power and protect the integrity of our parliamentary system of government."

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References:

Frank Klees, MPP