Modeling Journey

Just before his public announcement, Michael Ignatieff spoke to some of his senior advisors and told them that he had decided that enough was enough, and the Liberals would no longer prop up the Harper minority government.

By making that decision, Ignatieff, like Caesar centuries before him, crossed the Rubicon and changed the dynamics of Canadian politics in a fundamental way.

This is how Wikipedia defines the term:

"Crossing the Rubicon is a metaphor for deliberately proceeding past a point of no return. The phrase originates with Julius Caesar's invasion of Ancient Rome when, on January 10, 49 BC, he led his army across the Rubicon River in violation of law, hence making conflict inevitable. Therefore the term "the Rubicon" is used as a synonym to the "point of no return"."

When Caesar crossed the Rubicon, he uttered these words: "The die is cast."

And that is just what the Liberal Party did in Sudbury. They changed the way in which our parliament will operate over the next year or so. Rather than simply supporting the Tory government during confidence motions, because an election was held recently, the Liberals have decided that it is up to the Tory minority government to behave properly or accept the consequences. And the judge for whether that government is behaving properly will be the MPs from all four parties in Parliament.

As for the Liberal Party, its MPs decided they would cross the Rubicon and seek to unseat this recalcitrant government because the government crossed a line during the past eight months. Harper did not honour commitments made to Ignatieff. Harper allowed his MPs to make a mockery of the joint Liberal-Conservative panel on EI. Harper dismissed Liberal demands for a proper accounting of the steps taken by the minority government to stimulate the economy, as the budget the House passed called for. Harper's government did not tell Canadians how many jobs were being created by the stimulus funding. And Harper failed to tell Canadians how the Conservatives would reduce the deficits over the next few years.

All of these things showed very clearly that Harper was treating the Liberal support as a given, and had decided that he could simply ignore the opposition parties, even though he had a minority government.

And in so doing, Harper's hubris drove him to a fatal error, as great as the one he made which triggered the formation of the Liberal-NDP coalition a few months ago.

Unable to resist himself, Harper is now reaping what he sowed.

He sowed instability, and is now reaping its fruits.

He sowed disrespect for parliament, and will now reap its fruits.

He sowed disregard for the right and need of Canadians for information from their government, and help for the jobless, and will now reap its fruits.

Harper's coming fall is due to Harper's actions.