Canada's government plots survival, attacks foes
Source: Reuters
By David Ljunggren OTTAWA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Canada's minority Conservative government tried to ensure its survival on Monday with a mixture of offense and defense, launching attack ads against one set of opponents, while reaching out to another. Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- whose Conservatives only control 125 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons -- must persuade at least one opposition party to back his budget, which is expected in March. If the budget is defeated, the government will fall immediately, triggering a new election. Polls show the Conservatives are tied with the opposition Liberals and that no party would gain a majority of seats if a federal vote were held now. "What would be the point of an election, especially if it would just result in another minority anyway?" Harper told the Canadian Press in an interview published late on Sunday. New Liberal leader Stephane Dion also says he does not want an election and last week said he might back the budget. But relations between the two main parties soured on Monday after the Conservatives unveiled three advertisements attacking Dion, who was elected Liberal leader in December after promising to tackle climate change and to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Harper says Dion is a hypocrite, given that emissions soared when the Liberals were in power from 1993 to 2006. One ad shows Dion spluttering "This is not fair" when, during a public debate, an opponent in the Liberal leadership race points out the party's record. Later Dion indignantly asks "Do you think it is easy to make priorities?" to laughter from the audience. "We decided to let the Liberals speak for themselves. I think Canadians will be surprised by what they hear from a man who wants to be prime minister," said senior Conservative legislator Jason Kenney. "I do think these crass mean-spirited ads will backfire," Liberal legislator John McCallum told CBC television. Harper needs opposition support in Parliament for draft legislation to tackle the environment, a topic that polls show is of most concern to Canadians. Critics lambasted the bill -- which made no mention of Canada's commitment to cut emissions under the Kyoto protocol -- and under heavy pressure Harper agreed to send it to a special parliamentary committee so it could be made tougher. Behind the scene, top Conservatives are sounding out the opposition as to what kind of changes they want. Reuters reporters saw Environment Minister John Baird having a breakfast meeting on Monday with Bernard Bigras, environment spokesman for the opposition Bloc Quebecois. The Conservatives usually have little time for the Bloc, which wants independence for the French-speaking province of Quebec. The environment is particularly important in Quebec, where Harper needs to win more seats in the next election to stand a good chance of gaining a majority of seats. The left-leaning New Democrats want the bill to be rewritten before the budget, but the Liberals say the process will take much longer than that. The special parliamentary committee examining how to toughen the environment legislation will hold its first meeting later on Monday.
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