For God's sake hire a spin doctor!

So we prorogue Parliament and table a campaign budget. It better be good! And we'd better spin it right this time. Look at how the media spun the pay equity issue: CBC and Gazzette.

They accused Harper of doing nothing to address the current economic crisis and slammed what they saw as ideologically driven measures such as [...] limits on the ability of women to sue for pay equity. (CBC)

This will be no surprise to women's groups. Sue Calhoun of Business and Professional Women Canada was already saying of the Nov. 18 statement, "How can we trust this government to weather an economic crisis when its track record shows it opposes measures to advance the economic equality of half the population?" (Gazzette)

So we want to take pay equity out of HRC jurisdiction. I assume it would go to the criminal courts, making pay discrimination an indictable offence. Or it would go into the collective bargaining, thus strengthening the unions. How did we spin it? Did we spin it at all?

The saddest part of it is that we have stumbled TWICE on absolutely minor matters. Arts funding (a few million), the party subsidy (again, a few million). For God's sake, Tories, hire a spin doctor and wage fights people can come out with pitchforks to get involved in. The Wheat board, the other monopolies, the entrenched privileges, you name it.

If I were paid anything above twenty grand after taxes I bet I could do a better job for the Tories. Christ, the communications strategy is frustrating!

Advice to the contrary for the PM

Canadian Cincinnatus recommends falling over a confidence motion on party financing. I digress, because we are the party that made it clear we were focused on the economy and not petty ideology like the carbon tax. If we decide to fall on the financing issue we will lose that credibility. Table a clear and solid economic plan, take the hit, take a bathroom break while the kids throw all their toys (and their support among Canadians) out of the pram.

They're kicking around so desperately they'll end up kicking each other in the nuts. I'd keep mine safe for later.

Dear Prime Minister

Don't dodge the House. The Opposition has been planning this scheme since the last federal election, and is highly determined to set a precedent. As we're faced with the prospect of imminent defeat, I urge You to take the following ten steps:

On the House side:

1. Demand the details of a potential stimulus package from the opposition parties immediately. If they are so adamant to take power, they will already have a draft budget. Let them show the cards.
2. Attempt to find a negotiating point with at least one of the Opposition parties. Make clear what you're willing to concede. A reasonable concession could give us enough breathing space to table a Budget. Also, this would call the Opposition's bluff by showing them for the intransigent power-seekers they are.
   
3. Failing that, table a detailed binding blueprint for the next Budget, making it a matter of confidence. If we have to fall, let us fall over a clear policy rather than an economic update whose alterations would take too long to explain to the average voter.
4. Recommend to the Governor General that she refuse all Senate appointments by the incoming Government due to the lack of a coalition mandate from the voters of either party. Any Senate appointments shall be made after the next federal election.
5. Not ask for the Governor General to prorogue Parliament. Shutting House business is the last thing we need in these turbulent economic times

In other areas:

1. Not be afraid to lose. Minority governments have the tendency to fall, and ours is no exception.
   
2. Acknowledge that this Country has had its fair share of both good and bad Governments, and 13 years of Liberal rule didn't make it into a socialist gulag. Their policies may be wrong, but they're nothing we can't set right with a majority.
3. Talking majorities, double-check the Party's communication strategy.
   
4. Present the Opposition with a copy of the Cencelli handbook, which was instrumental in giving Italy a new Government each year.
5. Remain undeterred as Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

10 reasons why coalition talks are hot air

Talks of coalition governments formed between arch-enemies for the sake of ousting Stephen Harper are far fetched, and in my opinion this is an enormous load of hot air. This is why.

1. Coalitions built on an anti-something platform are short-lived
2. The Bloc is mercurial and the Liberals have nothing to gain in QC by pandering to the separatists.
3. If the Cencelli handbook is anything to go by, the NDP would have to field complete newcomers in at least 1/4 of senior portfolios and just below 1/2 of junior ones. The Government would be very shaky, particularly in these times.
4. Distributing the portfolios and patronage among the at least 5 factions in the Liberal Party will be a nightmare.
5. When the Liberal leadership convention takes place, either leader will be faced with a government where more than 3/4 of members are hostile.
6. When you're in government, the buck stops with you. Many senior Liberals wouldn't touch government with a bargepole - any deterioration of the economy will kill the Party.
7. Liberal stimuli will not earn them votes. They're hemorrhaging support in manufacturing areas and forestry areas are going to all other parties. Their message is not resonating, and neither will their money.
8. The economy is not a basket case. It's on a rocky road, and it isn't a good idea to change drivers on a rocky road while the car is moving.
9. When the Bloc votes the coalition down for not pandering to Quebec, either government will return to the Tories, causing humiliation on the other side of the floor, or new elections will be called. Either way the Liberal party is screwed.
10. As many have remarked, many Liberals wouldn't want a coalition with the NDP. Some in marginal seats may well cross the floor.

As much as there's backroom dealing and grandstanding, I'm sure the real leaders of the parties concerned are negotiating with the Tories to come out of this mess. My money is on an out-of-House settlement for some stimulus in exchange for a cut in the subsidy.