A Weekend Journey

I wouldn't normally put up another post so early, but with every day pressing us into unknown territory it's important to document what's happening.To be honest, I'm not comfortable with what's going on.  I began the weekend thinking that Mr. Harper should be given another opportunity to come forward with a more constructive plan to answer opposition demands. I even spent part of my Sunday assuring some Liberal supporters to be patient and give the Conservatives a chance to prove themselves.I had presumed the Prime Minister would have spent the weekend reaching out to opposition leaders to see if another stab could be taken at working out the difficulties. I was saddened to hear of Conservatives secretly listening in on an NDP conference call. Worse yet, my staff and I were surprised to discover that a multitude of emails sent to my office complaining of coalition attempts were actually penned by Conservative staff members pretending to be average citizens. And then of course there was the sight of Conservative MPs fanning across the country, trashing Liberals and accusing them of being traitors.  By the time I arrived in Ottawa on Sunday my thinking had begun to shift. Instead of showing a certain sense of decorum and humility towards the opposition, the Conservatives were doing exactly what they did when they started this whole thing last Thursday. It was saddening. Of course, opposition parties haven't been pristine either, but it was the PM and his party that opened this gambit and instead of moving quickly to heal the wound, the have torn off the scab once again.I'm still not fully sure how I feel about a coalition but I am certain of this one thing: the hyper-partisanship instigated by the Prime Minister three years ago and elucidated so clearly last Thursday has poisoned this Parliament for its duration.Our political discourse is not an open and honest exchange of ideas and opinions. It is an exchange of insults and allegations, flowing from all parties. It is about scoring political points. It is no longer a debate about ideas to secure our future; it is about sound bites that ignore and denigrate our past.And the present? Well, it's just a mess. I was approached by three Conservatives today to help support them, saying that I was an honest broker type and that my voice would be respected. But when I asked them if they would just quit playing this kind of brinksmanship and retreat to a position of non-partisanship and accommodation, they quietly moved away. And there's the problem: if it won't start with the Conservatives, it won't start at all. They are the government and the responsibility lies with them. Their lack of refined leadership has ultimately led to a lack of productivity.This whole thing could have worked if hyper-partisanship hadn't ruled the day.  But, alas, it still does, and the chances of passing legislation in such heavy partisan times are nil because votes are needed from the other parties in a minority government. How can that happen when a government seeks to wipe out opposition parties at every turn?