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Canadian Gov't Faces Confidence Vote

Posted on: Thursday, 19 May 2005, 03:00 CDT

TORONTO - Canadian eyes were turned to Parliament Hill for Thursday's confidence vote - the most dramatic in decades - but with the defection of a Conservative member of parliament to the Liberal ranks the defeat for the minority government of Prime Minister Paul Martin has grown less certain.

Canadians will also be eager to see the next episode in what has overnight become a political soap opera not seen since the days of Margaret and Pierre Trudeau, the Liberal first couple who separated in office during the 1970s.

Martin's chances of remaining in power appeared grim before this week, with the opposition Conservatives seizing on a corruption scandal within his Liberal Party. But Conservative MP Belinda Stronach stunned Parliament Hill on Tuesday by crossing over to the Liberals and pledging to help them pass the federal budget on Thursday.

That vote will stand as an official test of confidence in Martin's 11-month minority government. If the budget fails, Martin has said he would dissolve Parliament, triggering general elections in June.

Stronach's defection was a huge blow for Stephen Harper, the leader of the Conservatives who up until a few days ago believed he could topple Martin.

"The stakes are very high here for those two men," said Grace Skogstad, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

Stronach, a 39-year-old Ontario millionaire who left her job as CEO of an auto parts empire to run for Parliament last year, was immediately rewarded with the Cabinet post of minister for human resources, a plum job for a political newcomer. She is friendly with former President Clinton and is often photographed with an array of Hollywood stars.

The Liberals and their allies now appear to have 152 seats in the 308-member House of Commons who will vote in favor of the budget. Conservatives, who have allied with the French-separatist Bloc Quebecois, also appear to have 152. There are three independents whose votes are now crucial; the Speaker of the House is a Liberal who votes only if there is a tie.

One of the independents has already said she will vote to pass the budget. Another, Chuck Cadman, has hinted he would side with the Liberals as his constituents in rural British Columbia weren't eager for new elections.

The big question mark is the third independent, David Kilgour, who quit the Liberals in April, saying the Martin administration has not done enough to help farming families and was "not living up to the expectations of Canadians in the spheres of defense, diplomacy, trade and development."

Stronach's defection, meanwhile, unleashed nasty, at times sexist, comments from her new Conservative opponents and the media. The National Post ran a bold headline Wednesday that read: Blonde Bombshell. Another newspaper called her a "House-wrecker," and one Montreal paper ran a lascivious cartoon of Martin asking Stronach to hop in his car, as if she were a streetwalker.

Several Tory MPs said Stronach had "whored" and "prostituted" herself.

The flap has been given tabloid allure because Stronach was dating deputy Conservative Party leader Peter MacKay, also 39. The power couple was credited with giving the Tories badly needed progressive, youthful appeal.

"They've just had a kick in the gut," Skogstad said of the old-guard conservatives who believed Stronach could deliver new seats in Ontario, the country's most populous province and a traditional Liberal stronghold.

MacKay disappeared Tuesday, after Stronach told reporters she would not discuss their relationship yet wished him well. He resurfaced at his father's farm in Nova Scotia, saying he was blindsided by her defection.

"My heart's a little banged up. But that will heal," he told CBC TV in a snip replayed on the national network all day Wednesday.

MacKay said he would return to Ottawa on Thursday and would stand on the other side of the House from Stronach to vote against her new party.

The Conservatives have for weeks been demanding that Martin resign, accusing the Liberals of no longer having the moral mandate to run the country. Allegations of money laundering and kickbacks have dogged the Liberals with daily testimony from a federal inquiry into a national unity program under then-Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Martin has not been implicated in the fiasco and demanded a federal inquiry into the corruption allegations when he took office last June.

The opposition has nonetheless accused Martin of using a visit by Queen Elizabeth II to divert attention from the scandal before Thursday's vote.

The queen and her husband, Prince Philip, are on nine-day visit to honor the centennials of the entry of Saskatchewan and neighboring Alberta provinces into the Canadian confederation. Queen Elizabeth II is the symbolic head of state in Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth of former colonies.

She has said she will continue with her visit regardless whether new elections are called.

If the government were to fall on Thursday, the queen's official representative in Canada, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, would become involved in procedural matters, but not the queen herself.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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