| Left |
| Left |
| centre |
| Copyright © Graeme MacKay. Please check for MacKay's posting and publication rules by clicking here. |
| Thursday January 26, 2006 |
| extremeright |
Winning the election may have been the easy part for the
Conservative party. Managing Parliament, given its slim
minority, looks to be far more difficult.
With its 124 seats in a 308-seat House, the Conservatives
need the support of 31 MPs to ensure elements of their
election platform are endorsed. The options: win over the
Liberal party and its 103 votes; persuade the 51 Bloc
Quebecois MPs to co-operate; or attract a few votes from
the 29 NDP MPs and the lone Independent, Andre Arthur
from Quebec.
It will prove tricky, political observers and Ottawa insiders
agree.
"This will be a very interesting government to watch," said
David Docherty, a political science professor and dean of
arts at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. "This is
really going to be a case-by-case government with no
natural allies."
One factor in the Conservatives' favour is that the
opposition -- in particular the Liberals and Bloc -- are leery
of fighting another election.
The Liberals will be busy searching for a new leader after
Prime Minister Paul Martin's resignation. The Bloc needs
to regroup from a disappointing performance that saw its
popular vote and seat count shrink.
Conservative party. Managing Parliament, given its slim
minority, looks to be far more difficult.
With its 124 seats in a 308-seat House, the Conservatives
need the support of 31 MPs to ensure elements of their
election platform are endorsed. The options: win over the
Liberal party and its 103 votes; persuade the 51 Bloc
Quebecois MPs to co-operate; or attract a few votes from
the 29 NDP MPs and the lone Independent, Andre Arthur
from Quebec.
It will prove tricky, political observers and Ottawa insiders
agree.
"This will be a very interesting government to watch," said
David Docherty, a political science professor and dean of
arts at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. "This is
really going to be a case-by-case government with no
natural allies."
One factor in the Conservatives' favour is that the
opposition -- in particular the Liberals and Bloc -- are leery
of fighting another election.
The Liberals will be busy searching for a new leader after
Prime Minister Paul Martin's resignation. The Bloc needs
to regroup from a disappointing performance that saw its
popular vote and seat count shrink.
| Tory policies face several hurdles |
| Other cartoons of interest |
