Liberals make a fuss as they prepare to abstain, again on Bill C-50

Apparently the Liberal caucus is all fired up and want to trigger an election and have raised the issue to Dion at various party meetings throughout the week.

They included foreign affairs critic Bob Rae, Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff, House Leader Ralph Goodale, Whip Karen Redman, finance critic John McCallum, and justice critic Dominic LeBlanc, according to multiple Liberal sources

It would appear that they are finally tired of taking all the heat for abstaining on every confidence vote and therefore extending the life of Harper’s reign. Or at least that is what they want us to know based on the large number of implied sources in the Globe article. 

The now fired up Liberal caucus want to defeat Bill C-50 and therefore set up a mid-July election. Bill C-50 is hitting the commons on Monday for it’s second reading. This is the Budget Bill, where the conservatives stuck in their contentious Immigration Reform. 

Those agitating for an early vote argued that more time will give Mr. Harper an opportunity to regain political momentum by shuffling his cabinet, announcing new policies, attacking the Liberals with advertising – and possibly proroguing Parliament to delay the fall Commons session and limit the opportunities for triggering a pre-Christmas election.

There were rumours that ranking MPs were trying to organize a meeting with Mr. Dion Sunday night to press for a snap election, but well-placed sources said Mr. Dion will be at his cottage for the weekend and has no plans to take part in a meeting.

So the big names in the party are letting us know that it is not their idea to keep abstaining their votes and at the same time exasperating the rift in their party. 

Great, so much for that Stronger Together logo.

Meanwhile with the Liberals running fourth in Quebec and since their only major initiative that the public knows about is going to cost more at the gas pumps, those closest to Dion are advising that they stay the course.

For one thing, there is little sense that the public is clamouring for a summer election, and the party would have to offer a reason. And they acknowledge the party needs a better plan to boost low support in Quebec.

More broadly, one adviser said, Mr. Dion must use the summer not only to sell his green plan, but to hone his skills at communicating it so he can use it to counter Tory attacks that he is a weak leader.

Defending the controversial plan could raise respect for Mr. Dion's mettle, if he is seen fighting for a bold policy idea despite the political risks, they said.

So it looks like Bill C-50 will get through second reading on Monday. 

Maybe Dion can go on TV in the afternoon and vow that the Bill won't get through the third and final reading. And improving his communication skills is probably a good idea too.

And maybe he could even start working on some additional initiatives, plans, visions or at least do some better marketing on the one's that he has. You know, so that we the public, actually hear about them.

You could even put a red cover around them, but  just don't come up with anything else that is related to raising the gas prices when they are at $1.399 a litre.