'Canadians don't want another election right now': Dion

Liberal leader says he won't make the government fall on its throne speech

Last Updated: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 | 6:21 PM ET

CBC News

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion says he will not force an election over the speech from the throne, adding that he wants to make Parliament work.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion is applauded by Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff and other caucus members during his response to the Speech from the Throne in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007.
(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

"The throne speech we heard, with all of its weaknesses, has to be assessed in light of the fact that Canadians don't want another election right now," Dion told the House of Commons on Wednesday. "They want Parliament to do its job …

"We are determined to make Parliament work."

NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe have already said their parties will not support the throne speech, which had left the fate of the government in the Liberals' hands.

Dion said the speech was "vague" and "full of holes" but he would not "make the government fall on its throne speech, which would cause a third general election in four years."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

Instead, Dion said, he would introduce amendments to the speech. If those are rejected, the party would abstain, allowing the throne speech to pass.  

Dion introduced an amendment that includes a recognition of past Liberal programs, a call to reverse the income trust decision and a commitment to end the combat mission in Afghanistan in February 2009.

But the NDP have said they want Canadian troops out of Afghanistan immediately and support the decision to tax income trusts, meaning the amendment will likely fall.

Tuesday night's throne speech laid out the Conservative party's agenda for the parliamentary session, which included promises for major tax cuts, a vote to extend the Afghan mission until at least 2011 and new crime legislation. It also reiterated the Tories' position that Canada cannot meet the greenhouse gas targets of the Kyoto Protocol.

In his response to the throne speech, Dion listed some items he did agree with, including the promise to apologize to victims of residential school abuse, and the focus on Arctic sovereignty.

The Liberals have been vocal about Canada's combat role in Afghanistan expiring in 2009. But Dion said that they could support an extended role in Afghanistan if Canada's role focused on training Afghan security forces.

"If the government wants to transform it into a training mission after February 2009, that could be an acceptable option, one that we have advocated for since last February," Dion said.

The environment has also been a top priority for Dion, who has consistently called on the government to reaffirm Canada's commitment to the accord's targets for cutting greenhouse gases. Some analysts have said that it could prove difficult for Dion to support a speech that turns its back on the accord.

Dion hammered the Conservative's record on the environment and included in his amendment a call for the party take the blame for Canada not meeting its Kyoto targets.

Sounds like a professor: Harper

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he will take his word that the Liberals will not defeat his Conservative minority government.

But he said Dion sounds like a professor who marks everything wrong on a term paper, but still passes the student.

Harper also told the House of Commons that the Conservatives will introduce a new Tackling Violent Crime bill that will include measures on impaired driving, age of sexual consent, stricter bail conditions, and mandatory prison terms for gun crimes.

Harper warned that the bill will be a confidence vote.

As for the Afghanistan mission, Harper said that over the past year they have been shifting the emphasis of the mission over to the training of Afghan forces.

But he said Canada will not be in a position to complete that training and ensure that Afghan forces can take care of their own security by February 2009.

"We're obliged — I believe we are obliged — not to leave that province that we have taken responsibility for, in front of the whole international community, in chaos.

"Our preference is to continue that track and we believed it should be completed by 2011."