In his nationally televised address, Harper outlined his government’s plan to deal with the economic crisis by cutting business and personal taxes while promising to double spending on infrastructure, a move widely seen by economists as a solid way to stimulate the economy while getting good bang for the deficit dollar.
He also promised to help seniors, secure pensions and carry out due diligence on a possible bailout package for the auto sector.
Harper said his party is consulting national and international partners in preparation for their upcoming budget to be released in January, a budget he said would have whatever additional stimulus spending was needed.
While pledging to work with opposition parties on these measures, Harper criticized the coalition for trying to topple his elected government just seven weeks after Canadians went to the polls. The brunt of his criticism was for the NDP and Liberals working with the Bloc Quebecois.
"Canada's government cannot enter into a power sharing coalition with a separatist party," he said.
The Bloc will have a veto in the proposed NDP-Liberal coalition.
Harper repeated the point several times and commentators are already saying such an address threatens to alienate Quebecors and turn the current political crisis into a national unity crisis.
But most Canadians outside Quebec also find the Bloc’s potential influence in a coalition government troublesome.
An Angus Reid poll published in the Toronto Star Wednesday found that Canadians outside Quebec overwhelmingly agreed with the statement: “I am worried about the Block Quebecois becoming involved in the federal government.”
Respondents in every province in the same poll said they were not comfortable with Liberal leader Stephane Dion leading the country.
Expectations that Harper might offer an olive branch to the opposition parties during his speech were dashed as he stayed firm but measured in his comments.
While Dion was to have also provided a comment to the news networks to balance the time given to Harper, his pre-recorded tape was quite late, prompting suggestions of incompetence from the CTV news cast.
Dion's speech however was released and made widely available. In it he emphasized the cooperative nature of the proposed coalition with the NDP and their joint plan to increase stimulus spending.
"Within one week, a new direction will be established, a tone and focus will be set. We will gather with leaders of industry and labour to work, unlike the Conservatives, in a collaborative, but urgent manner to protect jobs."
While criticizing the Prime Minister for the partisanship of his fiscal update/mini budget, which included cuts to public funding for political parties, Dion emphasized that coalitions work in many countries around the world.
He also said that he had written the Governor General earlier that day, asking her to decline should Harper ask her to suspend parliament.
While Dion was supposed to be speaking on behalf of the coalition, NDP Jack Layton filed a separate request with broadcasters asking for his own time slot.
“We respectfully remind broadcasters that the proposed coalition is just that: a proposal to the Canadian people by two of Canada['s] political parties with the backing of a third,” Mr. Layton's chief of staff, Anne McGrath, wrote to broadcasters.
That move has further fueled speculation about how cohesive the coalition is.
Harper is set to visit the Governor General tomorrow and it is widely expected he will make that request, hoping to buy enough time for the coalition to either fall apart or become more unpopular among Canadians.
In western Canada, which generally votes Conservative, many have been voicing outrage over what some describe as the “hijacking” of the government. There has also been a nation-wide call for support for the coalition.
