National
Jack Layton's Christmas Surprise - Could It Be An Election?
By D.L. McCracken
Nov 7, 2005, 17:39

The possibility of a Christmas election is closer than ever to becoming a done-deal with the news that NDP leader Jack Layton and his party will not support the federal Liberal health care package submitted by Paul Martin last week.

After analyzing the Liberal's proposals over the weekend, Layton said today, "What the government is proposing is unacceptable. No real effort to monitor and track public medicare’s decline and private care’s rise. And today’s Liberal Party is unwilling to attach any conditions to prevent privatization to the funds it currently invests in health."

Layton went on to say that he has notified the government of his party's rejection of the "unacceptable" proposals adding, "For those of us committed to getting things done in this Parliament, there’s no basis for our party to express confidence in this government."

Although Layton suggests that Canadians should not be forced to "wait months" for an election, he would not specify his intentions regarding a non-confidence vote although he did say, referring to the Gomery report, "We cannot express confidence in a government under the leadership of a party that cannot be trusted to clean up the politics it tainted." The earliest date for such a vote is November 15.

Should Layton decide to topple the minority Liberal government, Canadians will be receiving a perhaps unwanted gift this season - a federal election.


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