About that great talking point...

The one being played up by the NDP today on the 43 confidence votes that the Liberals did not defeat Mr Haprer on...let's keep in mind that in doing so, they are wholeheartedly supporting Mr. Harper's view that a minority parliament is his personal majority. Even Gerry Caplan acknowledged the hypocrisy of the NDP position last night:

Even though it is clearly a violation of parliamentary conventions, if it's a minority Mr. Harper can stoop once again to labeling every vote a non-confidence vote, since in our system there's no one to slap him down.

The discretion entrusted to a PM in this respect is broad. It assumes respect for our traditions and values. Mr. Harper has not displayed this to date. Yet judging from Mr. Layton's continued remarks, it is likely that his support for Mr. Harper's anti-democratic position on confidence votes will continue in the next parliament. This is antithetical to respecting the verdict given by the voters, a minority parliament.

Thankfully, the ground appears to be shifting, and public attention is hopefully not going to be as tolerant as the NDP have been. Recall this editorial, "Not everything is a confidence vote," in the Globe earlier in the campaign when Mr. Harper again raised the threat of more confidence votes to come, immediately if he were put in a minority situation once again and again in defiance of the people's mandate:

For the second time in two days, Mr. Harper announced yesterday that his party would reintroduce anti-crime legislation that the previous Parliament did not pass – and that, if the opposition stood in the way, he would be ready to force another election over it. His aides indicated that the bills would be put to the opposition as take-it-or-leave-it propositions.

This is not how a minority government should work. Confidence votes are to be limited to money bills and measures at the core of the government's agenda – not routinely invoked by a prime minister whenever he wishes to put pressure on other parties to support less important bills. If Canadians elect the Conservatives with another minority, they will be explicitly saying that they have not entrusted them with full power over the legislative agenda – that they expect them to try to work with the other parties. (emphasis added)

That is the position that deserves our support. Not one that essentially says, please sir, can we have some more.

It makes for great TV for Layton (and t-shirts). I certainly wish Mr. Dion had immediately turned it back on Layton and asked why he supported Mr. Harper's abuse of the confidence vote. But it's worth keeping in mind that this NDP position continues to irresponsibly give Mr. Harper's abusive version of our parliamentary democracy a free pass.