NDP,Liberal Coalition Agreement; Setting the record straight
January 5, 2009 by Dirk
Better late than never I suppose…
Although I have to say at the time when some blogger’s and journalist were spinning the NDP’s coalition agreement with the Liberals, into a tale of opportunism,I for one never paid much attention to the hype.
Preferring to hold my judgment ,at least until there was some tangible proof.Also I reasoned the benefits of an NDP/Liberal coalition government far out weighted the negatives.
That said I have to admit I was some what taken aback when Bill Tieleman joined the rush to judgment.In fact I felt a twinge of self-doubt.
Bill Tieleman wrote, “the NDP now faces the challenge of explaining to supporters why they were willing to jettison key 2008 election positions — like wanting Canadian troops out of Afghanistan….”
But what the hey everyone makes mistakes,even Bill ;o…
The mis-reporting of the NDPs’ position on Afghanistan stemmed from a statement by Thomas Mulcair, the deputy leader of the New Democrats. Brewster quoted Mulcair as saying, “The NDP is putting aside its differences that have existed historically with the Liberals on such issues as Afghanistan.”
Indeed Afghanistan was not even mentioned any where in the agreement.
Read in isolation, the statement could seem ambiguous. Does “putting aside its differences” mean adopting the Liberal position or just agreeing-to-disagree?
The answer — that it’s an agreement-to-disagree — is found later, [...]
[...], Liberal finance critic Scott Brison is quoted as saying: “All three parties recognize the seriousness and as such we are putting aside our differences to focus on common ground.”
All said it’s nice to know the NDP did not trade, in the currency of cynicism.
That’s right, but certain critics and political groups do have their agenda’s, thus distortions and misrepresentations live on.
And one also knows that certain politicians don’t get their quotes or political actions reported do to various ideological agendas.