Canada’s new Conservative rulers get down to business

OTTAWA – Canada’s next leader Stephen Harper confronted the task of ramming change through a fractious parliament after ending the country’s 12-year love affair with the scandal-laced Liberals.

Harper’s Conservatives knocked off Prime Minister Paul Martin but must cozy up to the separatist Bloc Quebecois and left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) after scraping to power in Monday’s election with a only fragile minority. The prime minister designate flew into Ottawa from the western city of Calgary and embarked on a string of meetings, as he prepared to take up the reins of power.”This morning our transition team began its work,” Harper told supporters gathered in a hanger at Ottawa airport.”It has a lot of meetings planned for me today and tomorrow,” said Harper, who has vowed to hike military spending, cut consumption taxes, and improve frayed relations with the United States.Canada’s de-facto head of state, Governor General Michaelle Jean – representative of Queen Elizabeth II in Canada – meanwhile formally asked Harper to form a government.Hours earlier Martin had satisfied protocol by formally tendering his resignation.He will however stay on for up to two weeks as power is transferred.The NDP and the Bloc were already jockeying for position ahead of Harper’s wooing mission.”You roll up your sleeves, you discuss, you negotiate,” said NDP leader Jack Layton.Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe pledged to push the French-speaking province’s interests when Harper came calling.”We will be responsible.When something that is proposed that is good for Quebec, we will support that,” said Duceppe, who will play a key role in governing a country his party wants to leave.Harper, who put a fresh face on his prickly image and tracked to the centre ground to dodge Liberal attacks, denies opponents’ claims he is a closet extremist in thrall to US social conservatives.As he declared victory on Monday, he said Canadians had voted for change, and promised to clean up government in Ottawa after a clutch of kickback scandals which soured voters on the Liberals after more than a decade in power.”Shuffling the deck in Ottawa is not good enough,” he said.The Conservatives won 124 seats in parliament, 18 months after the previous election trimmed Liberal Party control and saddled Martin with a minority.This time around the Liberals will be the second largest grouping with 103 seats, the New Democrats will have 29 and the Bloc 51.There will be one independent.- Nampa-AFPThe prime minister designate flew into Ottawa from the western city of Calgary and embarked on a string of meetings, as he prepared to take up the reins of power.”This morning our transition team began its work,” Harper told supporters gathered in a hanger at Ottawa airport.”It has a lot of meetings planned for me today and tomorrow,” said Harper, who has vowed to hike military spending, cut consumption taxes, and improve frayed relations with the United States.Canada’s de-facto head of state, Governor General Michaelle Jean – representative of Queen Elizabeth II in Canada – meanwhile formally asked Harper to form a government.Hours earlier Martin had satisfied protocol by formally tendering his resignation.He will however stay on for up to two weeks as power is transferred.The NDP and the Bloc were already jockeying for position ahead of Harper’s wooing mission.”You roll up your sleeves, you discuss, you negotiate,” said NDP leader Jack Layton.Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe pledged to push the French-speaking province’s interests when Harper came calling.”We will be responsible.When something that is proposed that is good for Quebec, we will support that,” said Duceppe, who will play a key role in governing a country his party wants to leave.Harper, who put a fresh face on his prickly image and tracked to the centre ground to dodge Liberal attacks, denies opponents’ claims he is a closet extremist in thrall to US social conservatives.As he declared victory on Monday, he said Canadians had voted for change, and promised to clean up government in Ottawa after a clutch of kickback scandals which soured voters on the Liberals after more than a decade in power.”Shuffling the deck in Ottawa is not good enough,” he said.The Conservatives won 124 seats in parliament, 18 months after the previous election trimmed Liberal Party control and saddled Martin with a minority.This time around the Liberals will be the second largest grouping with 103 seats, the New Democrats will have 29 and the Bloc 51.There will be one independent.- Nampa-AFP