Alfred Apps: shock and awe

Liberal Party president Alfred Apps is the latest target of attack by Harper Conservative strategists fighting the coalition wars. They are accusing Mr. Apps of making a “shocking admission” suggesting his party wanted to overthrow the Harper government in the last election.

The Tories, who are doing their utmost to milk this debate over the Liberals and NDP forming a coalition, suggest in a memo to party faithful that Mr. Apps said that “Liberals should have rejected the will of Canadians and formed an undemocratic coalition with the Bloc Quebecois and NDP immediately after the 2008 election.”

They assert this as a result of an interview Mr. Apps gave recently to Maclean’s magazine in which he was musing about different scenarios from the outcome of the 2008 federal election.

Here is the quote the Tories pulled from the Maclean’s interview: “Apps told Macleans, ‘If following the last election the NDP and the Liberals had gone immediately to the Governor General and said, ‘We’d like to form a coalition and we’d like you to call on us to form the government rather than Mr. Harper,’ and they’d had their act together to do that, that might have led to Mr. Harper being defeated right out of the blocks.’ (June 10, 2010).”

The Tories, in this memo, charge that Mr. Apps is also encouraging a coalition with the separatist Bloc Quebecois: “It’s not acceptable to form a coalition government by sharing power with a party dedicated to the break-up of our country,” says the memo.

Not correct, says Mr. Apps, accusing the Harper Conservatives of twisting his words.

“I did NOT say that,” he wrote in an email this morning. “I said it was merely an obvious theoretical possibility given that no party had won a majority. I was simply pointing out that a coalition discussion is something that occurs following the election, once the election results are known. If no party had been willing to support the Conservatives in 2006 and 2008, the question of a coalition (involving a bargain of some sorts between parties) would have faced ALL parties including the Conservatives.”

He also said that he was trying to explain the “complete absurdity” of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s remarks last week that “losers can’t form coalitions.”

“The fact is if the winner does not win a majority, cannot command the support of a majority and cannot craft a compromise coalition to win the confidence of the House, losers may well form coalitions and, often in Parliamentary experience, the party with the most seats does NOT necessarily form the government,” said Mr. Apps.

In fact, given the number of seats won by the Harper Tories in the last election - they came close to a majority - he says the “Liberals had a duty then to give the CPC a chance to try to form a government rather than immediately vote non-confidence.”

The Chevrolet Summit

Aline Chrétien recycled the fabric used at some of the formal meetings at the 1995 Halifax G7 Summit and used it for curtains in the dining room at 24 Sussex Drive.

Her husband, former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, had borrowed the two cherry wood negotiating tables from the previous summit in Naples, Italy, to make things less expensive.

As well, he attempted to keep the size of delegations down, dubbing his Halifax summit the “Chevrolet” summit” as opposed to previous “Cadillac” summits.

The Liberals uncovered a story from New York Times reporter Clyde Farnsworth, detailing the costs and preparations for the Halifax summit; they gleefully shared it.

For days now, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has been leading the opposition charge against the escalating costs of the summit. It seems that every day there is a new revelation of spending, on items that the opposition charge is outrageous, especially in this fiscally-challenged climate.

Security alone for the three days during which the two summits take place is estimated to cost $1-billion; yesterday it was revealed that about $1.1-million has been spent for banners and backdrops to be used at photo ops and press conferences.

And so this begs the question: What will with Harpers do with the $57,000 fake lake? They have a pool at 24 Sussex and a real lake at their summer residence at Harrington Lake.