The Narratives...

If I were a __________ , this would be the narrative coming from me today:

Conservative: Less than two months ago, the people of Canada spoke. They said no to Stephane Dion, they said no to Jack Layton, and they said no to the separatists. Today, the leaders of these three parties believe that a triple negative combined cancels it out, that three no's do in fact make a yes. You, the people of Canada, voted in the largest numbers in a generation for the steady and proven leadership of Stephen Harper and the Conservative team, giving us a strengthened mandate to govern Canada through these difficult economic times. Today we stand at a precipice because the opposition parties are so infuriated over a $20M cost-cutting measure in our last fiscal update. Why? Because it affects them and their interests. It does not affect Canada's interests nor does it threaten its democracy, which only so recently spoke out in favour of Stephen Harper and against Stephane Dion, Jack Layton, and Gilles Duceppe. We all have to accept restrictions on our spending, yet the opposition parties not only want to keep spending for themselves, they want to do the opposite of restricting spending. They want to drive the Brinks truck up to Parliament Hill, and open it up and let the tax-and-spend ways of Jack Layton plunge this country into economic catastrophe.

Liberal: We understand that we live in unprecedented times, and this has called for unprecedented action on behalf of Canada's major political parties. We had hoped to enter into the 40th Parliament with a renewed spirit of co-operation because we know that it is in Canada's interests for all of us to work together for the good of the country, its finances, and its economy. Yet given their first opportunity, Stephen Harper demonstrated that a leopard cannot change its spots: once a partisan, always a partisan. He is more concerned with handcuffing his political opponents than in reaching out to them with the national interest in mind. After October 14 we said that we were willing to work with the Conservatives with an eye towards improving Canada's economy; our gesture was met with the typical response that we had come to expect but hoped would be a thing of the past. He would rather kick dirt, like a bully always does, than work together. So, today we have looked elsewhere for partners to lead Canada. Our coalition is one with what some would consider to be unconventional allies. As I said before, we need to take unprecedented action. Who would ever have believed that we would see Stephane Dion and Gilles Duceppe working together for the good of Canada? Who would ever have thought that we would find common cause for business interests and their employees in Canada with Jack Layton? But here we are today. We don't want to do politics the Stephen Harper way; we want to do them the Canadian way, where we work together to overcome our problems and succeed, united and proud.

NDP: Today is a new day in Canada, one in which those parties which believe in a strong, progressive Canada have set their differences--and there are some which do remain--aside for the common good. The NDP is proud to have played a central role in brokering this partnership that represents the majority of Canadians and their values. We don't have the time to play mean-spirited partisan politics; this is a time for serious people to work hard for the common good of Canadian families. People are losing their jobs, and the Prime Minister is more focused on kicking his opponents in the shins than helping those working families stay on their feet. Because we're in a minority situation, and because we remained skeptical of Mr. Harper's intentions after the election, we reached out to the Bloc because we knew that there were shared progressive values and that what is good for the people of Quebec is also good for the people of Canada, and we wanted to include the Bloc in our plans going forward. We hear the people and we know of their concerns about the Bloc; this is not a time for talking about the spectre of separatism, because that would financially ruin all of us. We're all in this together, and M. Duceppe understands that as well as I do, as well as M. Dion does. Stephen Harper does not, he wants it to be his way or the highway; what we offer Canadians is a better way.