In December 2008, the leaders of the Liberal Party, Bloc Quebecois and NDP signed their infamous deal to form a coalition government. This backroom deal would have overturned the 2008 election and stolen power away from the Government that Canadians had elected just two months earlier. Canadians were shocked by this backroom political posturing, and across the country, rallies and gatherings were held to protest this shameless grab for power. office was inundated with letters, calls and emails from people throughout Vegreville-Wainwright who were outraged about the attempt by the Liberals, NDP and Bloc to overthrow our democratically-elected Conservative government.

As you may remember, the Opposition Coalition would have given the Bloc Québécois - a party dedicated to the break-up of our great country! - a Separatist veto on national decisions, something Canadians found totally unacceptable.

In a book released recently, Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe congratulates himself on not only being the "driving force" behind the Opposition Coalition but also for secretly scheming with the NDP on its creation before it was sprung on a shocked nation (Toronto Star, October 6, 2010).

At a stroke, the Bloc Québécois leader discredited those who insist that his party is not truly a part of the Coalition but rather a peripheral player. To the contrary, not only are the Bloc Québécois full Coalition partners with Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals and the NDP, they were, and continue to be, at its very heart.

This latest revelation by the BQ leader reminds Canadians that Coalition denials today cannot be trusted.  The opposition parties misled Canadians in 2008 and they'll mislead them again today. Let me remind you that during the 2008 election campaign, both the Liberals and Bloc campaigned against forming a coalition. The Liberals told voters they could not govern in coalition with the NDP because Jack Layton "does not understand the economy". The Bloc told voters that they categorically rejected the possibility of forming a multi-party coalition to stop the Conservatives.

The Bloc Québécois know that Canadians will never accept a Coalition led by a man who said he "loves" America (Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff), in which the NDP would manage the economy, and one that includes a party whose sole objective is the breakup of Canada.

Leon Benoit, MP
Vegreville-Wainwright