The Government stays afloat while the Liberals sink

The first confidence vote of the fall session of Parliament is now over with the Conservative government winning handily and averting a fall election. Thereby, paving the way for the implementation of the highly popular Home Renovation Tax Credit. The final tally of the vote was 224 in favour to 74 Liberals against.

Everyone is a winner here, with the exception of Michael Ignatieff. The Conservative government still stands and will continue with it's plan. The NDP and BQ, putting aside party politics for now to support the government, will be credited with making Parliament work while the economic recovery continues. Meanwhile, Michael Ignatieff seems like the captain of a rudderless ship. First, he makes hay in the spring demanding changes to EI. Now in the fall, he votes against legislation in the budget that he supported earlier. Next he offers to rush through passage of EI legislation he finds inadequate in order to remove the NDP's reason for supporting the Conservative government.

All this done so that Michael Ignatieff can try and force an election that nobody wants. Meanwhile, the opinion polls show his party's falling in public support. This doesn't sound like the actions of an experienced captain on the quarterdeck. In my opinion, he's not navigating these political waters very well and will soon run aground. The Liberal's raft may be sinking and the captain may go down with it.