Remarks were anti-coalition, Fentie says now

Premier Dennis Fentie backed down on his support for the embattled government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday after the legislative assembly voted to respect the decision of the Governor General.

Premier Dennis Fentie backed down on his support for the embattled government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday after the legislative assembly voted to respect the decision of the Governor General.

It was an about-face for Fentie, who on Monday accused federal opposition parties of trying to seize power from Harper.

“Canadians did not vote for a Liberal/NDP coalition government supported by the separatist Bloc Quebecois,” Fentie said.

For a week, the future of Harper’s bolstered minority government, elected just six weeks ago, was uncertain. Opposition parties, enraged at the prospect Harper might cut public political funding, aligned to overthrow his government.

But this morning, Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean chose to prorogue Parliament, giving the minority Conservatives until Jan. 26 to craft a budget and potentially mend some political fences.

Back in the territory’s legislative assembly, the debate raged about whether Fentie had overstepped his bounds by backing Harper.

While Fentie defended his position, Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell took a wait-and-see approach.

NDP Leader Todd Hardy weighed in with a long-shot motion - that the territorial government support the coalition.

For nearly two hours yesterday, party leaders debated Hardy’s motion.

“We are facing a global economic crisis. The prime minister could have come back, reached his hand across to the opposition and said, ‘Let’s work together to solve this,’” said Hardy. “He didn’t do it.”

The New Democrat called Harper divisive for suggesting that handing the separatist Bloc Quebecois the balance of power was “un-Canadian.”

The coalition is more legitimate than the Conservative government, said Hardy, because it represents the majority of Canadian voters.

But Fentie countered that Canadians “soundly rejected (Liberal Leader Stephane) Dion, and the political brinksmanship unfolding in Ottawa was nothing more than a power grab.

“And through the back door, this same individual could now become the prime minister of Canada,” said Fentie. “I have questions about that.”

When it came Mitchell’s turn to speak, he proposed the government support and respect the decision of the Governor General, which at that time was not known.

What lay before her then were three options. The first, which transpired this morning, was to prorogue (delay) Parliament until late January and allow the Conservatives to present a federal budget.

The other two included allowing the tri-party coalition to govern following a non-confidence vote that could have come as early as Monday, or dissolving Parliament altogether and sending Canadian voters back to the polls.

As Jean opted to prorogue Parliament, today Fentie lauded the decision and categorized his earlier position as anti-coalition rather than pro-Harper.

“There was no point in turning it into a political football,” Fentie said in an interview, when asked why the government did not use its majority to crush dissent.

“All things unfolded, I think, for the betterment of Canada. The Governor General has made her decision,” he said, adding he is unrepentant for his stand against the coalition.

“We did not vote for a coalition. If (NDP Leader) Jack Layton, Stephane Dion and (Bloc Leader) Gilles Duceppe had this idea, then take it to the polls and let Canadians decide.”