MPs can’t agree on election

Derek Lee, MP for Scarborough-Rouge River
Dan McTeague, MP for Pickering Scarbrough East

“Derek Lee, MP for Scarborough-Rouge River, who predicts that an election will be called within the
next six weeks.”

Courtesy of Derek Lee’s
constituency office

“Dan McTeague, MP for Pickering Scarbrough East, who says election buzz distracts Parliament Hill from getting work done.”

Courtesy of Dan McTeague’s constituency office

East Scarborough’s MPs, all Liberals, do not agree on when a federal election will finally come, but one has a bold prediction:

The government will not last beyond the next six weeks.

“The government has passed its two year anniversary,” says Derek Lee, MP for Scarborough-Rouge River. “It’s not like defeating the government would be seen as not giving it a fair chance.”

Lee says a number of confidence votes on major issues are coming up in the House of Commons where, if the government loses, Canada will slide into an election.

“There doesn’t seem to be much glue to hold [the government] together,” Lee says.

He lists several possible issues that could bring an election, including the economy and the war in Afghanistan.

But the idea of an upcoming election does not seem to thrill Dan McTeague, MP for Pickering-Scarborough East.

“It really brings stagnation into the equation,” he says of election speculation.

Issues important to east Scarborough, like personal safety, are already being raised in Parliament, according to McTeague.

The government should “try to get together, go together, and avoid another election,” he says.

Neither McTeague nor John McKay, MP for Scarborough-Guildwood, gave a specific time frame for when they thought an election would come. McKay says the Liberals have yet to make a decision about bringing down the Conservatives.

“The question is, if we’re going to cease to let this government live, what is the chance that the government will change for the better?” McKay says.

All of the MPs say they are confident they can win their seats again. They have each been re-elected several times.

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Posted: Feb 8 2008 12:00 pm
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Filed under: News