Oakville MP Terence Young and Halton MP Lisa Raitt were elected a mere month-and-a-half ago as part of Stephen Harper’s minority government, but that government is already in danger of being toppled.

Parliament started Nov. 18 and it has been anything but smooth sailing.

The upheaval started last Thursday when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s economic update did not contain an expected stimulus package.

As a result of their disapproval with the update, the opposition parties decided to unite forces. The parties have worked out the details of a Liberal-NDP government, supported by the Bloc Québécois.

The deal, signed by the three party leaders on Monday, is good until July 2011. The Bloc will back the coalition on confidence motions until July 2010.

The coalition government could come into power as early as Monday, Dec. 8, when a vote of confidence is scheduled.

That will leave the fate of the country in the hands of Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean, who will decide whether to call another federal election or let the Liberal-NDP coalition rule.

Young said there is a lot of uncertainty among the Conservatives on Parliament Hill about what will happen next week. He labelled the coalition “undemocratic”, adding that the NDP and Bloc had been cooking up this plan long before last Thursday.

“It’s a source of great concern to me because a party (NDP) that only got 18 per cent of the vote in Canada and under eight per cent of the vote in Oakville has refused to accept the results of the recent election,” Young told The Oakville Beaver. “And they are partnering with a party (Bloc) that got 10 per cent of the national vote and whose sole purpose is to break up Canada. Secondarily, I think it is tragic to see the party of Laurier and Trudeau, who both worked to unite Canada, making a governance agreement with the separatists.”

Raitt also said she does not know what is going to happen. Speaking to the Beaver yesterday via telephone from Ottawa, she said it is very hectic right now on the Hill.

She said the root of the coalition agreement is greed, not concern for the economy.

“To not be defeated on a budget, but rather be defeated by some guise of self-serving concern that they have of the economy, it’s just false,” Raitt said. “They’re not concerned about the economy, they are making a power grab and that is disappointing to me.”

She also echoed Young’s disappointment that the Liberals have joined forces with the Bloc.

“It is really ridiculous that the Liberals would betray their roots and betray their heritage and get in bed with separatists,” she said. “I find that really discomforting.”

The Conservatives have already started making concessions over the past few days in an attempt to appease the opposition parties. Flaherty has hinted for the first time that the government might bail out Canada’s Big Three automakers. He also promised the announcement of economic stimulus measures in an early budget on Jan. 27.

Young said he has been part of the negotiations to help the automakers, especially Ford.

“Last week, I was lobbying ministers to make sure that Ford Motor Company gets the assistance it needs on the fiscal side and also GM and Chrysler,” he said. “The auto industry is dependent on there being money in the system because 90 per cent of the cars sold in Canada are financed. I’m working very hard to make sure that Ford gets the assistance they need, within some very strict parameters.”

Raitt said the Conservatives shouldn’t be expected to introduce stimulus measures at this time when the United States is in the process of coming under the leadership of its new president, Barack Obama.

“We’ve indicated that the government is going to be presenting a budget in January, we’re clearly doing stakeholder outreach, we’re clearly talking to people to determine what is the best route to protect the economy, and we’re waiting to hear from the United States, as well,” she said. “It makes no sense to start throwing money around in the country and not get it right. You should be waiting for those things to happen.”

Young said the Conservatives plan to talk to opposition party members, as well as Canadians, about what the party has already done to help the economy and what it plans to do in the future.

“We’re going to keep doing what we have been doing,” Young said. “We have provided economic stimulus and Mr. Harper, who is a brilliant economist, acted over a year to go to provide economic stimulus — the same economic stimulus that the U. K. and the United States are just starting to do. For example, last week the U. K. decided they were going to cut the value-added tax, the equivalent of the G. S. T. But Mr. Harper already did that by two points last year.

“We’ve already injected capital with our $33-billion capital investment program called Building Canada. In the economic statement last Thursday, Mr. Flaherty said we are going to double that next year. The deal the other side is making has nothing to do with the economic statement. They’ve been planning this, as Mr. Layton says (in a taped, private telephone conference call), for a very long time.”

The Liberals announced Monday that Stéphane Dion will lead the coalition.

He will head up the coalition until May, when a Liberal leadership convention will be held.

Former Oakville Liberal MP Bonnie Brown said she supports a coalition government with Dion as leader.

“I think Mr. Dion has to be the leader, because the Liberal Party has certain rules about leadership and very specific and tight rules about the election of a leader,” Brown said. “Mr. Dion is the interim leader until May and there really is no way for them to replace him. For example, you couldn’t have Mr. Ignatieff, Mr. Rae or Mr. (Dominic) Leblanc leading, because they are supposed to be out meeting Canadians and campaigning for the leadership.”

Brown said throughout her recent campaign that Dion was the right man to lead the Liberals and the country. Today, she maintains that position.

“The press keep saying Mr. Dion did so badly in the last election, and it’s true that he didn’t too well, but the fact of the matter is that his whole personae was maligned by those ads that were put out about him,” she said. “I have worked with him since he came to Parliament Hill, and have found him to be knowledgeable, dependable and extremely smart. He has all kinds of qualities that would make him a good prime minister.”

However, Conservatives have been vocal in their disapproval of Dion as leader.

“It is a little ironic, isn’t it?” said Raitt. “The Liberal Party has its worst showing in decades and Canadians clearly rejected Mr. Dion as a possible leader and clearly chose Mr. Harper as the leader, but yet, by some backroom deals, all of a sudden he’s going to be prime minister of this country, representing our country on the world stage. I have great concerns.”

Young said Dion should not be prime minister after his performance as Liberal leader in the last election.

“It is interesting that the man who the voters of Canada just rejected, with the lowest Liberal vote since Confederation, is planning to seize power based on this undemocratic deal,” he said. “The voters just rejected Dion and his carbon tax with the lowest Liberal vote since Confederation.”

Brian Hopkins, president of the Oakville NDP riding association, said a coalition government is a step in the right direction for the country.

“A coalition government would be representative of a majority of the voters,” Hopkins said. “A coalition is, in itself, people attempting to work cooperatively together. This is something that Mr. Harper has failed on consistently ever since he became prime minister. His actions in calling the election this fall and then really forcing a crisis at the present time doesn’t reek of cooperation, it reeks of partisanship and power seeking on his part. It is very divisive and causes dissension in the country, when he’s the one saying we need stable government to move forward.”

Brown said it will take a lot of promises and sweet-talking by Harper to prevent the Conservatives from being ousted.

“He (Harper) has one week to pull all the levers of power, so you can be sure he is very busy dreaming up a package for Quebec and trying to woo Mr. Duceppe away from the coalition,” she said. “The week will require Mr. Harper to eat some humble pie, and I don’t think he’s got it in him.”

Regardless what happens on Monday, Young said he will continue to serve the people of Oakville.

“I will still represent Oakville, whatever side of the House I’m sitting on,” he said. “My concern is that I will be less able to get things done, like capital investment in Oakville, from the other side.”

Raitt encourages residents of the riding, as well as across the country, to make their voices heard on the issue and e-mail her office at raittl@parl.gc.ca .

“Right now, this is very clear, the separatists have signed an accord, and the Liberals are a part of it, the NDPsocialists are part of it and they are going to try to take control of this country without going to the Canadian people,” she said. “The people of Halton need to know this is very serious…. And they have to tell me and tell others how they feel about it. This is the opportunity in the next few days to let their voice be heard. If Mr. Dion won’t take this to a vote and won’t allow this to go to an election to actually let the people be heard, we want the people of Canada to know we want to hear their voices and communicate that in the House of Commons. I want to hear from constituents what they think about this whole thing.”