Canada has, it is said, two social democratic parties: the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party. In English Canada the NDP is backed by labor organizations, the women's movement and peace organizations. Same's true (truer) for the Bloc Quebecois in French speaking Quebec. The strength and leadership of the Bloc has been such that Buzz Hargrove, of the Canadian Autoworkers, has suggested that the two parties work together in the Federal Parliament, a nice idea.

So what happens when the ruling Liberal Party is found to have used taxpayer's money to try to subvert the electoral laws of Quebec in a bid to crush the sovereigntist Bloc and it's provincial ally the Partis Quebecois? What happens when it is found that they were not only breaking the rules but doing so through their own Liberal Party machine and lining the very deep pockets of their unelected apparatchiks? (If this occurred in Africa the government would be called a kleptocracy.)

The Bloc, expressing the collective outrage of the population of Quebec, said the government should resign. And the NDP? When the Liberals decided to hang on to power and faced a confidence vote in Parliament the NDP flew to their side for a few crumbs. And Buzz Hargrove bragged he had been the intermediary! Jack Layton, NDP leader, was widely praised for saving the country from an election...widely praised in English Canada, that is. As if history had a message for us the vote that "averted" an election (Toronto Star) was followed days later by the celebration in English Canada of Queen Victoria Day and in Quebec "Patriot's Day", on which Quebec celebrates the heroes of the 1837 Rebellion against British rule, especially the Papineau who led the struggle in what was then known as Lower Canada. In Upper Canada the rebellion was led by Papineau's ally William Lyon Mackenzie, whose patriotism is not marked as it might detract from the glory of the old Monarch. Popular rebellion only celebrated in Quebec, you say? Pity.

Why did Jack betray his fellow social democrats and the people of Quebec? Some wag has suggested that Jack had learned that after all the years of NDP arrogance toward Quebec that there still remained a small segment of support for the NDP in that province and he decided this was his opportunity to wipe it out.

Actually, Jack did it because he hasn't the faintest respect for the views of the Francophone working people of Quebec. Layton's fan base in Ontario like to say Jack listens to the people...well, not if they speak French.

The NDP went with two stories to explain their conduct (and fear of a vote). One the boogey-man, the Conservative Party, would gain an advantage and, two, there would be an alliance of Conservatives and the Bloc and our non-existent condition of "national unity" would be threatened. So Jack betrayed his class allies and democratic principles and made himself a shiney button on the shirt of Prime Minister Paul Martin. Which brings us to "Plan B".

What we see in the conduct of the NDP is a willingness to look the other way when the ruling Liberals resort to dirty tactics to have their way in Quebec...a practice going back to the English conquest but revived with a relish by Pierre Trudeau and heartily applied by his henchman, Jean Chretien. Jean Chretien wrote in his autobiography that his fellow Quebecers had foolish dreams of national recognition and it was his duty to kill those dreams. He called the book "Straight From the Heart", not that he has ever done anything straight from the heart since he has had a career serving the wealthy of English Canada. While Quebecers have brought in the most progressive electoral process in North America, the Liberals, the Conservatives and the NDP have allowed the "Plan B" mindset to become the prevailing spirit of English Canada.

Jack Layton averted his eyes from the crooks and their plan to manipulate the democratic process in Quebec, he was deaf to the voice of Quebec working people. Old Jack -- and his party of loyalist co-horts -- voted for the conquest (then and now).