I’ve generally been on the dovish side about bringing the Tories down. And I can buy the Liberal argument for voting against today’s NDP motion – it’s only fair to look at these immigration reforms in committee first.

BUT

Here’s some of the language the Liberals are using:

“We believe the Conservatives are wrong when they treat newcomers who want to immigrate to Canada like commodities and not human beings,”
-Ralph Goodale

“This begs a simple question: What does the government have against refugees?”
-Michael Ignatieff

“For half a century Canada has pursued immigration goals based on fairness and objectivity.
Why is the Prime Minister trying to get rid of these principles of fairness and objectivity? Why does he want to replace them with abusive powers in the hands of his minister, to replace open arms with closed doors?”
–Stephane Dion

“Why is the government telling the world: ‘Immigrants need not apply?”
–Stephane Dion

Forcing an election on your own terms makes sense. And trying to reform this bill constructively makes sense. But if these immigration reforms aren’t altered, it’s at the point where the Liberals have painted them as being so ghastly that they really have a moral imperative to vote against them.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they will.