March 31
“Because minority parliaments have become so frequent and are likely to remain so in the future, it is high time that we Canadians become savvy on how best to live with them. The parliamentary crisis we entered into after the 14 October [2008] election indicates that we – the politicians and the people – have a whole lot of learning to do.” – Peter H. Russell, “Learning to Live with Minority Parliaments” – Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis
It came as no surprise when Harper came out in full swing against a possible Liberal-led coalition when he launched his election campaign last Saturday. Harper, more than any other politician it seems judging from his past position on the issue, understands fully the significant role coalition governments will play in a parliament destined to be splintered by political parties.
His tactic reveals two things. First, the coalition option scares him. It’s his Achilles Heel in his quest for majority rule, especially when contempt of Parliament charges and other controversies hang over his head. His tactic: go on the offensive. His message: give me my majority or suffer in hell with a fractured ‘pinko –separatist’ opposition.
The other revelation is that by declaring coalition off the table for the Liberals, Ignatieff has exposed himself as no match to Harper’s scheming. Evidently he has not thought the matter through. He also seems to think a Liberal minority is within his grasp. In short: he’s not living in reality. The problem of course is that he’s sparring with a politician who is.
The media have done their bit, drudging up video of Stephen’s younger self predicting a future minority Liberal government aligning with opposition parties to make its government work. During the late 1990s when the politically fractured right were figuring out how to take on the majority Liberal government, Stephen and future chief of staff Tom Flanagan mulled over all options available to political parties, including coalition government.
Back then when they were touting themselves as purveyors of all things populist, Harper and friends bandied about the concepts of coalition governments, elected Senates and free votes as antidotes to the perpetual Liberal majority (a.k.a. benign dictatorship).
Clearly things have changed. Harper pressed for democratic reform when the chips were down. Once in power, his populist notions such as free votes and Senate reform took a backseat. Indeed, he broke his own law of fixed elections in 2008 when he felt his chances of winning a majority were pretty good, and has kept a tight reign on his own MPs.
And now he’s meddling with the rules of our parliamentary democracy in a bid to hang onto power. Parliamentary expert, Peter H. Russell refers to this meddling as ‘Harper’s new rules’. In 2008 when Dion and Layton signed an accord to form a coalition with support from the Bloc, Harper and Flanagan, once endorsers of coalition governments, laid out some new rules. They went as follows:
• Parliamentary elections result in the election of a Prime Minister.
• The Prime Minister cannot be changed without another election being called.
• Coalition government cannot be formed unless it is announced as a possibility in the election campaign.
This is an extraordinary turnaround from their earlier visions of parliamentary reform, and completely antithetical to the rules of our parliamentary system. Canadians elect members of parliament, not prime ministers. Not even governments. Coalitions can form after an election, and be served up as an option if a minority government loses the confidence of the House.
The big elephant in the room of course is an apathetic electorate. Do they understand or even care why they are once again headed for the polls, if they decide to drag themselves there? The last election saw our lowest turnout at 58.8%.
How convenient for Harper to turn to them and say: see – the opposition rejected our budget because they don’t want to work with us and want to force an election.
The Conservative attack ads this past winter and popularity in the polls suggest something else. Really, it is up to a minority government to behave like one. It’s up to them to work together with the other parties to secure support. Period. If they don’t it’s usually because they want an election. Riding on his popularity in the polls, clever Harper presented a budget no party would want and made it seem that the opposition failed to cooperate, bringing on an unpopular election.
The other aspect of all this is that the Conservatives behave as if they have a mandate to rule. They received the most votes, didn’t they? So what if they received only 37.6% of the popular vote. Perhaps this is another new rule to add to the list. The problem is that this feeds into the common misunderstanding that Canadians elect governments and not parliaments.
By swearing off forming a coalition government if the Conservatives are handed another minority, Ignatieff has painted his Liberals into a very tight corner. Harper’s government has been found in contempt of Parliament, a first in our history. Harper has also declared that his government will not alter the budget it presented last week if it were to win a minority. So – where does that leave us? Back to the polls?
If the Canadian electorate are sick of elections every few years, they better start warming to the idea of a Liberal-led coalition. Meanwhile, Ignatieff and his Liberal team need to figure out how manoeuvre themselves out of the tight corner they found themselves in, and bring in strategists who can out-smart Harper.
Harper understands perfectly well the situation he’s in. Everything he worked so hard for is in danger of taking a hit. He will not go down without a fight, which means vilifying a coalition government, particularly a Liberal one. Caving into this tactic will neither serve the left nor democracy. It’s up to the engaged electorate to give them the political will to stand up to Harper and do what they must do to restore stable governance. Write or call Ignatieff and Layton. Let them know you support a coalition.
I was Green Party of Canada candidate in LaSalle-Emard federal riding during the 2004 election, but have since come to understand the importance of coalescing with those progressive forces in each riding. I am not running again as a candidate specifically because I believe that we should not be electing minority vote fringe right-wing candidates such as George W. Bush, when progressives are in the clear majority. I have worked over decades in support of NDP, Liberal and Green parties. Please link me with other in my riding so that I can work with them on this issue. PS. If I had been elected in 2004 by some fluke, the first person who I would hire would have been Paul Martin the successful Liberal party MP. I have come to appreciate that there is good expertise in all parties which needs to be drawn upon. Unfortunately the Conservatives entertain such risky human and biosphere destroying activities as well as having an inability to form coalitions with others. douglasf.jack@gmail.com
Great post Cheryl! I am going to write an open letter addressed to both Layton and Ignatieff urging them to support a coalition should Harper get a minority which anyone can sign. Could I use quotes from your blog in this letter?
Hi Michelle – thanks for your message. We are actually working on a open letter right now. Contact me at canadiansforcoalition@gmail.com and we’ll include you in the process.
Hi Douglas – definitely hook up with the folks at Catch 22. http://catch22campaign.ca/page/about-us. They are targeting swing ridings to ensure that progressive parties have the upper hand over the Conservatives. They would LOVE to hear from you.
hopefully harper will win a majority is a bunch from quebec of freeloaders from quebec taking salaries etc from the rest of canada not a form of contempt the only way fot layton to gain power is your way how many seats does he ever win it was nice to see ford win toronto and hopefully the pcs will win ontario canada would be bettew without quebec trudeau did his best to destoy canada and chrieten and mulphoney were much better
Top 10 Reasons Why Iggy’s No Better than Harpy,
or, Why Grits and Tories are Birds of a Feather
1. Liberals under Jean Chretien sent Canadian troops to Afghanistan, after backing the U.S. invasion of Iraq with Canadian war ships in the Persian Gulf. Today’s Liberal and Conservative MPs supported the extension of the present Canadian military occupation of Afghanistan through 2014, are staunchly pro-Israeli apartheid, and enthusiastically endorsed NATO bombing of Libya.
2. A Liberal government helped plan the overthrow of Haiti’s democratically elected President Jean- Bertrand Aristide, and sent Canadian troops and cops to occupy the impoverished country…. to make it a safe place for Canadian sweat shop operators, mining companies and SNC Lavelin.
3. Michael Ignatieff is for ‘torture lite’, for coerced confessions, according to his books and lectures on the subject. He fully endorses Paul Martin’s infamous concept of “duty to protect”, a thinly-veiled excuse for imperialist intervention wherever business interests are threatened.
4. Iggy voted for every wretched Tory budget since he became Liberal Leader, and backed the lavish bail-out of big business after the world capitalist economic crash, all at taxpayers’ expense.
5. The Ignatieff-Liberal promises for help to child care, health care, education and seniors are grossly inadequate. Their pledges fall far short of the ones already broken by former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. Their shameful insufficiency supplants any lingering question of ‘trust’.
6. Liberal governments violated the Kyoto Accords, while the Harper Tories want to abrogate it. The result for the environment is exactly the same: perilous climate change that threatens the survival of human civilization. Both parties like the Tar Sands, and push nuclear power – an evident dead end.
7. Liberal and Tory governments have equally presided over the decimation and dispossession of aboriginal peoples, the murderous practices of ‘native residential schools’, the refusal to settle aboriginal land claims and obstruction of the principle of native self-government. Apologies for genocide just don’t cut it.
8. The Chretien/Martin transfer payments cuts of the 1990s greatly exceeded the social programme slashing of the Harpies, much less the latter’s politically targeted cuts to progressive groups. Liberals imposed the GST. Harper reduced it slightly, and then rewarded provinces for implementing the HST. Both parties, both leaders, voted for major corporate tax cuts that produced no significant number of new jobs. But they did increase debt, with which they stoked debt fears to ‘justify’ more social cuts.
9. The Liberal and Conservative parties are both creatures of the ruling business class, funded by Bay Street and entirely beholden to Capital. The only difference is that Tories frown, and Liberals smile, while they stab you in the back.
10. Both parties oppose Proportional Representation, are committed to maintaining the Senate and the Monarchy, and are routinely guilty of corruption and abuse of power. The recent Tory spending and secrecy scandals have a grimy Liberal counterpart in the AdScam Quebec Sponsorship scandal.
The only way forward is to dump all the parties of business (including the Bloc Quebecois and the Green Party) and the capitalist system they serve. The fight for a socialist alternative, the only means to establish a sustainable, green, democratic, cooperative commonwealth, is a year-round campaign for a radical alternative. It must be waged in the unions, social protest movements, as well as inside the New Democratic Party. The NDP is the only mass, labour-based party in North America.
To win a Workers’ Agenda requires working class political independence from the parties of Capital. That means NO to coalition with the Liberal Party. NO to the party of the War Measures Act and the Clarity Act. NO to racial profiling of Muslim and Arab Canadians. NO to the most severe social cuts ever (1990s). NO to the widest chasm between the rich and the rest of us. NO to the Liberal Party, the dominant party of capitalist rule in the Canadian state for nearly a century and a half.
Vote NDP! Fight for socialist policies!
This is the first step towards uniting the Left! Today coalition, tommorow the parties merge into one center-left party called the Labour party! Let make it happen! We need to stop fighting each other and work together to defeat Harper and get Canada back! UNITE THE LEFT, DOWN WITH HARPER!!!
http://act.ly/petitions
what about putting a petition on this site to Layton and Iggy?
Just saw this and I signed even though its a mute point now
Although with 60% of the population voting against the PCs – i’m hopeful for 2015. Its going to be a rough 4 years. Lets keep working toward change!!