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What's wrong with a coalition government in Canada?

by mtippett | December 3, 2008 at 05:36 pm

687 views | 11 Recommendations | 7 comments

I'll let this description of the current Prime Minister's party speak for itself.

The Canadian Alliance (in French Alliance Canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (or in French Alliance réformiste-conservateur Canadienne), was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held it throughout its existence. The party supported policies that were both fiscally and socially conservative, seeking reduced government spending on social programs and reductions in taxation.
The Alliance was created out of the United Alternative initiative launched by the Reform Party and several provincial Tory parties as a vehicle to merge with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The federal PC Party under Joe Clark rebuffed the initiative to "unite the right". In December 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative parties voted to disband and merge into the Conservative Party of Canada.

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mofiac

at 19:02 on December 3rd, 2008

I wonder why Canadians keep overlooking these facts?

Milieunet

at 23:40 on December 3rd, 2008

working together is always a good idea.

mtippett

at 08:40 on December 4th, 2008

If Harper were thinking strategically he'd be forming an alliance with the Bloc himself and building a majority. This would seem to be off the table now given the vitriol the Tories have been sending the Bloc on Capital Hill lately.

Paschen

at 10:01 on December 4th, 2008

I agree with both Millieunet and mtippett. I am some what surprised that he has not tried to for a coalition Government him self. Harper that is. Maybe to late.

Logic in Canada (not verified)

at 15:55 on December 5th, 2008

You point lacks one important piece of logic. The "combined" Conservative went to the people to get their mandate to govern. There is nothing wrong with coalitions, but they should go before the people to see if the people support the new entity. Simply adding the percents in the last election is not good enough. The same would be true if the Conservative were to try to form a signed coalition with the Bloc.

mtippett

at 10:28 on December 12th, 2008

Actually that is technically not correct. I encourage you to read Michael Byer's piece in the Tyee. He reminds us that:

Canadians never vote directly for a "government." Instead, we elect a member of Parliament in our local constituency. It is only after 308 individual MPs have been chosen that the process of forming a government begins.

The Constitution Act of 1867 doesn't even mention the prime minister or political parties. MPs are everything.

How MPs organize themselves is entirely up to them. This is why two MPs are able to currently sit as independents; there could just as easily be 308 of them. Most MPs have organized themselves into groupings known as parties. This simplifies the process of forming government but doesn't change the constitutional pre-eminence of individual MPs.

There is just one basic requirement: The government must at all times enjoy the confidence of the majority of MPs in the House of Commons.

B. Hilditch (not verified)

at 18:07 on December 6th, 2008

Why is Barak Obama's citizenship being questioned now after the elections have taken place? The people have spoken and if there had been any doubt it should have been questioned before the election took place. He won and obviously he is the best man for the job.