Coalition or an election?

Federal opposition parties are considering toppling the Conservative minority government over its lack of action on the economic crisis. That could force an election, although the Liberals and NDP are discussing a coalition that could govern with the support of the Bloc Quebecois. What do you think?

Comments

[Scott]

Harper tried to pull the same stunt (Coalition governmnet) while in opposition and also included the separtists in his plans. But somehow that is now considered to undemocratic and an insult to all who in wars for us. During the last election, Harper promised to work with the other parties for the better of all of Canada, yet his first action was to bankrupt the opposition, how can that be called working together.

[Christa Love]

The coalition should not be permitted to hijack parliament. An election was called and Stephen Harper was voted by the people to lead the country. The leader of Canada should be elected by the people, not by "back door dealings". I hope that the governor general realizes that Canadians have picked their leader. I would rather pay for another election, than permit the destruction of our democratic process.

[Gilberte]

I do not agree with what the opposition parties are doing because it was not an option on my ballot last october...
bring the people back to the polls or leave it alone... this is wanting to win at any cost...
they talk about % of what leaders got during the last election... to pull this off they need 3 parties - and I do not beleive that Canadians are agreeing with this option because it goes against what we have as a democratic way to do things.

[Al Hauff]

The Canadian people who voted for a consevative government will be disenfranchised if this coalition happens. Nothing is now going to get done for a long time no matter who holds the reigns of government. This is bad for us as Canadians who witness seeing party politics put in front of our welfare. The political parties will pay a dear price for putting themselves before our interests. Thinking people will not accept this coalition and the only thing that will clear the air is to call another election.

[Corey Drysdale]

It's amazing how our soldiers are fighting for other countries to have the right to be free and elect their own governments, yet here in our own country we allow 3 groups of losing politicians to overthrow the elected government. If the people wanted the Liberals, NDP or Bloc to run the country, we would have voted it so.

This is not a coalition, it's a coup. What this so called coalition is doing the exact opposite of what the country has voted.

[Jim Sharpe]

The point people here are missing is this. Canadians gave more votes to the Conservatives than other one party. This means they lead the Minority Government, not Dion. This is an end run on Democracy. I would rather have an election. It would cost us less in the long run than this unholy alliance.

[Robbie]

A coalition government might force our elected officials to work together instead of against each other. Hey, let's give it a try.

[Donald J. Lester]

"the Liberals and NDP are discussing a coalition that could govern with the support of the Bloc Quebecois."

An interesting discussion, but that's all the it is..all three parties will never agree on who will lead, moreover there is truly no one withing the three parties that is interested in the country it's mostly about partisan politics...a collation would last a month at best...Considering that Canadians would puke having to go to the poles again..but if another election were called, considering the economic climate, what most likely would happen is that Harper would would most likely be given a majority...
The Canadian public are aware that this is a world economic condition..the real question is whether the government should intermediately plunge billions of tax dollars in a panic or take the time to logically see what industries will fail in the long run...and invest if need be in industries that have the potential to weather this storm and are willing to provide some guarantees in terms of long term jobs in the country and not just at the first opportunity shut down and move their operations out of the country, leaving the taxpayer holding the bag...

[Mike Russell]

This is a democracy. In a democracy the majority rules. The opposition parties combined are the majority. The Conservatives are in a minority situation.

Whether they like it or not they will have to take into account the wishes of the majority or risk being removed from office.

I am afraid Stephen Harper just doesn't understand the workings of the parliamentry system or he completely misjudged the resolve of the opposition.

[cribqueen]

This is actually Democracy at it's finest. Completely legal, and a long time in the making.

It is about time that the opposition used its power to remind the Conservatives that they do indeed have a minority. Something that they have treated as a mere technicality since they were first elected... much like the "technical" recession.

Now before I am labelled... I should point out that I agree with some of the things the Conservatives have brought forward. I appreciate the respect of the taxpayer's dollars... and I have a hard time with the idea of bailing out a sector that posted profits merely a year ago. If it was a small business in trouble (as we've all seen in this city) they would be forced to correct the problem from within, or go out of business. Bailing out the "Mom and Pop" shops is never even mentioned.

However, the behaviour in parliament in a minority situation in the last (almost) three years has been disgusting on the part of the Conservatives and should have been halted long ago.

Now... I will gladly accept the current government, if they realize that suspending the right to strike... for anyone... is wrong. They also need to remove the section regarding constricting the equalization of pay between the genders. The 25% clause for seniors forced to withdraw from the rrsp's and into the rrif's is pathetic as well. Some of our Seniors are in desperate financial shape, and rely on these incomes to survive.

Finally, I don't think that it has been spelled out properly for Canadians, that the subsidy in question, is meant to insure that the party YOU vote for is supported by the public funds. It is based EXACTLY on the number of votes that each party got in the last election. It represents more than 50% of the total funding all of the parties... except the Conservatives, of course.

Adding this to the fiscal update... which they continue to repeat is not a budget, was aimed at either crippling EVERY opposing party and clearing the way for them to have a permanent majority... the only legal way to turn a democracy into a dictatorship... or demanding that someone else take over the role of leading government, because they are not equipped to deal with the current situation.

Either way, here we are... fresh from an election where barely half the country even bothered to show up at the polls, and the Conservatives STILL could not manage a majority. There is a very specific reason for that.

We cannot trust them.

The attack ads did the job as far as ruining the chances for Mr. Dion to be taken seriously by Canadians, and they STILL couldn't manage a majority.

Same reason.

Mr Harper is in over his head here. The kind of absolute power he requires is more suited to a corporation, not to running a country filled with diverse people, with even more diverse opinions. It would serve him best at this point, to rethink his positions on ALL of the issues the opposition want adressed, and come up with a compromise (which he should have done from the beginning) that will strengthen the governments position with the majority of people, instead of his single minded quest for absolute power.

Thanks for listening.

[Economist]

Thank you to the first poster for pointing out that there is nothing "undemocratic" about a coalition government being considered. I can't believe the life that the Con spin machine has blown into this.
Having the BQ involved is truly lamentable. However, they won their seats the same way everybody else did and, like it or not, are part of the political fabric in Canada that we have to deal with (look closely, some of Harper's policies will do as much to strip the feds of power as anything the BQ might desire).
The real issue here is that the Cons have shown themselves incapable of acting for the country without a primary focus on petty ideological spite. To reduce things to a bumper sticker "mean people suck." The also get far less meaningful done in the end.
I want a government that governs with more than self-centred hubris in the heart.

[Will Webster]

One of two things is happening. Either Stephen Harper does not understand how the parliamentary system within a constitutional democracy works, or he is trying to pull the wool over the average Canadians eyes.
In the parliamentary system if the majority of parliament have lost confidence in the governing minority, they are obligated to do one of two things, either force an election, or form a coalition to govern in place of the toppled minority.
The Governor General has an obligation to ensure workable government. After two dysfunctional minorities in a row, the option of asking the opposition to form a coalition is well within her mandate.
More people voted against Mr. Harper then for him, in fact, the majority did! That makes his ongoing argument that the people selected him to be Prime Minister, or that the people gave him an expanded mandate (because he picked up a few extra seats) is pure nonsense.
The majority of Canadian voters selected the opposition, so if the opposition can form a coalition, then it is they who should govern. Its not a crises, it happens in parliamentary systems everywhere. In fact, parliamentary systems are designed with minority rule and coalitions in mind.

[AWB]

Canadians need to give their head a shake.
This is merely political grandstanding by Opposition Parties who just lost their cookie jar of perks.
On the flipside, Canada and the world we live in - yes we are part of the bigger picture, is going through economic turmoil never experienced since the 30's. Notwithstanding - Canada's banking system and our financial stability is considered the best - as quoted by the OEDC and IMF, and our current government is acting prudently to re-instill confidence in our economy.
To those dimwits who keep fomenting discord - think about the alternatives if the Opposition form a coalition and put forth a Non-Confidence Vote to topple Prime Minister Harper's government.
Are you looking for more "liberal" spending that produced ZERO for Canada's future, or are you inclined to support the NDP and a defunt auto sector?
We must stay the course and weather the storm rather than acting like a bunch of spoiled brats breast feeding off government patrongae for eons.

[John Mason]

Let me get this right....Canada governed by a coalition made up of party members who want to separate from Canada itself ? Are we that foolish?

[Leif]

If only Harper and his bobble-headed Tory ideologues had remembered the majority of Canadians did NOT vote for them. If only he had set aside partisan machinations for five minutes and made a tiny effort to consider the wishes of that vast majority of Canadians (63% of the popular vote) who are the reason his party presides over only a minority government.

A story in the Spec this week about an 8-year-old boy who shot his father dead provides a valuable lesson for Harper - and all his hard-right followers: the boy was spanked so frequently in his short life that he had declared, "My 1,000th spanking will be my last."

Personally, I'd rather not see this government fail; I hope this mess Harper created for himself is the wake-up call he needs to realize he must "reach across the aisle" ... but his relentless, pathological need to crush any and all opposition (the Liberals, the Press, the Arts, etc) will likely prove to be his undoing.

[Shane Snider]

The very question is partizan. It is arguable whether the Finance Minister needs to introduce a stimulus pacakage before the end of the new year. But in a city like Hamilton where currently a stage monky would be elected if they were Liberals or the NDP, it seems that hopefully people with be upset that the Bloc gets public money to fund their operation.

[Colleem]

Steven Harper is a little dic.....tator who has forgotten that he has a MINORITY GOVERNENT! It is time he was put in his place.

[John MacEachern]

We need too stop this coalition government before it starts. My father fought in the 2nd world war to protect our democracy. He believed in democracy and backed this up by going to war. He was shot twice, but he went back to continue the fight to keep us free and give us the choice to decide who we want to run our government. The people of Canada gave Steven Harpers party the majority of the vote. Now the leader of a party that did not received the majority of the votes wants to run our government. This is the farthest thing from a democracy that we will ever come up against and it must be stopped ASAP. If the opposition wants to a non confidence vote, fine that is their right, but it stops there. We the so called free people of Canada must have our say and the only way for us to do that is by way of an election. Why is the opposition so afraid of letting us the people show what we want? Please if you care about true democracy and our great country, call your local member of parliament and tell them not to try and form this collation government.

Thanks

John MacEachern