I don’t normally write about politics but I have to today. I don’t like what is happening on Parliament Hill right now and I need to address this issue.
First off, here’s a little background into Canadian politics and what has led to the historic turn of events.
The political system works a little bit differently in Canada than in does in the states. We have four major parties; The Conservatives, The Liberals, The New Democrats, and The Bloc Quebecois. Each party has a convention to elect a leader and that leader then runs for the federal election. The Canadian public votes and we elect a Prime Minister.
We recently had an election and re-elected Stephen Harper. Harper’s Conservatives picked up even more seats than the previous election. The only problem was that they did not pick up enough seats to form a majority government.
The Liberals were handed their worst defeat in the history of the party last election. It was mostly due to the perception of their leader. The Canadian people did not have faith in Stephane Dion to lead our country. This was spoken loud and clear by the votes.
The Bloc only operates in Quebec and has never held the office of Prime Minister. It is unlikely that they ever will as well. But they represent the interest of their province and the french language culture. They have a voice in the House of Commons and this is important.
So Stephen Harper is our country’s leader. I didn’t vote for him, but I also did not vote for Dion. That being said, I respect our Prime Minister and I think he has done a good job. The Canadian people must think so too or his party wouldn’t have picked up more seats.
So when I heard the press conference on the radio last night that the other three parties have decided to form a coalition government and basically overthrow our elected official, I was outraged and a little scared.
These three parties are so radically different that I cannot see them agreeing on anything past this coalition agreement they have drawn up. I don’t believe that they are acting in the best interests of the country. And I have no confidence in Dion as the leader of this country.
I don’t know what we as regular citizens can do about this but I DON”T SUPPORT THE COALITION. I think it is bad news and not in our best interests.
6 responses to “Coalition is Bad News”
I think it’ll fizzle out in a few months. Just as you say, those three parties will never be able to work together.
S
Actually, I think it’s fantastic. Nobody wants an election; it would be expensive, inconclusive (again) and I think we’d find that voters would be apathetic out of frustration and boredom.
The fact is that Canada did not vote for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. Yes, they won more seats, but the fact remains that the majority of Canadians voted AGAINST him. Defeating his government forces the remaining parties to work together in order to sustain parliamentary order and not send us back to the polls. We might actually see productive change as a result of this. These politicians might actually behave like adults for once and cut out the mudslinging to actually do a good job. The motivation to do so is definitely there.
I agree with you – Canada DID vote against Stehpane Dion. I understand that the Liberals have a scheduled leadership convention in May, however, I find it ridiculous that in this age of technology that they can’t find a way to assemble their members sooner in order to democratically choose a leader. The prospect of Dion just grabbing the office of the Prime Minister and running with it is scary and embarrassing. That said, their other options are limited. Michael Ignatieff, whose name they’ve been throwing around, is just a scary option; the guy lived outside of Canada for something like 30 years and comes back and decides he’s qualified to hold a seat in our parliament, nevermind be Prime Minister. I don’t think so. I know I am going to be flogged for this one, given history, but I think Bob Rae would be their best option. At least he’s got experience, and say what you want, he has probably learned what NOT to do as leader. The socialist in me would love to see the leadership go to Jack Layton of the NDP, but I’m not going to kid myself.
Okay, rant over. I just thought I’d throw in the other side of the coin for ya. Thanks for starting this discussion, Chase, it’s fun to debate.
I think you forget that we elect an MP. The members of any given party elect the leader of that party. The leader of the party who controls government — be it by recieving a majority of the seats, runing a minority or coalition government, is the Prime Minister. Since I am personally not a member of any party, I elected no PM. Chances are you did not either.
Hi Silverfish,
The Governor-General has the power to stop this. I hope she will.
Hi Leese,
I know I don’t want another election either but I don’t think this is the best way to do things. I think these parties are looking out for their own best interests. I think they are being greedy and selfish.
I’ve lost all the respect I had for Layton over this. He couldn’t even agree on who got the last word in the press conference. He butted in and answered a question addressed to the Bloc. If these three leaders can’t even agree on something that simple. how can they run our country?
If there is another election within the next few weeks, I will be voting Conservative. I’m surprised to hear me even saying that. But I think Harper is doing a good job and should be allowed to continue.
Hi James,
I know that we elect an official for our riding and not a Prime Minister specifically.
I think I will have to contact my MP and let them know how I feel about this issue.
I think the days of majority governments may be behind us. We haven’t had a majority in a while and I don’t foresee another one soon.
That being said, we have a Prime Minister who was elected from our votes in a legal election. We should let him do his job. Period.
This move by the opposition seems to be nothing less than a coup.
Hey, if Stephanie Dion didn’t work, maybe Celine Dion will.
Sorry.
Hi ECD,
They actually did a parody of that on The Royal Canadian Air Farce sketch comedy show last week.
It was pretty funny.