Well it seems like a done deal now, the Conservative government will fall the first chance the opposition gets. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives could be regulated to the opposition. They have no one to blame but themselves, or perhaps more accurately, Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty.
Of course this doesn't seem so brilliant or savvy now. But who could have predicted that the opposition would grow such a large set so quickly.
The Conservative's only hope is that the Governor-General will keep with tradition and act on the advice of the Prime Minister. That is, not exercise her (technically) constitutional powers and instead keep with tradition and only act on advice from the Prime Minister.
Will she side with tradition or side with the opposition in their blatant attempt to subvert the will of the people whom voted in the Conservatives with an increased mandate only 40 or so days ago. The Governor General doesn't have to ask for Stephane Dion to try and form a government, in fact, unless the Prime Minister requests it she will be violating long standing tradition and ignoring the advice of the public service, and of course past Liberal governments.
"Governor General do retain their right to use the Royal Prerogative in exceptional constitutional crisis situations[6], though the Canadian public service has stated that such actions may lack democratic legitimacy amongst the Canadian populace coming from an unelected institution. Liberal governments, for their part, have long adhered to the view that the Governor General does not have the right to refuse dissolution from the prime minister"
Stephane Dion only received 28% of the vote, and now due to backroom deals he will be Prime Minister of this country.
Crazy!
8 comments:
Yikes, where to start with this disinformation.
Here is how a Parliamentary system works moron:
We vote for MPs. We do not vote for a PM or for a government.
Governments are formed by the MPs and their parties in Parliament.
The executive and the PM rule on behest of Parliament.
MAJORITY RULE is the basic principle.
The Cons failed to establish a working majority.
As a result, the majority of MPs are going to create one -- a new coalition government which commands more than 50% of votes in Parliament.
That is how the system works.
Harper or Dion or whomever become legitimate PMs not because we elect them but because they command Parliament.
Dion will be the legitimate, democratic, and legal PM of Canada, not because we "voted" for him (we didn't) but because he is leader of the party now in charge.
Please learn how the system works before writing such nonsense.
I feel your anonymous commenter is correct. I don't like the system and in general I'd prefer the US's system, but it is what we have and it is what it is.
Sadly, if Harper had focused on electoral reform instead of jabbing his opponents so much, we may have had a better system - his commitment to democratic reform was very inspiring.
Sure it's probably legal and all but there is no moral authority for this cabal to govern, at least here where i live. Once again the collective desire of ten million people west of Ontario is negated because three leaders from Quebec meeting in a back room didn't like their choice. But after a hundred years, should anyone really be surprised?
The small flaw in your little formula, there, is that once he loses the confidence of the house, Harper is no longer the Prime Minister. He's just another MP who's not on a winning side. Twist and parse away, as you're so obviously doing, but the GG has no obligation to follow the advice of a failed government.
And, oh yes, Harper's government has failed, except in one important way: he's united the left as no one else could possibly have done.
So there is no tradition that dictates that the GG must take Harper's advice, if he loses a confidence vote. She must decide whether a viable option for a stable government exists in the house and, if not, she must call an election.
Seems like there's a viable option to me. You?
So all you clever Haper bashers, tell me how you are going to remove this coalition from power if they start to do radical things?
Answer you can't. There will be no mechanism to do so. They have given themselves a 2.5 year mandate to push through the agendas that the electorate rejected. And you will not be able to stop them.
You guys really want a coalition parliament that is not accountable to the electorate.
If all of you are so sure Harper is the asshole you say he is and that this is his fault, contact your dear leaders and tell them that you want to have this shitty little coup validated by the electorate, so they should go to the GG and demand that she send them back to the polls for another election.
Not going to happen is it chickens.
Ward,
Alot of Conservatives seem in a rage that they did not get a majority and they want to have election after election until they get one. (The last election was called two years earlier than harper's own legislation)
Like who cares that there is a recession, right? As long as Harper gets his majority.
You know the simplest solution would have been for Harper to at least try working with one of the other parties instead of constantly attacking them.
For as long as Harper has been in power, I have thought: just govern and stop with all the tricks. To get things done in this minorty parliament Harper had to try to cooperate a little. He didn't. He didn't get things done.
Anon whom posted first:
Oh puhlease. The people vote for a Prime Minister, plain and simple. They vote for their MP based on who they want to be Prime Minister, and what party they want to form government.
That may not be how it technically works, or how you think it should work, but that is how the majority of the electorate vote.
I know how the system works, the GG by convention acts on advice of the Prime Minister. That is how it has always worked. The last time it didn't work like that the LIBERAL PM whose advice the GG ignored, won the next election campaigning against the GG, and how an unelected appointee ignored the PM.
Furthermore, I already agreed that constitutionally it is correct for the GG to appoint Dion as PM, but it will like the moral right to govern. Why not call an election and have the coalition of the usurpers can get a mandate from the people?
Surely that would be easy, right?
M@, he is Prime Minister until the next guy is sworn in...
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