PollyPrissyPants

Allow me to get briefly political and weigh in on the current chaos and upheaval happening up on Parliament Hill.

As most of you know, the Liberals, NDP and the BQ have signed a coalition pact. And it would seem that since you’ve heard of it, very few of you are happy about it. And to you I say…educate yourself and please stop your griping. You cannot have it both ways. You can’t be proud and privileged to live in a Democracy and then start complaining when it functions in a way it’s allowed to but that you don’t like. You can’t pick and choose.

In the last election (which was far from necessary to begin with since our esteemed leader decided to break his own law to call one earlier then was legally mandated), the Canadian people elected a minority government. And although the “minority” piece was stressed left, right and center by the media following the outcome, it would seem very few people actually understand what that means. So let me enlighten:

In a minority government, the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from other parties in order to pass legislation and avoid being defeated on motions of no confidence. Most minority governments have lasted less than two years. The average duration of a minority government in Canada is approximately 1 year, 4 months.

So here’s the thing, people…that’s what we elected. A minority. And unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint), it means wheeling and dealing is the name of the game and it means that currently, the Conservatives aren’t playing the game to win. They aren’t reaching across the aisle and making the deals necessary to keep things status quo.

And to all the people voicing anger along the lines of “how can they go against the voting public? we elected the Conservatives!” or “this is a democracy, how can they do this? who do they think they are?”…the answers are they are constitutionally allowed to do it, we elected not just Conservatives to government, but every other person in that legislature and they are all there to represent the people of Canada. THAT is democracy at work. Or to quote Nelson Wiseman, political science professor at the University of Toronto, who puts it better then my babble ever could:

Elections don’t elect governments, they elect Parliaments. Parliaments make a government. Parliaments can break a government.

So this is actually your votes at work…they aren’t doing anything illegal, they aren’t doing anything wrong, and they aren’t doing something that will destroy our country. This is part of a functioning parliament and just because it happens rarely, doesn’t mean it’s a negative occurrence. I mean it is a bad thing if you’re a big supporter of the Conservative agenda, but as a leader in a parliamentary system, Harper should be bowing to the opinions of the voting public’s representatives. That is to say he should not be harnessing the opinions of the same voting public pissed off at a process they don’t understand after the fact and he should not be trying to campaign for support with the public by using inaccurate ads seemingly created by a team of people only peripherally aware of parliamentary procedures and Canadian governmental laws. The public elected more representatives from other parties then they did from the Conservatives and those other elected officials don’t believe the Conservatives are what will help our country at this point in time, so they are using their elected power (which we gave them) to do something about it. And I say go for it. Nothing else is working and that financial plan was ridonkulously missing anything even resembling a financial plan…so let’s try something else.

Do I think a coalition is ideal? No…a government working together in the best interests of the country is ideal. But that ain’t happening with those we’ve recently (again) elected, no matter their party affiliation…so I say any government cooperation is better than none.

It’s worked in Australia, the UK (in times of crisis only), the Nordic countries, the Benelux countries, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Turkey, Israel, Pakistan and India. Switzerland has been ruled by a loose coalition of the four strongest parties in parliament since 1959, called the “Magic Formula”. and it even worked in Canada when the conscription issue brought about a coalition government under Robert Borden back in 1917 (and coincidentally led to the formation of the Conservative Party…let’s all say it together…IRONY).

Many countries only resort to coalitions (the UK being an example) when times are tough. Well, guess what peeps, times is tough and they ain’t getting any easier. It’s time for a shake up and I have to admit to being excited about what change this could bring about. Many people are worried that such a turn of events will halt our countries fiscal momentum and create a weaker reputation around the world as they look to our uneven leadership. But how is that even possible when there is no momentum to speak of (the dollar has been in a backward slide for most of the year) and how can our reputation get weaker then it already is? Canada is the global afterthought…the perpetual wallflower…and none of our current leaders are strong enough to change that, together or as individuals. And how can any country around the world judge us for a coalition when most countries have had similar groups in place?

The Conservatives played their finance card but miscalculated on how much they could push through at once, given the current economic climate. They gambled by proposing a three-year ban on the right of civil servants to strike and limits on the ability of women to sue for pay equity and eliminated subsidies for political parties and they lost…again, a part of our system at work. How that system starts to build itself back up again is really in the hands of the Governor General. She will decided where we go next…

If it is a coalition, I’m the first to agree with people who think Dion will not make a strong leader…I wish they had agreed on someone else, but as the head of the Liberals (until May), he’s what we’ve got. And do I like that the BQ are involved? Not particularly…but here’s the thing, they are a national party like it or not and as long as they are, they’re involved. And I should stress that they are involved as a supporter of the coalition until 2010, not as an actual part of the coalition itself. And lord knows they’ve held the balance of power before for both sides of the spectrum (Grits and Cons), so this is definitely nothing new…and dealing with the largely seperatist party does not make anyone “unpatriotic”. And while politicians are never without ulterior motives or questionable methods, the fact that this deal was brokered by Chretien and Broadbent means that I have way more faith in this succeeding and acting as something that will propel this country in the direction it needs to be. Duceppe, Layton and Dion (and all their back room dealers) are not the best leaders our country has ever seen but they are extremely intelligent men whose policies really do mirror each other. So I say give them a chance before deriding them and stoning them…they have a right within our system to try what they think is best. If it is best, remains to be seen, but I am sure as hell willing to give it a try…especially if it means not spending $250 million dollars on yet another election (which would be necessary if they went the “no confidence” route…)

If nothing else, the political geek in me is fascinated to seen what happens.

Bring it on, Canada…who’s boring now, eh?