Will the new coalition government be unprecedented or undemocratic?

[velvetpage]

Not according to the professor of political science who writes for the Toronto Star. I agree with him.

Basically, if you're not happy with the coalition? You get to do what electorates always do between elections - take notes on the successes and failures of the government as it is running and use that information to inform your future votes. What our parliament is doing is entirely democratic and in keeping with parliamentary law and tradition the world over. Whether or not it's the right thing to do, as long as it's within the powers granted to the House of Commons by the Constitution, there's nothing you can do about it legally.

Which is going to hurt the country more - a few weeks of political instability as the new Coalition government forms, or another election worth $300 million while nothing gets done? Changes in government ALWAYS produce fluctuations in the stock market, and they're usually short-term. It's unfair and overly simplistic to blame the recent fluctuations on the state of the government, considering that at the same time, markets around the world are reacting to the massive credit crunch, the bailout package, the announcement that the U.S. is officially in recession. . . the list goes on.

Don't mind me - I'm arguing with persons not present.

Comments

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Not the way we do it, and therefore, *not* the world over.

The U.S. is not a Parliamentary Democracy, but rather a Democratic Republic. What is happening in Canada right now happens around the world in stable Parliamentary Democracies all the time.

How does anything get done except jockeying for power?

The various parties negotiate broad compromises across the political spectrum, which is generally a good thing.

But you guys do seem to change often

Hmm. To Wikipedia!

Canada has had 22 prime ministers and 40 federal elections since Confederation in 1867.

In the same period, the US has had 26 presidents and 36 presidential elections, and something like 80 or 90 House and Senate elections.

So... fairly comparable to the US, I'd think.

[siobhan63.livejournal.com]

If by "we" you mean the US, you don't have a westminster parliamentary system, so you're not included in the reference. Velvetpage was referring to countries the world over which have westminster parliamentary democracies.

And this situation is relatively new for Canada. We have traditionally enjoyed majority governments for the bulk of our young history. Minority governments are not the norm, but have been in recent years because of our multi-party system and increased regionalism in the support for those parties. Add to that the first-past-the-post voting system, and you end up with what we have now. If we moved to some form of proportional representation, it would do much to stabilise things, i believe.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

You'll notice I said, "PARLIAMENTARY law and tradition the world over." You guys don't use a parliamentary system, therefore you're not covered. Any system that IS parliamentary leaves room for coalition governments.

We've been changing often lately, but that hasn't been the case for most of Canadian history. We go through long periods of stable majority governments with one party or the other - usually the Liberals, occasionally the Conservatives - and then, when that particular group of leaders inevitably implodes under the pressure of time and routine, we go through a few years of minorities until one party or the other has a strong enough majority to start the cycle again. Since the last period of stability lasted well over a decade, it's understandable if the next one takes its time coming. In another two or three years, we should be settling down into another period of stability.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Oh, and as for revolution - WTF??? In Canada??? Over a squabble in Ottawa, where politicians are acting like politicians??? Canada has been a model of democracy for a hundred and forty years, and this series of events doesn't change that. Really, Canada has no excuse whatsoever for violence when it comes to their government.

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

Perhaps he meant the leaders of the four main parties could compete in Dance Dance Revolution, more fun than an election and better for cardio, too.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I woud very much enjoy watching that.

[stress-kitten.livejournal.com]

Layton would win... he's been dancing like a centipede on speed his entire political career.

Harper would give him a run for his money, though, I think. He looks like the type that runs 10 km every morning. *grins*

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I bet his kids have every video game console in existence, so Harper may have more experience.

When you're the leader of the third-run party for your entire political career, dancing about is pretty necessary.