"To be a critic, you have to have three percent education, five percent intelligence, two percent style, and ninety percent gall and egomania in equal parts." Judith Christ
Our very own political drama unfolded earlier this month...
Only a Canadian could attest to the deathly boredom of Canadian politics (and of course, its politicians) but finally, December brought the kind of drama that makes me want to switch from CNN to CBS - except it also brought the kind of drama that was big enough it actually make it to CNN - and CBS and NBC and the Daily Show of all places!
The Right and Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada (or so he is for now) in a particularly narcissistic moment, forgot he was still only a minority leader and sought to introduce legislation that limits government spending on elections – which was fine for the corporately well padded Conservatives but not so good for the opposition who are still holding karaoke fundraisers in their basements to try and pay off the last election.
What happened next was – well get the popcorn out because this is the good part - the opposing leaders ganged up on Harper in a parliamentary vote of non-confidence and then organised themselves as one party thereby creating a majority government made up of minority opposition parties. This meant the Governor General (whose normal activities this time of year includes picking Parliament's Holiday Tree theme) was now weighted with the unenviable decision of calling an election or giving the newly formed Team B (or is it B Team) the keys to the Prime Minister’s office. Harper, in a rare moment of submissiveness, got on his knees and begged the Governor to prorogue (can’t they just say delay?!) Parliament till he could buy enough time to subdue his oppressors and get off the 6 o’clock news (not to mention the syndicated comedy shows).
In the meantime, Canadians on both sides of the argument, took to the streets, protesting “illegal this” and the “unconstitutional that” while calling for a moratorium on argyle vests - can't Harper’s wife dress him?! While I sympathize with Canadians everywhere (I absolutely refuse to trudge through this sub-zero weather for yet another election!!), the opposition parties are well within their legal rights to throw their Prime Minister under the bus.
I have heard Canadians argue that Dion and his Liberal cohorts did not win enough seats to lead the House and, therefore, as runnerup, could not assume stewardship of the government. Even Harper alluded to the illegality of such an act. The mistake these Canadians make is to assume their government and their constitution mirrors that of the United States where one casts their ballot to determine which party leader will become President. The fact is, the Canadian constitution is quite different from that of the U.S. and Canadians must actually cast their ballot to choose their riding representative, not their party leader. Those riding representatives then come to Parliament to make up the House with the winning party’s leader assuming the role of Prime Minister. The interesting part is that the Prime Minister’s license to govern is not through the individual votes of Canadians but rather the collective confidence of House representatives.
If the winning party secures a majority government, its leader will have the confidence of the House simply because it maintains the majority of riding representatives within its own party. If, however, the winning party does not secure a majority, it can only effectively govern by lobbying enough of the opposition to reach a majority. If they do anything to alienate their opposition, they risk a vote of non-confidence and could be forced a situation like the one we have today.
While Canadians may not wish to see Dion as Prime Minister, he is absolutely within his constitutional right to force a vote of non-confidence and organize the opposition into a majority party that could potentially unseat the Conservatives. Stephen Harper would do well to remember those pesky rules (it wasn't so long ago when he was in opposition pulling a similar stunt). Harper should know that the license to govern is through the confidence of the House. That’s our constitution. If you don’t like it Mr. Prime Minister, you can always move to the US:)
