It's Not the Stanley Cup

Those who think Canadian politics are boring have probably had to revise their opinion in the last few weeks. But all of the drama aside, the events on Parliament Hill revealed a deep problem: far too many Canadians are unfamiliar with our system of government.

Many people, stoked by Conservative rhetoric, believe that the Liberal and New Democratic parties’ decision to form a coalition and vote non-confidence in the government is anti-democratic and baffling. The Conservatives are laying claim to being the rightfully elected government, threatened by the usurpation of power.

But that’s not how our political system works. In our Westminster parliamentary tradition, no one is elected as the government. Canadians elect Members of Parliament, and the government then comes out of the legislature. As the party with the most seats in the House of Commons, the Conservatives earned the right to form a government and seek the confidence of the House of Commons. But they are not guaranteed the right to govern, and if they lose the confidence of the House, it is up to the Governor General to decide whether to offer another party the opportunity to form a government or to proceed to an election.

Accordingly, Stephen Harper was not elected Prime Minister. Only 38, 548 Canadians voted for Stephen Harper, and they all live in Calgary Southwest. Similarly, Canadians did not reject Stéphane Dion: only the residents of Saint-Laurent—Cartierville got to vote for Stéphane Dion, and they chose to send him to the House of Commons.

Unlike US Presidents, Canadians never get to vote for their Prime Minister, even if that plays a role in deciding which local candidate they will vote for. So although it’s true that the leader of the coalition (now Michael Ignatieff) was not elected Prime Minister, neither was Stephen Harper. No one is ever elected Prime Minister.

Not the Stanley Cup

Therefore, it is also misleading to think of a party as “winning” an election. Unlike the Stanley Cup, government is not a trophy to be handed over at the end of a long contest. Only seats can be won in an election – gaining a majority might guarantee a party the confidence of the House for an entire term, but it still relies on the mandate of confidence.

Coalition governments are entirely legal within our political system. There is no reason why one party alone must seek to obtain the confidence of the House. Canada has some experience with coalition governments at the federal and provincial levels, most recently Ontario in 1985 and Saskatchewan in 1999. Many countries around the world also rely on coalition governments.

Coalition governments might also inspire a new attitude of cooperation in Ottawa, one that would be very refreshing after four years of hyper-partisanship.

What is not helpful is the current rhetoric of “treason,” “sedition,” “undemocratic,” “unCanadian” and “coups.” If the opposition parties are behaving in perfectly legal, constitutional ways, no treason or sedition is involved. Such language is deeply disrespectful to both opposition members and the Canadian public.

Electoral reform?

Following close on the heels of the lowest voter turnout in Canadian history, the current situation also leads us to consider the need for electoral reform. While the Conservatives won the most seats in the House of Commons, they did so with only 38% of the popular vote. 62% of Canadians who voted in the election did not vote for a Conservative, but for one of the parties supporting the coalition. An electoral system that better reflected this proportionality would be fairer. Defenders of democracy may well question why winning a minority of the popular vote would give a party 100% of the power to set the Parliamentary agenda.

It would also reduce the seat totals of the Bloc Québécois, who benefit more than any other party from our First-Past-the-Post electoral system because of their regional concentration. Fair Vote Canada suggests that, in a proportional system, the number of Bloc MPs would fall from 49 to 28, weakening their power to influence any federal government. If Canadians are unhappy with the amount of influence the BQ has over minority governments – coalition or otherwise – then perhaps the answer is, at least in part, revisiting the electoral system that gives them such an advantage.

CPJ does not endorse any party for government. We do, however, encourage Canadians to understand our political system so that they can engage in meaningful dialogue about our government and political events. Canadians elected Members of Parliament two months ago. It is now up to our parliamentarians to figure out how they will work together in a way that is respectful and inclusive of the voices of all Canadians, and therefore the many different voices in the House of Commons.