romanP romanP:
but within our parliamentary system, it can be a way to fix this electoral gridlock we've reached where the majority of Canadians don't want anything to do with the Conservative party, as they were not elected by the majority
I think that's a bit off, personally. Just because I may vote NDP, or Conservative, does not mean I want nothing to do with one side or the other as a result thereof. Indeed, the only party who's influence I hope wanes in the next election, whenever that happens to be, would be the Liberals, who need to take the time to actually stabilize their party still.
Another way would be for me to say that the mass majority of Canadians want nothing to do with the NDP, nothing to do with the Green, and nothing to do with the Liberals. Coalition would be out of the question then.
There's more than a few folks on this site who wander between voting Conservative and voting Liberal. A few others wander between voting Conservative and voting other parties. Just because someone votes for one party over another does not mean they want nothing out of those other parties or despise them, it simply means that they did not feel that the goals of that party best represented them.
I am a moderate, even though that little C is floating next to my name. If I vote for a leftist party next election, it does not mean I despise the Conservatives.
$1:
I would only hope that a coalition would be temporary, because the last thing we need is less choices on the ballot and our MPs compromising their values because they amalgamated into one big opposing party.
I would definitely agree with you here, though. One of the reasons why they are not one party now is because they have significant differences between each other. Forming a coalition means that people who voted for the NDP are not getting entirely what they want, people voting for the Liberals get something more left than they wanted, and it’s potentially including support from the Bloq, which people have a very negative reaction too given that they are separatists. The moment people see the word that the Bloq is supporting something, this is the reaction and I don’t blame them. I’d rather not vote the Bloq into a position of persuasion over potentially the leaders of our nation, personally.
Limiting values down could potentially be damaging. The inclusion of the Bloq to any degree in the process, even if not official members of the coalition, immediately draws negative light, and I do question a coalition which would openly seek the support of a party with Separatist intentions. Although what is the prevailing view on coalitions anyways? Even today, I read an article where Ignatieff stated that a vote for the NDP or Bloq was a vote for the Conservatives, since he feels the Liberal party is the only real alternative to the Conservatives. Likewise, he has made other moves which have more or less undermined the other parties recently.
I am in doubt we will see a coalition come about at this point. I don’t think Ignatieff has the same motives and incentives as Dion did, and his relationship with Layton and the NDP is much different. Even at this point, with a Governor General fine with it and people aware of the possibility, I am betting we have a reduced chance of seeing one enter the battle field.
$1:
When was the last time we actually had a government that represented much more than a third of Canadians? How many of those Liberal "majorities" had even 40% support?
Cretien’s best government where he resoundingly took parliament with a sizeable majority was barely above 40% of the popular vote, with one below 40% and the other almost spot on 40%. He took a majority all three times. His predecessor, Mulroney, managed over 50% of the vote, which not even Trudeau managed, although he got in the mid forties once.
A liberal majority representing over half the votes has not occurred since the 20th parliament, 70 years ago. Less than 70% voter turnout, as a war was on. This was also the parliament which got the Liberals into hot water over the conscription crisis. Mulroney, King, Borden and Laurier are the only Prime Ministers since 1876 to get over 50% of the vote, with most votes ending up with the ruling party in the high thirties to low forties, even when there was mostly only two parties in parliament. One or two other PMs did manage to get into the high forties.
Recently, most of the governments have survived between the 35-41% mark, give or take a few percentage points either way.
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