A Perfectly Cromulent Politics Blog
When procrastinating from law school, I write about politics, tech, or whatever else I'm interested in. Feel free to tweet me up (@devinjohnston).
When procrastinating from law school, I write about politics, tech, or whatever else I'm interested in. Feel free to tweet me up (@devinjohnston).
Posted by Devin Johnston on November 28th, 2008
As you are probably aware by now, talks are underway between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party to form a coalition government. The talks are being led by former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and former NDP Leader Ed Broadbent. The main obstacle in the way of forming a coalition is the question of who would become Prime Minister of the new government. Normally, the leader of the senior party in the coalition would take the mantle. However, the Liberal leadership race... complicates things. Today, I will review some of the possibilities. However, I urge Liberals and New Democrats to not get too hung up on this question. Delegating power from the PM to cabinet, the House of Commons, and the public at large not only makes our government more democratic and accountable but lessens the importance of who serves as PM.
Dion is spectacularly unpopular within his own party and caucus, and he would be a tough pill to swallow for both the Liberals and the NDP. In fact, the NDP would almost certainly not support a government led by Dion. As many have pointed out, however, Dion is really the only "neutral" choice within the Liberal caucus. Appointing any other Liberal would inevitably cause problems within the Liberal Party due to the ongoing leadership race.
There is also the possibility that Michael Ignatieff could be appointed interim leader of the Liberals. The reasoning is that he has the most caucus support among the current Liberal leadership candidates, so he is the most logical choice to step into the role of Prime Minister. Of course, this would infuriate the supporters of other leadership candidates and might appear too undemocratic. As well, the NDP would find it difficult to serve under Ignatieff as PM.
A third possibility is that NDP Leader Jack Layton could lead the new government. This would alleviate the Liberals from the futility of trying to pick a neutral person within their caucus who isn't Stéphane Dion. Of course, the Liberals would find it very difficult to serve under an NDP Prime Minister. As well, the optics of the leader of the smallest caucus in the House of Commons leading the country are not great. On the other hand, polling during the election showed that Canadians prefer Jack Layton to Stéphane Dion as Prime Minister. Jack is significantly more popular than the party he leads.
Whether it's Dion, Ignatieff, Layton, or someone else who serves as Prime Minister, a Liberal-NDP coalition would only work if there is an agreement to put more power in the hands of cabinet and the House of Commons, and less in the hands of the Prime Minister. Further, the coalition would depend on either formal or informal support from the Bloc. There would have to be significant compromise by all parties involved to make Parliament work.
The first order of business for any coalition government should be real action toward a national referendum on mixed member proportional representation.
UPDATE: What I am hearing right now is that the opposition parties have agreed to form a coalition lead by M. Dion.
Spread the word and fan the winds of change:
This page is at least a month old. Feel free to read it, but you might also want to check out something a little fresher:
Apparently, it's Dion
Posted by Scott Tribe (not verified) on November 28th, 2008.
"A source says the opposition parties have agreed that Liberal Leader Stephane Dion would lead the government for the next few months."
http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/11/28/tyrannical-majority-to-pmo-check/
I was thinking Ralph Goodale
Posted by ALW (not verified) on November 28th, 2008.
I was thinking Ralph Goodale would be a compromise choice.
Incidentally, the NDP and Bloc's acceptance of Dion as leader is the most surprising thing to me. (I'm not suggesting Harper WANTED to be brought down, but surely he weighed the risk and cost of doing what he did). On the other hand, if Dion is a weak a PM as he has been to this point, that's good for the NDP and the Bloc in the subsequent election - and good for the Tories. Unless he would serve as PM and then leave right before an election when the Liberals would have chosen a new leader?!?...
I bet Dion is going to serve
Posted by Scott Tribe (not verified) on November 28th, 2008.
I bet Dion is going to serve until the leadership Convention in May and then step down - if this all plays out.
Jack Layton for Deputy PM?
Posted by Jim Johnston on November 28th, 2008.
Normally, the Deputy PM has a substantially different role than the PM, but it doesn't always have to be that way, does it?
My thinking was along the
Posted by TS. (not verified) on November 28th, 2008.
My thinking was along the same lines as ALW. Ralph Goodale would be the best bet for a neutral interim Liberal leader, since he is widely respected within the House of Commons, and is not as partisan within the Liberal caucus.
The more I think of it, the
Posted by Ted (not verified) on November 28th, 2008.
The more I think of it, the more I see that this coalition will blow up.
David Peterson is right, bringing the Liberals and the NDP together is hard enough, but paying off Duceppe will be too much politically.
I don't know...
Posted by Josh (not verified) on November 29th, 2008.
Who really benefits from this kind of a coalition over the longrun though? Isn't it the Conservatives?
The NDP has really been making ground on displacing the Liberals as the centre-left party of choice. Organisationally, monetarily, politically - the Liberals are on the ropes. Why help them now?
I don't think there's a
Posted by blugreenblogger (not verified) on November 29th, 2008.
I don't think there's a problem with Dion as PM. He's pretty innocuous, ( Since the Bloc won't be present in cabinet to howl about the Clarity Act). Dion also has a 'use before date' as he's gonna be replaced next year. This will be convenient, as they can all revisit the question, and either continue under a new PM, or head back to the polls after getting their game plans in order. I don't think that pure partisan considerations will rule whether the coalition happens either. How ever much you want to calculate on electoral considerations, people get into politics ultimately for their beliefs. All the players will probably find it a relief to start legislating on their common grounds, rather than hammer and tongs against the CPC, from outside the tent, for a couple more years.
Coalition leader
Posted by Jacob Rempel (not verified) on November 30th, 2008.
You all underestimate Stephane Dion.
You have been listening too much to his
rivals and to the mass media pundits,
who like to adulate "charismatic" stars
like Rock Hudson and Clark Gable.I prefer
a leader with demonstrated substance who
is likely to lead with the best policies.
Long live the smart tough nerds.
Stephane Dion
Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on December 2nd, 2008.
It just blows me away that our parlamentary system allows such loopholes in the system to form a coalition gov,t lead by Stephan Dion who can't even speak English fluently! Harper Govt. is at fault, don't get me wrong but the last thing we need now is a Coalition Govt made up of a party the Canadian people voted out, a socialist party and a separatist party. Why not add the Green party, The Marijuana Party and the Communist Party????!!!!
I am pissed right off to the point that we, the people need to voice our oppinion by not sending in their tax return this year. Screw it! Throw me in jail where I'll have an ensuite bathroom, bed, three square meals and excercise facilities and no vote. Cuz my friggin vote did nothing this time around to provide good strong Leadership.
Band together Canada and don't file your tax return
FYI Anon: You can still vote
Posted by Devin Johnston on December 2nd, 2008.
FYI Anon: You can still vote if you are in jail in Canada.
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