Before I start, I have to say I'm nonpartisan on this issue. I put equal derision on all players, but for different reasons.
- Conservative Party Leader and current Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Steven Harper: No brains for trying to cram the baseball bat a little further than was prudent. Bluffing when the cards are see-through. Arrogant and foolish.
- Liberal Party Leader, Celine Dian (oops sorry, Stéphane Dion): Couldn't talk his way out of his own trousers and doesn't know if he's coming or going. One foot out the door and the other stepping into that pile on the pasture.
- New Democrat Party Leader, Jack Layton: He must have read the Canadian history books...doesn't he know that the small fry in any coalition gets obliterated in the next election? Might as well strap on the TNT himself - what was he thinking?
- Bloc Québécois Party Leader, Gilles Duceppe: A national party, this is not. A separatist leader who comes out and says he'll support a coalition for all of how many weeks? Afterwards its Quebec interest above all else. Only in Canada. Give me a break. Blindfold at 30 paces for this guy.
Here's my argument:
Let's not forget that in Canada we do not elect a Leader/Prime Minister/President. The Yanks do that. We Canucks elect a parliament, or Members of Parliament (MPs), more correctly. Its those MPs that then go the Queen's representative in Canada, the Governor General, with their recommendation on forming a government, at the Queen's/Governor General's request. And its the formation of the government that includes appointing a Prime Minister, by the MPs, so he can organize the MPs into a Government. We say he has the "confidence" of the people to form a government. Whenever he loses that confidence, he is supposed to gracefully request another mandate from "the people" by asking the Queen/Governor General to let him call an election. The governor General makes the call: agrees to an election, finds someone else with "confidence" of the people, calls for marshal law, or calls for Queen's Own Rifles, etc.....
To make the process less chaotic, political parties form up beforehand and predesignate their Leader, so that the little people who vote, already have a notion of who might be governing them if enough MPs from any specific party are voted in. We also have a "Loyal" opposition (which the Yanks don't have), made up of the lesser MPs, led by an officially appointed Leader (or Leaders). The "Opposition" is just a coalition of MPs that are not part of the government, that are supposed to keep the Government honest.
So you see, coalition by MPs is already the name of the Canadian game. Its just in context to predefined party leaders and the American way, that it seems out of place. Across-party-line-coalitions have been done in Canada many times before. Not so often at the federal level, but plenty of times at the provincial level.
So what kind of Queen's representative sets aside democratic government to favour a whimpering PM? One that has been appointed by that very PM. Therein lies the problem. Partisanship in an appointed role, where its out of place. Shame on the Governor General. Shame on the PM for asking.
She must have been thinking that Canadians don't want to go through another election. I sure don't. But if that is what it takes to clean house of these imbeciles, then that's what it takes.
The PM has put the nails into his own coffin on this issue. The opposition leaders have done the same for themselves. Even the guy who wants to split from Canada, now has to explain why he was willing to support his opponents. Blindfold at 30 paces for all of them! (The political kind, that is)
