Dismantle coalition

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/12/2008 (6476 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

POLITICAL elites and constitutional experts might be able to spin sophisticated arguments about how and why a coalition of opposition par­ties could usurp power under certain conditions, but average Canadians say no — don’t even dare. Three cheers for average Canadian citizens. Coalition members should take heed and disband this cabal.

Confirmation that Canadians believe voters and only voters should decide who governs them was contained in a Compass Research poll released Friday. The poll, conducted Wednesday and Thursday — the apex of the political crisis that had riveted Canadians for more than a week — found that by a two to one margin Canadians rejected the idea the Governor General could invite to govern a coalition of Liberals and New Democrats led by Stéphane Dion and supported by the Bloc Québécois. Instead, 69 per cent supported the calling of another election on the heels of the last one despite the mess it might make of the Christmas period and its $300-million price tag.

The survey further found that Canadians not only rejected the coalition option, they were prepared to punish the parties that forged it. If the Governor General had not intervened Thursday and an election were held, coalition members would have been mowed down across Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper would have commanded 51 per cent support and would have won the landslide victory he no doubt dreams of winning and which many pundits and critics opined was out of his reach as a result of the misjudgment he made in precipitating the crisis. Canadian confidence in Mr. Harper actually rose during the crisis, the survey found, and two-thirds of Canadians rejected the idea of the Bloc as king maker as he argued they should. The Bloc, however, would not have suffered in Quebec, where the survey found a greater openness to the coalition. In Quebec, only Liberals would have suffered.

Canadians, it would seem, are not gullible; two-thirds believe the coalition was created for the sole purpose of grabbing power. Only 28 per cent bought the coalition line that its motivation was a belief Mr. Harper was a bad manager of the economy.

The message is clear — the coalition must disband, it is toxically offensive to Canadians. Disbanding should mean that the option of taking power without an election will not be available in January when the Conservatives present a budget. Liberals, in particular, should look at the survey result and plan accordingly — that is, they should speed up their leadership process to ensure Mr. Dion is not at the helm in seven weeks. Only eight per cent said they have confidence in Mr. Dion, while his rivals Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff scored four and 18 per cent.

The opposition parties should also realize they are woefully out of step with Canadians. It might be that the subsidies they feared losing, and which set off the crisis, have, in fact, resulted in parties losing touch with voters, as has been argued. While now is not the time to consider the issue, it certainly appears that an open debate in the future has merit.