Categories: Andrew Coyne, Capital Read

The GG can say no (redux)

by Andrew Coyne on Monday, December 1, 2008 3:10pm - 208 Comments

Roger Gibbins offers a way for the Governor General to get us all out of this mess: Just Say No. Don’t call an election. Don’t hand power to an unstable and potentially destructive coalition. Simply refuse the Prime Minister’s resignation, and send him back to Parliament, with instructions to find a consensus on his economic plan. Discuss.

Tags: coalition government, constitutional crisis, Governor General

More by Andrew Coyne

northface

I am not surprised by the fact that in a time of crisis, Iggy is, instead of focusing on battling the Conservative’s distortion of the issues, “wisely” spending his time contemplating pulling out of the coalition and throwing others under the bus, leaving them hanging out dry. His action will only reinforce my belief all along – this is a person who has neither leadership ability, nor a backbone…. To think that he can be the front-runner for the next Liberal leader, what a saddened state the Liberals have become. Of course, that explains why Stephen Harper is even be in power… Duh!
albin douglas

It seems that political suggestions are not part of the set of options available to the GG. Besides, when considered, the PM is damaged beyond repair with the opposition and probably within his own party. Despite the show of unity, Conservatives must be considering life after Mr. Harper.
suzanne armstrong

Oh Canada – our home and floundering land..
Who is looking after the people of Canada? Perhaps the GG should order a cooling off period while the politicians come to their senses. There are no legal precendents to this situation, only custom, and surely “custom” is an inappropriate term for this fiasco.
Legally the voters returned a minority Conservative government and like it or not, we should abide by this until such time as we can choose otherwise. If you loose in a democracy, this confers no right to nullify the results but rather to accept them and work for change along legitimate lines. We may not like the system we have, and undoubtedly there are weaknesses, but we seem unable to agree how to change it. In fact we don’t seem able to agree on anything!
In these troubled economic times the country cannot afford to have weak, muddled or indeed no leadership, only squablling politicians grasping for power. Many of us are grasping for a lifeline – a pox on all your parties!
Liz

Apparently, it matters little what you or I say on a blog like this. In fact, only the government and the opposition parties can really effect any change. The government is using government resources to bolster its own party and talking points; the opposition of the government that is spinning its way through its latest taxpayer-paid commercial onslaught against more than 60% of Canadians simply can’t respond quickly enough. Canadians’ money being spent by a government which does not have the confidence of the Parliament is burning through your and my money to put you or I in an early grave.

Stephen Harper. evil genius, and ever so for Canada. ra ra

It really wsn’t supposed to work this way. American people woke up before the nightmare became irreversible. Why, oh why is Canada forever behind?

Once Canada led, in a smallish way, on the world stage. That bird is dead.

Same as Stephen Harper’s government. Mutual destruction is the order of the day. And that’s all good in Stephen Harper’s Canada. Because if Canada is not for Stephen Harper, then Stephen Harper is not for Canada.

Simple.

Sad.
Liz

there you go suzanne, just toss Canadian parliamentary rules out the window, all for Stephen Harper and what he promises.

It has become clear that Stephen Harper is a liar. Many politicians were liars. Therefore Canadians must have liars shoved down our throats, even when proven liars are “loosing” by playing by the rules and just invent a new bully tactic where might and money makes right.

Mr ‘Confidence Vote for Every Little Desire’Harper is bailing on a confidence vote.

Usurping Parliament for his personal gain, or loss if he has miscalculated most principled Canadians as much as I think he has.

I am sickened. Harper is running.

Jesus, and most revered Parliamentarians of whichever party in Canada and so far as Westminster, perhaps beyond, would clean Harper’s clock over this and most of you Harper supporters know it but are afraid to say it.

Cowards way. Un-Canadian. Never ever have Canadians had to fear its government. Until now.

And that is all I am going to say here on the matter.
Rich

“Legally the voters returned a minority Conservative government and like it or not, we should abide by this until such time as we can choose otherwise. If you loose in a democracy, this confers no right to nullify the results but rather to accept them and work for change along legitimate lines. We may not like the system we have, and undoubtedly there are weaknesses, but we seem unable to agree how to change it.”

Exactly. And such a time would be when they lose a confidence motion in the House and the opposition proposes to form a new government. Suzanne, are you aware we have a parliamentary system of government?
Michael Dorosh

>>I notice you mentioned the actual elected Members of Parliament as only a supporting cast.

>>If the forthcoming crisis is as bad as the Coalition cheerleaders would have us believe, this isn’t the best time to dress up a bunch of neophytes in cabinet minister suits and run the government as an on-the-job training opportunity.

>>I’d sure like to hear the cheerleaders explain why we should believe the coalition is competent to lead, given that they turned to the Old Guard to arrange the marriage and hold their hands on matters financial. I’m sure they can act like leaders, but at this juncture I don’t favour actors.

>>There’s only one way to settle the question: have an election; we can be done and budgeted by February.

Exactly, and don’t forget the coalition’s prospective Prime Minister is slated for replacement in the first week of May – to be selected by the Liberal party, something generally done before going to the electorate, not after he has been installed and on the job for a few weeks.
seaandthemountains

Honestly, Andrew, you are pat your prime on this stuff. You are either not even trying, or are moving towards being clearly partisan.

First of all, you are citing a dude who is the CEO foundation, that in the words of the Walrus, is “a think-tank long regarded as an arm of Manning’s defunct Reform Party” (see their expose on Flannigan). He was also formerly head of poli sci at U of C, home of Flannagan and others, and long considerd Harper’s home base and inner circle. And, as an added touch Gibbins, also happened to write post election: “At the same time, the fact that the Conservatives did not secure a majority means that parliamentarians will have to give serious consideration as to how to make minority governments work. Minorities may be the new normal, and thus we must find a way to get beyond paralyzing partisanship and constant threats of elections….Harper does not have a majority, but neither does he face early defeat in the House. Thus the failure to capture more seats in Quebec is at best a minor blemish on a solid performance.” All so apropos now, if more than a tad wrong.

So, are you not trying? Or do you think that is, someone, with such a clear links to being in Harper’s back pocket is a valuable contributor to the debate? Should we also consult Stephane Dion’s mom as an expert and objective commentator too?

Second, you know the Canadian democratic system very well. Regardless of which party or which ideological approach anyone is cheering for (unstable and potentially dangerous – zeeesh!!!) the course of action being pursued it not within, but exactly as intended by our constitutional conventions. Requiring a party to retain power that does not hold the confidence of the house to govern is undemocratic. And there is no way around that.

If we want to talk reform of the system, then lets talk reform. But making it up as you go along is bunk.

There is no great
Phil P

Thank you Robert V….my thoughts almost exactly, especially wrt ‘we consented to this possibility…’
thereginamom

I don’t know how many times I’ve read it, and I am surely to goodness sick of reading it, but would people please educate themselves on what a Parliamentary democracy is and how it works. The late Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker said,

If Parliament is to be preserved as a living institution His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition must fearlessly perform its functions. When it properly discharges them the preservation of our freedom is assured. The reading of history proves that freedom always dies when criticism ends. It upholds and maintains the rights of minorities against majorities. It must be vigilant against oppression and unjust invasions by the Cabinet of the rights of the people. It should supervise all expenditures and prevent over-expenditure by exposing to the light of public opinion wasteful expenditures or worse. It finds fault; it suggests amendments; it asks questions and elicits information; it arouses, educates and molds public opinion by voice and vote. It must scrutinize every action by the government and in doing so prevents the short-cuts through democratic procedure that governments like to make.

- Hon. John G. Diefenbaker, “The Role of the Opposition in Parliament,” Address to the Empire Club of Canada, Toronto, 27 October 1949.

The Opposition is just doing its job, peeps. Let it preserve and protect our democracy.
http://none Paul

Interesting idea. Not going to happen.

It’s hard not to see how pathetic and desperate Liberals are these days. It’s probably more a sense of insecurity than anything else. Get over it and lose Dion as fast as you can. Have some self respect. If a buly pushes you around — push back. Don’t let it fester. Don’t wait. Don’t complain. Don’t start crying and think that not running candidates against the Greens will help or that somehow Layton and Duceppe are your new pals.

Come on Iggy get control of this thing and let Prentice take care of Harper.
Angela

Coalition > Harper

Get Harper out, get the coalition in, and let’s get the economy on track.

If this doesn’t work, I honestly don’t know what will.
scoutb

It seems to me that a discussion of parliamentary democracy is based on the notion that those who are elected and their chosen leaders care about the nation and its citizens. It would seem evident that none of the elected individuals or the illustrious party leaders give a whit about your job or mine and care even less about our lives (they love our vote though and should be forced to purchase it with our tax dollars – sorry they do that already). Why not simply have the GG act as the queen (prorogue parliament into obscurity) and get on with letting the rest of us run our own lives? Let’s pick a rate of devaluation, elect bank presidents, hold the banks accountable for it and move on. i think a 50 cent Canadian dollar is about where these antics should take us.
David Fraser

Brad Sallows, this is about depth of experience as opposed to callow divisiveness. Here’s the formula…

Though his best work may be behind him, when you hold a Master Class, you call on the master (insert idol’s name here). The current winner of an election is not the be all and the end all of our collective history x knowledge x dreams of nationhood. A few cats who went before are good for more than reminiscence.

Put them to it.
David Fraser

P.S. An election is not required. The elected members have the right to put the non-confidence question to the government.
Andrew

I find the venom from all of you disgusting. Quite frankly none of you are reasonable well-meaning individuals and I’m sure if I could see into your souls it would reveal that none of you actually care about Canada.

The truth is every single MP in the House of Commons is guilty of perpetuating this stupid crisis.

I have a simple suggestion for any MPs that may still might have a shread of decency and respect for this country and average hard-working Canadians. Leave your party and sit as an independent. Refuse to engage in any of the BS hyperbole and show Canadians that you are willing to sit as an independent and rise above party politics. Please, some of you show us you truly disagree with how politics is being conducted on all sides of the house and sit as an independent. If enough of you do this you’ll send a message to all Canadians, that they are more important than power or partisanship. Show us that decorum and decency in this country are still possible.
Liz

David Fraser, with respect, the current Stephen Harper government is ducking and avoiding the non-confidence vote, hence Canadians across this land are left in limbo because the government of the day is ducking and avoiding the non-confidence vote. Ad in finitum. Now a prorogue. Where Stephen Harper could shut down governance for all of Canada for 12 months if he decides to.
Then, an election is required.

But, if you’ve got a big fat idea about how a government in limbo can be jolted into a confidence vote or even into action, this Canadian is all ears.

Frankly, this Canadian is not sure how many more months it can hold on to the point that we could even travel to a polling station, what with bus fare and packed lunches, time left off from work, and all, etc.

If for one minute you think that employers regularly follow the law regarding time allowed for people to vote, one must only look at the law-breaking and law-bending of the Conservative party and their counter-parts in business to know that law is a fluid thing, and employee rights fleeting.

From the Harper government which struck the words equality, equity and innovation from it’s very limited vocabulary, it’s not too far a reach before holding people hostage. Sure hope it was no MP family in Thailand this week. Brenda Martin will be thanking her lucky stars for ever that it was only Stephen Harper’s concern for his public face that brought her home, and the abject mewlings from Geurgis on the international stage might have swayed him in Brenda Martin’s favour.

Now, can we get some Canadian retirees home from holiday in Thailand before Harper decides to quit working again for several months? Or shall everyone wait on tenterhooks, or in airports? It’s not like he’s going to personally have to pay millions of dollars, like Arar. Just bring our people to safety! Get them to Hong Kong at least. It is not too much to ask. Let’s see a measured response regarding Canadians, eh.

Betcha Harper has checked his list, twice, and most of the people who chose to visit Thailand at a very unlucky time aren’t Conservative voters. So, they are off his list. Or not on it, so inconsequential unless there is an election coming up…then they may be important.

PM Stephen Harper is all about those who are all about him. Period.
Liz

Andrew, your cynical diatribe aside, I’ll take your bet and will say that most non-Harper MP’s in the House of Commons of Canada would stand alone and independent for their constituents if that was what was required to show democracy in the House of Commons. And I’ll bet that most Harper Mp’s, assured of no backlash from Harper, would do the same.

What is the difference between such MPs? Fear.

The majority of MPs in the House of Commons of 2008 do not live in abject fear of Stephen Harper. Which is why he finds himself in crisis.

Stephen Harper can only count on so many of his MPs to follow his lead and seal-clap, or stand there paralyzed, mute, speak-by-rote, and/or ineffectual for their constituents because in the end it is all about Harper, not the voters or contributors. As they will soon find out.

Fear is a great taskmaster. But courage knows when there is a beating too far. Who knows? Maybe Harper inadvertently caught a few good men/women up in his net. Canadians will soon see who stands up for Canada and who sits or stands or genuflects for Stephen Harper.
http://www.mta.ca/faculty/arts-letters/canadian_studies/anurse/index.html Andrew Nurse

Gibbins is right. The GG has far more options then is generally reported. What is important to remember is that under “responsible government” (remember that term from your high school history), what is defeated is not the Conservative party but the executive. In this day and age, the distinction is technical (party discipline!) but at odd moments in history like this potentially important. There is no reason why the GG needs to call on someone else to form a government or call an election. Instead, she can ask another Conservative to constitute a new executive or ask the current leader to constitute a new executive. If she wanted — although this is not required — she can provide advise to the extent that the new executive will need to get a deal done. If I were giving advise to the GG, I would first ask if such a situation were possible, which is something different then the PM might want. Indicate that one is loath to call another election right after the last one, that the Conservatives to a large extent made their own bed, and that her preference would be for them to remake it so they can sleep in by accepting the fact that the vast majority of Canadians did not vote for them.
John Cerisano

There is nothing unconstitutional about the proposed coalition government voting down the current government. A sitting, minority government cannot govern if it does not have the confidence of parliament. They certainly don’t have my confidence to govern democratically according to the will of the people of Canada (as so many events demonstrate)

• Did the Conservatives ask Canadians if we want to stop funding elections so that ALL Canadians have a voice in our government?
• Did the Conservatives give us one good reason why they broke their own, newly minted election law and spend hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars for an unnecessary election?
• Did the Conservative consult Canadians before embarking with the Americans and the Mexicans on the first stages of the North American Union (euphemistically called the “Security and Prosperity Partnership)?
• Did the Conservatives ask the people of Vancouver Kingsway if they wanted David Emerson to switch parties right after the election in order to be given a plum ministerial post in the Conservative government?

Detractors of the proposed coalition keep using words like “deal with the devil” (the Bloc), “parliamentary coup d’etat) etc etc. However, they don’t like to point out that the Bloc members were democratically elected to the house (they represent Canadians, not residence of the underworld), and the proposed coalition is constitutional.

The Conservatives simply messed up, so the spin doctors are pulling all the stops in desperation to make this situation seem somehow illegal or unconstitutional. It is not very democratic, but it is constitutional. If we don’t like it, let’s change the system. Until then we work with what we’ve got.

It is a idiosyncratic overhang of the old British colonial rule that our actual head of state is the Governor General, whose role, we all know, is mostly just ceremonial. However, now the fate of parliament (not to mention our country) is in her hands. However, like I said, it’s our system, for better or worse.

What is the Conservative response to all this? FIrst PM Harper delays the vote to give the Conservatives time to get the PR machine rolling and essentially rally public opinion against the coalition such that a public outcry may persuade them to demure. That may not work in time, so now they are considering proroguing parliament and pretty much shutting down government during a very precarious time.

None of our so-called “leaders” are looking very respectable at this point. And the polarizing effect this can have on our nation is potentially devastating. This will be very divisive: East v. West; liberals v. conservatives; Quebec v. Alberta.

This will ultimately not be good for any of our elected officials, or our country.
Charles

Why in God’s name the Conservative Party not act mature and demand Harper’s resignation. It is him who singlehandedly brought this crisis by bringing in measures that do not belong to the economic measures and were not even part of his platform during the recent election. To make the matters worse he has been poking in the eye of the eye of the opposition ever since and before. He does not understand or accept the reality that he does not have the majority and must therefore have the full support of the opposition parties, at least one or two. He has no idea as to how to build consensus and does not seem to consult or respect much of the MPs including his cabinet. Further he makes outlandish false allegations against the opposition. For instance he claimed that there was no flag in the background when the coalition signed their agreement when in fact the video clearly shows that there was not one but two Canadian flags in the background. He claims that the coalition is un-constitutional when he made the similar deal with the opposition and submitted a letter to the Governor General in order to form a minority government by ousting Martin. He says one thing in French and quiet opposite in English in order to polorize and turn on the people of Quebec and the rest of the Canada against each other. Simply he is an arrogant bully and unfits to be the PM especially as a minority.
asiancha

An option that the GG and Canadians in general might still consider:

perogy parliament: to show your dissatisfaction with the quality of political leadership by throwing Ukrainian dumplings at a legislature
RSM

Lets look at the fundamentals
…….We can’t afford to fund parties that have no support in their communities. If people vote for them because they exist from taxpayer largesse, then we are looking at funding every nut-job party and will have no clear winners. There is a need for parties to exist where consemsus is built within the party, with exercise of give and take, amongst its inner factions. Suck it up. Just because PEI is a province doesn’t mean you and 5 crack head friends can be your own political party at my expense.

………..We shouldn’t have another election.

………..The parties do not represent ME in my wishes to stop funding bankrupt, incompetent and treasonous political grooups. They are doing this for self preservation. If they are that good a party for that electorate, let the people vote with their wallets. Now THAT’S a solution.

……….We are fools to pay for a party that has no fan base in QC, or outside of the GTA. We are fools for buying the bullets, and giving the gun to the guy who already wants to take all he can get from the country. Get a grip people, IF THEY CAN’T SURVIVE WITHOUT SUPPORT FROM THE PEOPLE AND BUSINESS COMMUNITY THAT KNOWS THEM BEST THEN WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU ?

……….Harper is PM. If you don’t like it, suck it up princess. We had an election, carry on. Did anyone look to remove Trudeau when he brought in the very economic measures he campaigned against? No. The country sucked it up and we had Stanfileds economic recovery package run by the liberals.

Now, the West ate crap for years while ” The Natural Governing Party” ruled from the centre, shoved an energy policy down the throats of provinces and people without any consultation. I sense somehow that the political elite consider westerners as perhaps not as suave as the some of their current idols ( my but doesn’t Bob have great hair, and look at Justin’s dreamy eyes……), but that is NOT leadership. It’s entertainment, its fluff, its showbiz. Maybe these guys should co-host with Ben Mulroney…….sounds like the right venue, and the audience could vote them on and off.

Harper has thrown down the gauntlet and spoken the truth. It’s a poker game, and he’s betting the none of the aprties have any collateral with the public to fund them any further. It’s a gutsy move. About as gutsy as campaignaing against wage and price and controls, and the the week after the election being converted to the idea.

Stop the federal funding, stop the bleeding. Now the media and all of the narcistic machiavellian naval -gazers appartchniks need to stop the whining.
seaandthemountains

Dr Nurse,

With all due respect that is a reach.

There is zero precedent for that and it forgoes, the intent of the the convention of RG. While she does have some options, (the Globe has a good piece talking about some of them, what you are suggesting is not what is intended.
gwgm

Harper’s going to address the nation tonight.

Here’s a laugh…

The Iggy election buttons on political websites say “UNITED”.

Too bad he’s “UNITED” with Jacques Parizeau, Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton.

Having Iggy brag about being “UNITED” and “STRONG” is like George Bush bragging about being “ARTICULATE” and “POPULAR”.