WTF, Canada?

[wombat_socho]

There's apparently machinations underway that would shut the party with the most seats in Ottawa's House of Commons out of the government in favor of a coalition of the Liberals, NDP, and the (nominally) secessionist Bloc Quebecois. Colby Cosh thinks PM Stephen Harper should call the coalition's bluff and watch them shoot themselves in the foot. A

Comments

Ex2's 2 cents.

[anonymous]

This has been keeping me very busy lately!

Brief summary:

There is no mention of the Prime Minister in the constitution, it is a practical appointment belonging to the leader who controls parliament. Mr. Harper has lost the confidence of the House, and there is no reason to expect he will regain it. Such is life when you take a minority and act like a majority! It is high time he did the constitutionally correct thing and resigned. Following his resignation the Conservative party should endeavour to present a comprimise candidate for PM to the House, Mr. Strahl or Mr. Prentice coming to mind. Should they fail to command a majority of the house then the GG must allow the proposed coalition to attempt to form a government. I am profoundly unhappy with the leadership of all parties for leading us into this gratuitous crisis at a time of important national challenges, but the rules are simple. Sadly for the Conservatives they just don't favour us.

tl;dr - Harper fucked up. Idiot.

Re: Ex2's 2 cents.

[wombat_socho]

Well, yeah...but my understanding is that there hasn't been a vote of no-confidence yet, and he's still the PM of a minority government. And more to the point, it looks like Layton and Dion had cut a deal even before the election, but didn't bother to let their parties know they were now part of a Grit/Dipper coalition. Nobody in any of the three Federalist parties has covered themselves with glory, that's for sure.