Don't hear Harper and his idio-minions screaming about "unholy coalitions", or "undemocratic coaltions" today...
Wonder if the whole "fear of a coalition" thing was just a scam fed to the Canadian public by a party with more money than brains... bigger coffers than common sense?
Meanwhile, in the place of the birth of our (almost exact same) Parliamentary system, the main parties enter a 6th day of talks regarding WHICH coalition (not "if", but what pairing of parties) will govern.
Harper and our Conservatives lied to the Canadian people about the workings of Parliament. Mislead Canadians into thinking that less than half of MPs can tell the others what to do and where to go. That is not how Parliament works. That is not how democracy works.
In a school class election (or civic election) that is devoid of organized parties, the will of the majority of elected representatives is the one which triumphs. No matter what city counselors' personal beliefs are, if they agree in majority on an issue, THAT is the way counsel votes. It's how houses of government work the world over (forget Parliamentary systems for now). The US Congress may have party lines, but recent events show just how important a majority of the votes still is.
Parliament must be the voice of the people. If the elected representatives of the people - in majority - agree to something, THAT is the will of the people, and must be followed.
Parliament IS the people, and Parliament must rule supreme in our system of government.
2 comments:
There was evidence that the "Three amigos" coalition made last year was a farce. The fact that it collapsed in about four days and then add to it that the alleged leader (Dion) was forced to resign by his own party is proof of that.Presumably Liberals believed that Dion was good enough for Canada but not good enough for the Liberal party.
Brown has resigned. Perhaps Brown doesn't want the same thing to happen to him that happened to Dion.Dion by not resigning was turfed out by his own party.
I don't expect the Torie sto be cozying up to the Sinn Fein to support their gov't. No one could be that stupid. Could they?
Key in the Westminster Parliamentary system IS the ability of parties/elected members to choose their own leader. The public does not actually vote for the party leaders, or who is PM. While our media (and some parties) try to make it seem that way (like the US system), in Canada we vote for our local MPs/representatives.
It should not (and does not) matter whom the MPs choose to lead. I can understand how Conservatives oppose this idea. They believe (in Canada) strongly in a leadership cult-like following, with MPs with little or no skill/ability. MPs select their own leaders in Canada, and elected MPs have the right to choose their alignment in Parliament.
It's a good system - you should learn more about it.
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