A Coup in Canada?

It's an exciting time in the United States, but there are even bigger things happening to the north. No, it's not picking a national security team. Canada is on the verge of a coup. There's even a little deception and illegal wiretapping involved.

In October of this year the Conservative party in Canada (a little left of the Republicans, but still pretty cozy with George Bush) won a minority government. That means they won the most votes of any party, but don't have enough seats in Parliament to pass anything on their own. Still, their leader, Stephen Harper, was re-elected Prime Minister.

But, as the financial crisis settled in, Harper made noise about removing the right to strike for civil servants and ending a government subsidy that is given to all political parties after an election based on the number of votes received. Not surprisingly, this got everyone else a little mad. The easiest way to unite your opposition is to take their money away.

So the three smaller parties, the Liberals, New Democratic Party and Bloc Québécois (who rarely agree on anything), got together and signed a deal to cooperate in a bid to overthrow the Harper government. Their official reason: he failed to implement any sort of economic stimulus plan to help the Canadian economy (which is true).

Overthrowing a government in lots of places in the world can be messy business. But this is Canada. The technical head of the country is the Queen and thus, her delegate, the Governor-General, can constitutionally order a change in power. Enter Michaëlle Jean: young, good looking, and a woman who generally travels the globe as a figure head. She's had to cut her visit to Central Europe short to make one of the most important decisions in Canadian history.

Meanwhile, there have been many phone conference calls between party leaders and in caucus about how to form the new coalition. One of those conference calls, secret and run by the New Democrats, accidentally had login information sent to a Conservative official. The Conservative Party dialed in, recorded everything and promptly released it to the press.

Too bad there's a criminal offence called illegal wiretapping where, if you know you are not supposed to listen to something, listen anyway and then record what you are listening to, you're in a bit of trouble.

Not fazed by his party's criminal activity, Harper has released ads stating that a coup is "un-Canadian" (well of course it is). The opposition has drawn up a formal proposal to present to Michaëlle Jean. On Monday, the confidence vote should occur and it's anyone's guess what will happen from there.

Getting rid of Harper couldn't make me happier. The Liberals and the New Democrats care about things like public health care, worker's rights and other important social programs. Harper is a fiscal conservative who believes in small government and wanted to do away with gay marriage (a very un-Canadian thing to do!). But most of all, the coup makes watching Canadian politics even more exciting than watching Obama roll out his new administration.

Follow Emma Ruby-Sachs on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EmmaRubySachs

Comments

[CarmenIbanez]

Did someone already mention that the Queen is NOT the "head of the country"? The queen is the "head of state" and the PM is the "head of government". I don't even know what the head of country is.

[Emma Ruby-Sachs - Huffpost Blogger]

Today Jean granted a prorogue shutting down Parliament until January 26th in order to give Harper time to build an economic stimulus package without the threat of a no-confidence vote. Seems to me that in the middle of an economic crisis, shutting down Parliament for two months is the most ridiculous and irresponsible option. Jean has failed Canadians. Harper has made it clear that he is more interested in keeping his job than protecting Canadian citizens from the harsh economic realities in the coming months.
In the meantime, Harper is accusing the Liberals and New Democrats of allying themselves with separatists. As many of you have pointed out, the Conservative Party has often worked with the Bloc to create legislative change. The fact that the coalition can work with the Quebec representative party only illustrates that national unity is more possible under their watch.
I hope that the coalition does not lose momentum, I hope that Canadian voters continue their fight for a government that puts their needs first. I hope that Harper is held accountable for the political mess he has created.
Until then, any problems? Don't call your representative, they're on a forced extended Christmas vacation.

[AndrewInToronto]

"The fact that the coalition can work with the Quebec representative party only illustrates that national unity is more possible under their watch."

I could not agree more and am so proud that Mr. Duceppe has again on Friday pledged the Bloc's support for the coalition. While they will not have any cabinet seats, they will be a very important part of the legislative process which for me is wonderful. This truly is a national-unity government.

I do not think the momentum will be lost; in fact, I think that with the forced closure of Parliament as requested by Mr. Harper, he has further discredited himself beyond the malicious behaviour with name-calling and fear-mongering.

And if this is heartening at all, Ms. Ruby-Sachs, I attended a rally yesterday in Toronto with Mr. Dion and Mr. Layton and the timber of it was impassioned yet very focused on the issue surrounding disenfranchising all Canadian voters. There were many chants of "Yes we Can-ada" and such and at the end, spontaneously people broke out into "O Canada" which rapidly spread through the crowd. And it was bitterly cold too.

[canindy]

There is no coup, it is parliamentary reform of a minority government. The Conservatives do not hold the power of Canada. The Prime Minister does not have the same powers as President. This started because of partisan politics, and it is many years of mistrust coming out now. Although the west of Canada has money due to dirty oil the rest of Canada is following your recession, manufacturing is taking. This is what is called a shift of power in Parliament. That is all. No spin required.

[boing007]

Prime Minister Harper leads the only government in the G20 that refuses to implement an economic stimulus package to drag us out of the current recession. They were also planning to kill legislation that would have given women equal pay for equal work and were planning to dismantle unions. That's why we are royally ticked off. Harper: The Bush Lite of the Great North.

[boing007]

Don Newman just nailed it. The Harper Government is in your face politics. Just like the Republicans and all their talking heads on Cable TV.

[boing007]

I'm both Canadian and liberal, but the idea of allying with traitorous separatists and ethnic hate-monger like the BQ disgusts me and this little siezure of power may result in a voter backlash against the left.

Harper used the BQ to stay in power for the first two years. I hope that bothered you too. It did me. I also didn't like the NDP aiding the PC's attempt to topple the Martin government. Yet, all things considered, I cannot stand Stephen Harper and his browbeating gang of nobodies and would much prefer a Coalition
that represents almost two thirds of Canadian voters' wishes.

[boing007]

But most of all, the coup makes watching Canadian politics even more exciting than watching Obama roll out his new administration.

You betcha!

[jeremyemilio]

To call this a coup is wildly inaccurate. In a parliamentary democracy with more than two parties, a minority government (which that doesn't hold a majority of seats, and didn't receive a majority of votes) ALWAYS serves at the pleasure of the other parties (which outnumber it in seat and vote totals). While coalition governments are relatively rare, when no party wins a majority, a potential coalition is first in line to lead; however, the losing parties generally have trouble cooperating and allow the party with the most votes to rule as a minority on a tight leash (they can't pass anything without support from another party). Harper over-played his hand, trying to pass legislation that no other parted supported, and threatening an election if the others didn't cooperate. So they decided to remind him who's boss. The idea that you just ask the Governor General nicely and she'll appoint a new Prime Minister is ridiculous. The Governor General's role here is a formality. If the coalition wants Harper out, he's out. The Governor General just decides whether we let the coalition govern, or hold another election. Even this is a technicality, considering that we just HAD an election in October, and the coalition parties defeated Harper's conservatives handily (garnering 62% of the vote). Yep you read right; this debate revolves around the idea that a divisive minority government could be replaced by cooperative majority rule. That's no coup. That's democracy.

[WestcoastSteve]

Please do not call this a coup. Everything that is happening is going according to the rules of Parliament. Even though you are obviously informed and anti-Harper, putting the concept that this is a coup out there, even in jest, is something Harper wants.

I personally cannot express the anger I feel about Harper's actions. His first item on his agenda after the election was to destroy the other Parties in Parliament instead of trying to work with them to address Canada's looming problems. Harper is solely responsible for the what is happening now.

There have been other minority governments in Canada before, and the Opposition has rarely been motivated (or able) to form a coalition. It needed something truly vicious and idiotic like Harper's action to spur it. Harper is Canada's version of Bush, and if this coalition is able to take over, poor as their governance may turn out to be, it is still better than Harper. He has shown that he is unfit to govern.

[stealthgurl007]

To help clear up a few things and outline how our gov't works, check out this great synopsis of what's going on in Canadian politics http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2008/12/03/what_is_happening_in_canada.html

[max08]

PART 2

Here's the rub no one is telling you. The Bloc or Parti Quebecois is a regional power. No one in the rest of Canada can vote for this party. Only people in Quebec. Yet in order to create this coalition, the LIberal and NDP gave the Bloc veto power over every government decision including the budget and the new Liberal party leader (PM), and this separatist regional group would hold the balance of power over the entire country.

Harper needs to be taken to the woodshed for his tone-deaf reading of the Canadian people. He is, however, the only party leader who is an economist, and Canada showed a good surplus (less now) until the downturn -- Canada is in much better shape than the USA. . But 41% of Canadians did not vote in the Oct 2008 election. (Unusual but it was the third election in recent years.)

Of the 59% who did vote:

Conservatives: 38%
Liberals: 26%
NDP: 18%
Bloc: 10%
Green: 6.7%

As Jon Stewart said in October during the recent Canadian election, Canada's idea of a Conservative party is the US's leftie Democrat. Not far wrong.

[jeremyemilio]

Very far wrong, actually. This is not your father's Progressive Conservative party. This is a conservative coalition, posing as a national party, in which the hard right Western Reform party is pulling the strings. These guys are easily as far right as the Republicans on virtually all issues. They wanted to go into Iraq; they opted out of Kyoto; they want to roll back gay marriage; they want to privatize healthcare; and they're even aligned with big oil. Don't be fooled by the fact that their agenda has been slowed because they've been a minority government, dependent upon the opposition parties to pass legislation. These folks are ultra conservative, and they decided that this time around they would try ruling that way (minority shminority). Which is why it's high time we throw the bums out!

[boing007]

As Jon Stewart said in October during the recent Canadian election, Canada's idea of a Conservative party is the US's leftie Democrat. Not far wrong.

Jon Stewart may put on some funny skits once in awhile but on this he is wrong. Red Tory Conservatives are comparable to Moderate Democrats but Harper and most of his cabinet come from fringe elements of conservative Canada and are more like some of the rednecks and Palin types that dot the American landscape.

[max08]

PART 1

You neglected to add that this coalition can only hold together if the Parti Quebecois, the regional separatist party in Quebec, joins their vote, and that in return for their vote within the recently signed coalition agreement, Quebec was given infrastructure money and six federal senate seats (which they've never had) not granted the other provinces.

Furthermore, the Bloc (as its called outside of Quebec) stood up in Parliament yesterday and cheered PQ Leader Marois's statement that "Canada is dead," 'Quebec can get $1 billion' and that separatism is back on the table. This is not something the majority of Canadians want nor would they have voted for; however, the losing NDP and LIberal party leaders may have to go along with it if they get their coalition government approved by the Gov General Jean without a vote, and they take over Parliament.

(contd.)

[PennyS]

We Canadians know this is not a "coup", of course. Coalition governments are quite common in parliamentary democracies, though rare in Canada.

You forgot to mention that the Harper government also wanted to cut off the freedom of women to sue int he courts for equal pay, along with the other outrages of cutting federal workers' right to strike, eliminating the subsidy to political parties, and failing to beginw ork on a stimulus package for the economy.

Harper, who used to occasionally show signs fo statesmanship, has succumbed to being a total right wing ideologue (he is to the right of his Conservative party), and, I suspect, is unwilling to flex enough to work with the new Obama government. Or maybe just doesn't want to lead the country in tough times.

[Rog49Thomas]

Coup?

I believe Canada has a parliamentary form of government.

Under that form, there is a legal procedure for causing a change in government, it's called a vote of no confidence.

That's not a coup in my dictionary.

[TTigerX2]

This is no coup d'etat in Ottawa. It was a poorly chosen word to reflect what has always been going on here - a rich and diverse political environment.

The newly proposed coalition is being framed by the conservative mainstream media as
political bickering -- well, exactly. Lost in the argument here is that the opposition is already acting under a loose coalition of a blend of conservatives, socialists, far left and center left liberals. No other country in the world can claim as many parties than Canada. That a coalition government is forming is actually evolution. Remember, Prime Minister Harper actually joined a similar Conservative coalition prior to his first election to Prime Minister. Evolution in Canadian politics is the rule, not the exception.

Now Harper's only response has been to attack the Bloc Québécois -- a coalition partner -- as wanting to break up the rest of Canada. Yet Harper campaigned in Quebec and offered the BQ a role as a coalition partner to his Conservatives in the last election but was rejected by voters there.

For the record, Quebec does not want to "separate" but rather to retain its culture under sovereignty association while remaining a member of a confederation on matters of finance, national security, business and trade regulations with the rest of Canada. Quebec wants what Alberta, BC and Newfoundland want for their resourced-based economies --- but with the language component.

The problem is a weak federal government in minority, and it is getting weaker

[11907281]

First, Italy leads in the amount of parties,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Italy#Major_parties

Second, 2/3's of Quebecois voted for a party that has a separatist platform. Newfoundland has a distinct culture, and one could almost say language as well, but they don't need to legislate their culture.