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

[AndrewInToronto]

I realize I may be posting too much in this blogged item but I'm as nervous now as I was on November 4th awaiting the returns for Obama with my girlfriend. I was sure I would need some sake to get me through. ;-) Santa Claus may be coming early this year.

[jeremyemilio]

Yup. Feeling the same. Dion may be finished as Liberal party leader, but if he can pull this off he will become a folk hero for life.

[thenicerguy]

Imagine turfing George Bush in 24 hours. This is the greatness of the Canadian system. As a Canuck in Los Angeles, I tell my 'Merican friends to watch how we we roll in Canada. It may be making sausages, but this time, it's something the public should see being done.

[jeremyemilio]

Let's be clear on this. In order to form a coalition, even in Canada, there needs to be at least one viable third party with whom the official opposition can coalesce. This is not the case in America (meaning, sadly, that even if America had the same system as Canada, Bush would remain in power).

[tablogloid]

I am tired of reading and hearing the proposed Canadian coalition referred to as a "coup" or a "usurption".
These comments only illustrate how little Americans know about the parliamentary system of government. True, there are also many Canadians who are using similar terms but they are mostly supporters of Harper. Ironically, Harper threatened a coaliton in 2004 when he was in opposition to a Liberal minority government.

Canadian elections don't elect governments, they elect Parliaments. Parliaments make a government and parliaments can break a government. Like all Members of Parliament, Harper only has his seat in Parliament because he was elected by the constituents of his local Calgary riding. He is the Prime Minister because he is the leader of the Conservative Party who won more seats than each of the other parties i.e. Liberals, New Democrats, Bloc Quebecois, Green, and some independents. Having the most seats of any other party gives them the right to form a government.
However, if they lose the confidence by way of a vote in the House, the other parties and their sum of seats is greater than the Conservatives, a coalition of the opposing parties can form a government or an accord can be struck with one party forming the government with the support of the others or a new election can be called.
There is nothing illegal to what is taking place in Canada today.

[AndrewInToronto]

Here, here.

[kanester]

You are so right about Americans not knowing much about the Canadian political process (nor their own), but after reading lots of comments on Canadian sites, there are a lot of Canadians that don't understand this particular process either -- and not just CP supporters either. Mainly because this specific type of event has never happened before and isn't codified in the Constitution (=CanAct19­82+ConstAc­t1982+Cons­tAct1867+f­indings as they happen). About 35% of Canadian commenters think this move is illegal, but reading the laws indicates that it isn't.
The Canadian form of government is one that people should be proud of ... it is one of the few governments in the world today that retains the flexibility to fix a potential problem before it has done too much damage (like, IMO, Harper's continued attempts to foist a Bush-style PMship on Canadians).
Not a Canadian (yet).

[Y2KCockroach]

Your post is in error with respect to this "never (having) happened before". After the 1925 federal election, which resulted in a plurality of seats won by Arthur Meighen's conservatives (116 seats), government was formed by a coalition of Liberals and Progressives, that resulted in William Lyon Mackenzie King becoming Prime Minister (with his Liberal Party only having 101 seats). In this example, the party with the most seats did not get to form government (although Meighen didn't lose a confidence vote in order for this to happen-he just never got to form government after the election). This all led to the "King-Byng Affair", where King ultimately tried to dissolve Parliament and force an election, but Meighen's Tories got to form a government instead. As for the legal basis for forming minority governments, one needs to look at the Constitutional Conventions, which form part of the Constitution, as well as the "Unwritten Principles", which incorporate into the present Constitution the preamble of the Constitution Act, 1867. It is all in there, and you are correct "kanester", it is all legal.

[kanester]

Of course, my guess is that Harper'll prorogue Parliament til Jan27. Not that that'll make his survival chances any better.

[Daksian]

Maybe, maybe not. That length of time may give him a better case to ask for an election following a failed vote rather than accepting a coalition government. I don't agree with this notion, mind you, but it's a stall for time that might work to his advantage. Unfortunately.

[jeremyemilio]

The Conservatives may remain in power (there's still a lot of tricky business that needs to be worked through for this to fall into place), but Harper himself is done. Ding, dong, DONE.

[Rog49Thomas]

I'd like to point out one fact to you: we Americans know very little about a lot of things.

So don't think we're picking on Canada.

We just universally stupid.

[11907281]

As a Canadian who has worked in call centre's for 9 years dealing with americans every day, I have to say that's not really true. Disengaged, maybe ... mislead by a corrupt media, defiantly ... but usually it's just the most ignorant voices are the loudest. It happens everywhere at some point.

[anabelle]

Good, they deserve it for allowing the slaughtering of BABY SEALS to continue.
I hope it happens, I really do. The ruling class in Canada are old and souless.

[MJCole]

Well anabelle you certainly bring a well informed and enlightened thought to this discussion. Tablogloid, thanks for summing up so much of what I was going to say.

[Seldon]

I laughed out loud

[islandchris]

The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back was Harper's attempts to remove public funding for political parties, which would have left the Conservatives with a huge funding advantage in subsequent elections. Canadian politics does not operate in a vacuum, and there''s intense awareness of how things are done here in the US, and for many Canadians an equally intense desire NOT to follow US examples.

Hopefully an Obama administration will show everyone that Americans do understand good governance, and can deliver. Canada may be a generally Center-Left country, but my sense was that a big brake on Harper's fortunes was the suspicion that he wanted to take Canada down the US road politically. The proposed legislation on party funding seemed to confirm this suspicion.

As others have pointed out, this is not a coup but a entirely foreseen possibility in a Parliamentary system, for example the recent attempts to form a Government in Israel. There is some sense of symmetry that Michaelle Jean, a Haitian immigrant, may find herself choosing the next Canadian Government at the same time the Obama team is forming the next US Government.

[boing007]

There is some sense of symmetry that Michaelle Jean, a Haitian immigrant, may find herself choosing the next Canadian Government at the same time the Obama team is forming the next US Government.

I hope that she refuses Harper's request to proroge Parliament for the next seven weeks.

[clayfisher]

Why didn't we think of this?!

[AndrewInToronto]

EXACTLY, ClayFisher -- 54.4% of voting Canadians didn't ask for a minority government to act as it if was beyond accountability to Parliament. I certainly didn't and for those Conservatives, including a friend who exceptionally perturbed with me right now, who think that somehow their vote is more valuable than, say, a Quebecer voting for the Bloc and helping to bring a member to parliament, or anyone else for those Liberal and NDP MPs, too bad. They are in the minority despite all the Conservative bravado. Karma....j­ust karma for calling the election in the first place.

[CaptainStormfield]

I was suprised that Canada re-elected him. The Republicans here sent campaign people up nawth to help him in his first election. Not sure about the second.

[Daksian]

The left in Canada is fractured into three parties, allowing the right-wing Conservatives to get elected with only 37% of the vote. Even if this coalition attempt fails, I suspect that there may be talks in the future to merge parties.

[AndrewInToronto]

For me (even as an NDP supporter) it is not about a majority government and hence the power to govern more unilaterally, it is about adherence to principle and programmes. So I hope your suspicions do not happen. Under Alexa McDonough I was disappointed to sense that there was a watering down of commitments to social justice which were valued during Broadbent's leadership in the move to be more centre-left in the Canadian political spectrum. I much prefer to have more political parties as it makes democracy both more representative and more dynamic. I would hate to have an either-or political democracy and this is not a slight against our American neighbours. I simply prefer multi-party systems, something with which even those such as former PC Prime Minister Joe Clark would agree. (While I was loath to Reform and then the Canadian Alliance/Democratic Caucus for their blatantly racist attitudes expressed even during elections, I had respect as far back as a youth reading Hansard for Progressive Conservatives who were chose that party in principle.­)

[mirage2008]

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.

But then again, Harper pretty much provoked this with his attempt to drag Canada to the right. To echo some of the conservative propagandists in America, "We're a Center-LEFT nation!"

[BeyondKen]

Do you suppose Mr. Harper's getting advise from former PM Joe Clark?

[YesWeCanada]

If Stephen Harper falls I'll be doing cartwheels.
I'll also do a few on GWB's last day and Obama's first.

[AndrewInToronto]

Brilliant choice of names and I'll be doing them with you on both occasions. The Flying Acrobats of the Great White North. Shall we hit the road?

[11907281]

I live in Ottawa near the US embassy and was thinking of bringing them flowers on January 20th but realized walking up to and embassy with a big bouquet and a big smile might get me detained for a little bit.

[moodygirl]

I love YesWeCanada. Have you copyrighted it ? You should be able to sell it to the coalition for their campaign to fend off Prime Minister Harpers attack ads about "coup d'etats" and "giving all legislative power to the separatists". He need the boot for his extremely partisan political stance during a very serious time of economic turmoil.

[YesWeCanada]

Thank you, no.

[Bluebell123]

A little more research please. The word "coup" does not apply. We are a parliamentary democracy in Canada. When we vote, we vote for a political party, not a leader. The leader of the party that gets the most votes becomes prime minister. If the government is a minority, meaning they are short of the number of seats required for a majority, they need the support of the opposition to get bills passed. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have a minority government and, because of his nasty, arrogant and combative approach to governing (you Americans can relate), he has lost the confidence of the opposition parties. They have joined together, as is their constitutional right, and have asked the Governor General to allow them to form a government. This hasn't been done in about 100 years, but its perfectly legal and civilized. So please don't patronize our government. No hanging chads here ....

[BARRISTER]

Bluebell123, " The leader of the party that gets the most votes.." does not become Prime Minister! The person who commands the majority support of the Members of Parliament is the person who is appointed Prime Minister by the Governor-General. Normally, it is the person whose party has the majority of the seats in Parliament. Sometimes, like this time, that person's party does not win the majority of the seats, but the other Members do not support the same person for leader and therefore the Leader of the largest block gets appointed.

It is never the case that the " most votes" determines who is Prime Minister, or which party forms the Government: it is based on the most seats won. A party can win a vast majority of seats and yet has less votes than another, or, the other parties. this is so where there is a "winner take all" system in place so that a party may win a large seat with thousands of votes and another party wins three seats with much less votes in those constituencies. This undemocratic result, much like the "Electoral College", is addressed by the system of proportional representation" where seats are allocated as a proportion of overall votes gained.

[gvc]

Canada has a "first past the post" electoral system on a riding-by-riding basis. It is imperfect to be sure, but not the same as "winner take all" in the electoral college. All 308 seats are independently selected.

Harper got 143 of them, so by convention he was selected to attempt to form a government. He failed. The other parties have 155 seats, and 62% of the vote -- a majority of both. So they are perfectly entitled to form a government and the inequity of "first past the post" is not a deciding factor.

[SillyGit]

I guess that I am one of the few that sees the implied sarcasm tags around the word coup.

Emma is using sarcasm aimed at Harper because he considers this a coup even though it is perfectly legal. George W. Harper suffers from the same delusions of emperorhood that inflicts our George W, so even though a no confidence vote can legally end his term as PM, he will consider it an act of treason. That is the main reason he needs to go away. Hopefully far, far, away.

[randyjet]

Fortunately, he can go far, far away and never leave Canada. You would NOT be so unneighborly as to inflict him on some other poor unsuspecting country, would you?

[SARAROCKS]

WE AS CANADIANS ELECT OUR GOV WE DONT LET THOSE WHO LOST SIEZE POWER BY JOINNING HANDS WITH SEPERATISTS ESPECIALLY,THE BACKLASH WILL BE MASSIVE,THESE 3 PARTYS WILL BE WIPED OUT NEXT ELECTION AND THAT WILL BE DEMANDED TO HAPPEN NOW,WE WANT FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY NOT ARROGANT SPENDING AND DEBT KAOS.OUR DEBT IS A THIRD OF WHAT IT USED TO BE AND THIS NATION IS ECONOMICALLY STRONG,OUR BANKS ARE RESPONSIBLE AND NOT GAMBLERS LEAD BY ACORN PROTEST GROUPS,AN ELECTION WILL BE CALLED AND THESE 3 PARTYS WILL PAY DEARLY AT THE POLLS.

[SillyGit]

Excellent News.

Canadians will be much better off without George W. Harper and Jim "Corporate Tool" Prentice selling their butts to U.S. and Canadian Corporations for the lowest possible price. One would think that if you are selling your constituents you would insist on the highest possible price, but not the Conservatives. Discounts all around (but only to corporations).

Shame the opposition coalition does not include the Greens. I'm a big fan of Liz May. The New Dems had an excellent platform for the October election. Lib / Bloc / New Dem coalition will be a huge improvement over the Conservatives.

[S1m0n]

A coup? No!

That's how parliamentary governments work. Canadians elect a parliament, not a government. Parliament elects the government.

[laylahb]

In the late 1960's a young, new MP who represented my riding said that he would run for PM. At the time he said he was just joking, but the joke ran for about 18 years. Some might remember that he lost his job (as PM, not MP) for about 10 months when his party lost a vote of non-confidence. Some may also remember that he got his PM-job back when his opponent, a guy called Joe-Who, lost his own vote of non-confidence less than a year later.

You think maybe the young MP/PM's son might make a similar joke and make a run for the PM job? Doubtful, but in Canadian politics, who knows..

[gvc]

Perhaps, but not this round. Justin is still a decade younger than his dad was, and has not held a cabinet post. Although Pierre had little experience, he had been a very strong justice minister for a couple of years. Among his accomplishments, repealing sodomy laws and penning Pearson's rebuttal to DeGaulle's "Vive le Quebec Libre" speech.