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Written by Citizen Staff
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Thursday, 04 December 2008 |
With the clock winding down on his government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper burned his last time-out Thursday by asking Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean to shutter Parliament until the end of January.
There are plenty of people to point at and poke but it's not all Harper's fault. The prime minister did an admirable job staying one step ahead of the wounded but powerful Liberal party machine for as long as he could, but the collapse of this minority government was inevitable after Harper failed to lock up the House after the last election. And with Canada's economy set to only get worse in the coming months, he had no choice but to call voters to the ballot box when he did.
As it stands, the course of this country is untenable. No matter what Harper's Tories propose on Jan. 27, the Liberal Democratic Bloc, led by Stephane Dion, will defeat them. Jean will be forced to chose between calling an election or inviting Dion to form a government.
Neither is workable. An election is likely to cause only a further descent into the most vicious partisan politics possible with no net change in the current composition of the House; voters are too disgusted with all three federal parties to give any a majority. A Dion coalition, constitutional niceties notwithstanding, will be regarded as illegitimate and unfit to govern by most Canadians, particularly in the West.
The result may turn out to be a federal government in limbo, crippled by a system-wide paralysis similar to what is currently striking the U.S. financial system. Such a crisis, on top of a global economic implosion historical in both its scope and complexity, will cause far too many Canadians to suffer.
Another solution must be found. Right now, Stephen Harper is a prime minister without a Parliament while the Liberal Democratic Bloc is a government without an acceptable leader, be it Dion, Jack Layton, Gilles Duceppe, Bob Rae, Michael Ignatieff or Dominic Leblanc.
All four parties must heal this rift and, as such, the only logical way forward is a true coalition, a unity government where Harper remains as prime minister but invites representatives from the other three parties to join him in cabinet, with portfolios allocated based on their representation in the House.
Those representatives would not have to be MPs. A crisis of this magnitude may require names like Paul Martin, Joe Clark, Ed Broadbent or the appointment of premiers, academics, First Nations leaders and entrepreneurs to senior positions.
Such an entity would be difficult to form and harder still to lead. But it would be the only government that could claim to reflect the will of all Canadians.
And it would answer to them. This true coalition would last 18 months -- as long as the Liberal Democratic Bloc was set to rule. Then a general election would be called and, based on their performance in this government, voters would be able to decide who truly deserves to manage their affairs.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 December 2008 )
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