Perhaps we Should be Thinking Coalition

Time to Start Talking Boys

Interesting to read a piece in the Globe & Mail this morning, musing about coalitions.

Our Prime Minister is rabidly against them, with good reason I guess. He clings to power with the support of  around 37% of Canadians. Unless the opposition parties find some backbone this spring our broken, first past the post electoral system may put him into power once again but, what kind of democracy is that? A government which isn't supported by 63% of Canadians is hardly legitimate.

How did they get there in the first place? Peter McKay as leader of the Progressive Conservatives broke an agreement he made in order to win the leadership of that party. It took him about 24 hours to break the promise was that he would not merge the PCs with the Reform/Alliance Party. How legitimate is that. It speaks volumes about right wing political ethics.

On the other hand, if expedience is king in Federal politics , McKay was bright enough to see that until both of the right wing parties came together, there wasn't a hope of getting elected.

The Liberal and the New Democrat leadership could learn a lesson or two from that scenario. Lets quit all the bullshit and start talking. As a long term NDPer I years ago accepted that we are not going to win an election. But, I always felt that a strong voice from the left has made a difference and I am glad that we have been there.

Times change and Liberal fortunes have waned, the NDP are stuck where they have been for years and now it is the Conservatives that are running up the middle of the vote split. It is time for a new plan. A coalition of these two parties could put Canada back on track. Nothing is standing in the way but hubris.