Liberals and New Democrats together could unseat Harper
Robert Peffers
Electoral ceasefire would put nation's centre-left majority in
political control
Michael Byers
Published On Mon Nov 2 2009
Negative ads have prejudiced voters against Michael Ignatieff, and
brought Stephen Harper within reach of a majority government. The
Conservatives now lead the Liberals by about 10 percentage points.
The situation seems unlikely to improve. The Prime Minister's divisive
partisan tactics have diminished the public's respect for politicians
in general. In just four years, he has changed the tone of media
coverage and public discourse, shifting the mood of the nation toward
cynicism and selfishness.
Liberal infighting has not helped, while the NDP has missed two
opportunities – on climate change and macroeconomic policy – to
capture the national imagination with bold ideas.
There is only one surefire way to prevent a Harper majority. The
Liberals and NDP should agree to not run candidates against each other
in the next campaign.
In each riding, the party whose candidate fared worst in the last
election would pull its current candidate out, or refrain from
nominating one.
Both parties would win more seats, with the Liberals potentially
forming a majority government.
Based solely on the results from October 2008, the agreement would, in
itself, deliver 30 to 40 additional seats to the Liberals and another
five to 10 seats to the NDP.
The Bloc Québécois would not be part of the deal but could be expected
to win around 40 seats in total.
Importantly, what is proposed is not a coalition, but a one-time
ceasefire between two opposition parties whose combined vote share
last time was significantly higher (44.4 per cent versus 37.6 per
cent) than the Conservatives.
No effort would be made to coordinate platforms, though the absence of
debilitating head-to-head races between Liberals and New Democrats
would direct both parties' attention onto the Conservatives.
Nor would the agreement extend to post-election power sharing. If the
Liberals were in a position to form a minority government, they would
be free to seek support from any of the other parties – including the
Conservatives.
The only post-election condition in the agreement should be an
unqualified public commitment to holding a national referendum on
proportional representation within the first year.
The commitment would include the provision of sufficient public
funding to ensure in-depth discussion and widespread knowledge of the
arguments both for and against the proposed change.
Proportional representation would produce a much fairer allocation of
seats than our current first-past-the-post system and boost voter
turnout and political engagement by making every vote count.
Many New Democrats might wish to make the immediate introduction of
proportional representation a condition of the ceasefire agreement,
since a referendum might not produce the desired result.
However, such an approach would enable the Prime Minister to make
proportional representation the principal issue in the campaign,
instead of his record and the alternative policies offered by the
other parties.
A ceasefire agreement would likely be opposed by some insiders, in
both parties, who benefit from the existing system. It would certainly
inconvenience some candidates who have already been nominated, and
would have to stand down. Most, however, would probably accept that
larger, more important interests are in play.
The ceasefire agreement, once struck, could be expanded to include the
Green party, which has always sought proportional representation and
would benefit substantially from it.
The Greens obtained nearly 1 million votes (6.8 per cent) but no
parliamentary representation in the last election. They finished
second in five races, though the party's only realistic chance of
winning a seat in the next election is in the B.C. riding of Saanich-
Gulf Islands, where Elizabeth May is running and the Liberal finished
second to the Conservative last time.
An arrangement could be made to rectify this lack of representation by
giving all five second-place Greens a clear run in the next election,
with May having that opportunity in her new riding – in return for the
Green party withdrawing its candidates from every other race.
The chances of the Liberals forming government appear to have slipped
away. The future of the country is in the balance. Whether we like it
or not, the parties of the progressive centre have reached a decision
point.
Will we let an outdated electoral system deliver a majority
Conservative government on the basis of the preferences of less than
40 per cent of voters – and less than 25 per cent of those Canadians
who are eligible to vote?
Or will we seize the moment, pull together, and put the country back
on course?
Michael Byers lives on Salt Spring Island and teaches political
science at UBC. In October 2008, he ran for the New Democrats in
Vancouver Centre.
Canuck57
> Liberals and New Democrats together could unseat Harper
Dreaming on?
In technical point they probably could, but NDP bribing the Bloc and
joining with the Liberals backfired last year. It turned many a Liberal
into Conservatives as the stench of a Liberal plus Boc and NDP was too
much to take.
More likely an election. Iggy's gradieur ego of being PM, heck a USA
Harvard, USA is his country by his own words, Two tounged Chretien has
bad mouthed USA so much it even leaves Liberals dismayed. Obama, Iggy's
Harvard buddy would likely make the PMs office a puppet of DC more so
than it already is.
Laytoon, he is the parliamentry jestor. Can't take such a jackass like
him seriously. Especially offer the Bloc a billion of taxpayers money
for votes.
So Harpo, while he is a liar, is still the best choice. But I prefer to
vote for none of these poor excuses for representation.
It has been long enough the GG can make this an election if they try.
If Harpo was a good chess player, and I suspect he isn't, now is a good
time to push forward with some good old fashioned conservatism. Lower
spending, lower taxes and get big fat bloated government into shape.
I hope the fring parties like Rhino run, I like to vote for people who
will not lie and shaft me.