Harper and Coalitions .....

I had this U2 lyric from Acrobat last night when Prime Minister Harper made his 5 o'clock address letting Canadians know how 'wrong' a coalition government is: Don't believe what you hear; don't believe what you see.

Why? As you can see in this interview with Stephen Harper from 2004 he clearly is being dishonest with the Canadian people. This interview was given after he and the other opposition party leaders had wrote a letter to the GG stating:

As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the Prime Minister to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government’s program. We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority. Your attention to this matter is appreciated

.

So, people, please don't believe what the man is floating now - that a coalition is somehow unconstitutional. I'm sure the Cons are going to be working their money overtime this week trying to convince you otherwise, but the fact is we live in a country with a parliamentary system that affords for this possibility. And, as Mr. Harper said himself in 2004:

Harper: There seems to be an attitude in the Liberal government - that they can go in, be deliberately defeated and call an election - that's not how our constitutional system works. The government has a minority - it has an obligation to demonstrate to Canadians that it can govern. That it can form a majority in the House of Commons. If it can't form a majority, we look at other options, we don't just concede to the government's request to make it dysfunctional. I know for a fact that Mr. Duceppe and Mr. Layton and the people who work for them want this Parliament to work and I know if is in all of our interests to work. The government has got to face the fact it has a minority, it has to work with other people.

Yes, Mr. Harper, and the government also doesn't have the right to force it's agenda down the throats of Canadians with old school petty partisan brinkmanship actions without consequence.

I encourage you to think for yourself when you're inundated with propaganda over this as the next week of politics around this unfolds....

It's also interesting to look at how coalition governments and cabinets have worked across the world, as the National reminded me last night Switzerland has been governed by a loose coalition since 1959! You can start with good ole wikipedia here.