I'm rating this 1 star because the event didn't actually happen.  Apparently the representative of the Queen of England(!?) put a stop to any further parliamentary voting in 2008.

DAMN IT!!

Although I do have some working knowledge of Canadian politics, I will defer to the Canadians in the crowd.  I post to show my continued fascination about a political system that has several major political parties and also uses the plurality election single member districts or as some would call it, "the first past the post electoral system."

I have mentioned before my conclusion that Canada needs a political realignment so that a left and a right party may emerge.  I drew a bunch of "funnies" on that comment, but I stand by it.

With the continued disaffection of a large chunk of Canadian voters into the separatist Francophone party, Canada will continue to have unstable governments punctuated by Diefenbaker or Trudeau or Mulroney landslides where Parliament acquires a church atmosphere due to the lack of any opposition at all.

  I'm not going to argue with two other Canadians here with more political experiences than me and they know exactly where I stand on this matter. Saying that the conservative minority government must mean the majority favors the non-conservative government may be cloes to being legit, but that does not mean anywhere close to favoring a coalition goverment co-held by another party that majorty of the Canadians did not vote for. If Stephen Harper loses the confidence of the Common and the coalition party is to go through without another election, this only promises the Canadians no future faith and trust in the following elections to choose their own leaders. What would then the elections mean from now on? People would still go to the poll hoping who they vote for will hopefully stay elected, and fear for whichever parties that aren't elected to band together to overthrow the power that is entitled to the voters. The NDP and Liberals weren't on this together during the elections and now we should trust the 2 of them, with the aid of the separatist Bloc to bring us a more peaceful parliament? Are we really that naive to not see through this as the biggest fraud in the Canadian history?

Also, the attack on the lack of financial plan during this difficult time does not mean the coalition party have better plans, let along whatever they are going to propose will actually work or possibly make us sink even further. Grab the power, then it's too late for anyone to overthrow them, that's really convenient isn't it. A economic recession is not a simple matter and some people can be so easily fooled by the politicians thinking it's a lack of commitment that is responsible for not turning it around in 2 months, wow, 2 months, did we get that right, overcoming a recession in 2 months. I guess there's nothing to be feared of and we should expect the coalition government to have it all figured out in 2 months. As much as I'm just sad being a Canadian right now, it will be a good show for the rest of the world so stay tuned.

 Oh and by the way, here is the very first link I have ever posted on RIA. It won't do a God damn thing but voices need to be heard for such an act of absurdity. Say no to the abuse of a system that is put in place of democracy.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?C ANADIAN&1

This is a fascinating story, both from a historical and political perspective.  Minority governments are nothing particularly unusual in Canadian politics, but in most cases the governing party seeks some accords with the opposition parties to retain power, quite often resulting in some excellent policies.

In this case the Conservatives, who won an election back in October decided to play hardball, apparently feeling that with the Liberals in disarray, and in the process of replacing their leader, and the NDP and Bloc with empty election coffers, none of them would try to force an election.  As a result they announced a series of very unpopular measures, including an attack on the civil service, and a measure that would dramatically reduce funding to the Liberals and the Bloc.  It has proved to be an epic miscalculation.  In a move that is virtually unprecedented in Canadian politics, the Liberals and NDP have reached an accord to form a true coalition government, with representatives of both parties holding cabinet posts.  In this move, they are supported by the Bloc, which has agreed to support the coalition until June of 2010.  A motion of non-confidence has been tabled in the House, and will almost certainly succeed, defeating the Conservatives.  This will allow the Liberal-NDP alliance to request the Governor General to allow them to form a viable government.

The Conservatives are desperate to prevent the defeat, and have withdrawn all the the offensive elements of their proposed legislation, have announced some measures in the 2009 budget that are based on NDP and Liberal policies, and have launched a full court press media blitz, but the opposition smells blood and isn't backing down.  There is now talk by the Conservatives that they will prorogue the House, effectively suspending debate or any possible vote until some time in the new year.  Whatever happens here, the damage to Conservative Prime Minister Steven Harper is immense.  He has made his career on the basis of being a brilliant political tactician, but no prime minister in 80 years has miscalculated so badly.  There are already those in Conservative party ranks who are whispering about a time for a change at the top.  If the government does fall, they won't be whispers any longer.

Seven weeks after a national election that resulted in four parties with representation in the House of Commons and no single party possessing a majority mandate, the opposition has announced that they have come to terms on an arrangement that would see the Liberals and NDP formally form a coalition with the support of the Bloc Quebecois. The coalition has tabled a motion of non-confidence and could defeat the governing Conservative Party. They would then request of the Governor General the right to form the government. While a common practice in parliamentary democracy, it is a path that has rarely been taken in Canada. Supporters of the Conservative government are claiming that it amounts to a coup d'etat of a popularly elected government. The opposition notes that the government was elected with a minority requiring them to govern with the cooperation of the opposition, a course the government had clearly indicated they would not follow. The media has whipped the situation up into crisis, however the opposition is well within the framework of the rules of the constitution. The situation is a step in the process of reconfiguring how the Canadian confederation will work in an increasingly regionalized power system with essentially a western party, the Conservatives, an Ontario party, the Liberals, a Quebec party, the Bloc, and the NDP holding sway in pockets around the country. As of today, it is an interesting game of high stakes brinksmanship.