Any Canadian who doesn’t habitually follow political news might be forgiven for thinking that the only problem Canada faces is a nuance of parliamentary procedure. After all, that seemed to be the message of the first few days of this federal election campaign.
Coalition talk dominated the headlines, as Conservative Leader Stephen Harper accused his opponents of plotting to get together and form a government. Even after Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff pledged that he would not form a coalition after the election, Harper continues to refer to the NDP and Bloc Quebecois as Ignatieff’s “coalition partners.”
Never mind that Canada’s own colonial motherland of Britain currently has a coalition government. Never mind that a coalition could theoretically represent more Canadians than a minority government and that parties working together might be exactly what this country needs after several years of political antagonism. Never mind that a recent poll by Ipsos Reid suggested 54 per cent of Canadians would prefer a Liberal-NDP coalition to a Harper majority. To hear some politicians talk about it, a coalition is the single biggest threat to Canadian democracy. But it isn’t, and all this coalition talk is distracting at best.
A debate about the structures and procedures of government can be acceptable and productive, but this argument has detracted from the real issues of the campaign. Instead of discussing whose policies and vision are the best, Tories have cried “illegitimate” and shouted about separatists – and the media have played along.
The current British coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats was not formally planned or announced before or during the election. Coalitions are, by definition, created after an election. One cannot vote for a coalition. They are common in other parliamentary democracies, such as Germany. Framing the election as a battle between a Harper majority and a coalition obscures the real issues.
Canada faces significant challenges that aren’t being discussed. The deficit last year was a record $55.6 billion. An economic recovery will improve that number, but whoever wins the election will still have to tackle the looming problems of an aging population and Canada’s future in a knowledge economy. Canadian troops are still on the ground in Afghanistan, and there is potential for another quagmire in Libya. Canada still lacks a real plan to deal with the threat of climate change.
But instead of approaching these weighty issues, the “coalition threat” became, at least for the first few days of the campaign, the major issue. Instead of letting the voters decide on the basis of policies and candidate records, this rhetoric takes for granted that the results have been predetermined: a Conservative minority. Yet even now, as parties roll out their policy platforms, the idea of a coalition creeps back into the language, and hence, the media coverage of the campaign.
It’s a “what if” scenario, rendered moot by Ignatieff’s promise not to form a coalition. Of course, politicians do break promises now and then, but all the commentary on the issue won’t give the press or Harper the power to read minds. It’s time to talk about Canada’s real challenges, not a hypothetical coalition.