Why Minority Governments Are Representative of Democracy In Action

Minority governments should be the way to go.

Of course, there are some folks out there who live in a little bubble of ‘my way or the highway’ and who refuse to accept that they are being hired by us to negotiate what’s best for all of us.

That’s the thing: ALL of us have to negotiate something at any given moment during the hours and days of our lives. Choices have to be made, but more importantly, some of those choices are the result of discussions, negotiations and practical conclusions reached by cooperating with others.

It’s life.

Our democratic institutions should do a better job of reflecting this.

However, Andrew Scheer, not knowing how Parliament works (ie. you have to actually organize a majority of seats in order to guide the direction of the House of Commons) has proposed that a minority government would be the worst kind of suffering that Canadians would have to endure.

No, quite the contrary Andrew. I think Justin, Jagmeet, Elizabeth and maybe even a few of your henchmen would be able to survive congenial discussions about how to run our country.

And the jaws of Hell won’t open up and consume us for a thousand years.

In fact, I propose that as part of electoral reform, representatives would NOT be able to keep shutting down government in a hissy fit of tantrums every time they disagree with each other.

Chrystia Freeland didn’t get to walk away from Trump. She had to negotiate, along with a team of professionals, to ensure that we got the best deal possible under dire circumstances. And Stephen Harper actively trying to sabotage the deal.

There you have it: when we elect governments, they can’t request an election until 4 years out. If nothing gets done, hire an arbitrator. If they still can’t do anything, so be it.

I’d sooner have a constipated government than Conservatives running loose with every piece of legislation designed to protect our human rights, economy and dignity.