From TheTyee.ca – May 1, 2011

by Rafe Mair

I write this on Saturday with less than two days to go
before we vote. As might be expected from a paper whose editorial chief
is a fellow of the Fraser Institute, the ill-named Vancouver Sun wants a Tory majority. So does the Globe and Mail, and I can hardly wait to see the Province’s opinion. I will not be taking their advice.

Elections ought to be about issues (a bit
of profundity for you!) and not about political parties. One blog I read
urges us not to vote “strategically” but stay loyal to our party so as
to prevent an extension of the calamities of a minority government.

Let’s deal with that for a bit. What’s so
bad about minority governments? Most western countries have them and
they seem to be doing OK.

The main argument is that “nothing gets done” and that Parliament is full of catcalling and rude jibes. 

Let me pose this proposition — Thank God
Harper has been confined to leader of a minority government! Can you
imagine what the bastards would have done had they been able to do as
they pleased?

Minority retorts

The noisy lack of discipline in the Commons
shouldn’t bother us because it’s better to do it there with words
rather than with sticks and stones on the street. For the most part,
this sort of behaviour speaks to the frustration of MPs who, because of
our first-past-the-post system, have virtually nothing to do with how
the country is run.

Imagine yourself an MP in Opposition and the majority brings in a
budget that you see as evil. Of course your side has the rules laying
out privileges of “debate,” meaning a few in your party will be allowed
to bitch loud and clear in a fight against the preordained government
victory. The same applies to legislation. Your side has a limited power
to rail against it and when that time’s up, the government votes the
bill into law.

Suppose you’re an MP and the same bad
buggers are in office but as the minority. The finance minister can no
longer say, if just under his breath, “Like it or lump it.” You and all
other MPs suddenly have the whip hand. No longer can a minister bring in
legislation on the “like it or lump it” basis.

Now there are practical limitations on the
power of the minority to stop or at least slow down the government — no
party wants a sudden untimely election on fiscal grounds if nothing
else. But this applies to the government too.

What does happen is consultation amongst
the parties. Surely that’s a very good thing, not evil as the tightly
owned, government-loving media would have us believe.

British Columbia has issues

Let’s talk about issues. For as long as I
can remember (a long time I must admit), the issues have been
healthcare, unemployment, social services, law and order and such
matters. Every election brings those to office who sound like they are
the ones to deal with these matters; they never do it, and the next
election is fought on the same grounds with the same speeches and the
same results.

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