What if?

June 15, 2015

Canadian Electoral Alliance sent a letter to all Liberal, NDP and Green Party MPs on possible coalition minortiy government:

Dear MPs,

What If?

If the current government gets the majority of seats in the next federal election (probably with less than 40% of the popular vote), Canadians will be in for more of the same. You will then be hearing from us about the need for an electoral alliance and proportional representation to end their dominance.

But what if no party gets a majority of seats?

 

The incumbent party, by convention, would have the first crack at forming a minority government. If this happens, we want the opposition parties to announce their intention to defeat it at the earliest possible time, and their willingness to form a government, whether by accord (as was done in Ontario in 1985) or a coalition (that is, with both parties in Cabinet). Canadians would want to see quick, decisive action to form a viable government based on the vote, and would certainly want to avoid another election.

 

What could a minority government (accord or coalition) do?

 

Item No. 1 must be a serious commitment to a climate action plan to take to the COP21 meetings in Paris opening 1 December 2015.

 

Item No. 2 should be proportional representation, the every-vote-counts-equally system, that ends up with seats in the House of Commons reflecting popular vote, and such other benefits as better representation of women and minorities, greater satisfaction with the democratic system, a higher (admittedly, not much) voter turn-out, more efficient energy use and stronger environmental protection.

 

We realize that parties and their leaders do not want to appear to concede that they do not expect to win, and thus insist that no coalition is necessary.

 

Many Canadians, however, have had enough of the under-40% government that rules as if it had 90%. We want to see a fresh, serious start on climate change and a reversal of many of the laws and regulations brought in by the current government: more prisons, longer sentences, reduced environmental protection, tax advantages for the wealthiest, tar sands and pipeline promotion, arms deals, dubious troop commitments, increased civilian surveillance, retroactive laws and on to loss of the long-form census and cancellation of a national day care plan. 

Enough is enough! We ask you all to think of a better way forward, to put personal differences aside in the name of the good of the planet, and the good of our country.  

Yours Sincerely,

Canadian Electoral Alliance