Minority governments can be a good thing

In Canada, most political parties prefer a majority government. That way, the governing party can introduce legislation and not have to answer to or compromise for the opposition parties, except in the press. They can just push it through, and damn the torpedos.

Of course, the opposition parties currently take their title pretty seriously. It seems that whether a piece of legislation is good or bad or needs a little adjustment is irrelevant. Once a piece of legislation is introduced, then they look for how they can score 'points' with the voters. No piece of legislation is perfect, and most legislation requires a considered balance and trade-off between important objectives. Instead, they focus on bashing.

Minority government can provide some of the best quality governance possible. The key is cooperation, respect and communication between the members of parliament and their parties to agree to forge our country together, as a group. Not as the government, not as a united opposition, not as Canada's "new" government, but rather as the collective representatives of Canada's one and only government.

Unfortunately, we are not likely to get that kind of cooperation in the 39th parliament. Here is a simple example. Only a couple of months ago, the air was rife with election rumours. Why? Well, the Conservatives were up in the polls after their cowardly bashing of Dion, and they thought they could win a majority in the next election. That support evapourated in a hurry (as it should). But now, who will trigger the election? All of the parties are down in the polls compared to the 2006 election, and the Greens are up, up, up. So, with nothing to gain and everthing to lose, the opposition must play a game of pretending to oppose, hoping against hope that Canadians do not return to the polls until their numbers are up.

I wonder what quality of legislation will come from this standoff? I don't hold much hope.