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So here’s the short of it. We have a parliamentary system with a minority Conservative government that’s been in power for the last 6 weeks and that has been acting like a bunch of jerks. As a result, the other three parties have sat down to the table and have decided that the Liberals and NDP will create a coalition that has support from the Parti Quebecois.

If you want more details about it all, there’s an awesome write-up that includes Reddit quotes over at Chycho.com.

Public opinion at this point is very mixed. There’s a huge amount of support for getting rid of Harper, but many don’t feel very comfortable with Staphane Dion who would wind up as our new PM. The Liberals actually did quite poorly in the last election, largely due to his timid nature.

Personally, I think this is a wonderful thing. The first thing the Conservatives came out with was that this was “undemocratic”. Undemocratic, unpatriotic, unAmerican (uhh I mean unCanadian). I think we’ve heard this right wing song and dance before. A coalition government is actually one of the most democratic concepts out there. This coalition would actually represent far more Canadians than the Conservatives would. So many that you would actually call it a majority of Canadians. Imagine that, a government that represents the majority of the voters. Ridiculously undemocratic by Conservative standards.

Here’s what it boils down to for those who don’t like Harper but aren’t fans of Dion. While you may feel that you should have your say as to who is Prime Minister, in a parliamentary system, you actually have no say whatsoever in who becomes Prime Minister. Traditionally, parties have kept their leaders in place while they were in charge, so people have become accustomed to the idea that they are voting for both representation and the PM, but that’s a complete and total myth. If Harper were to resign tomorrow for unspecified reasons, the Conservatives get to pick who becomes Prime Minister, not the voters. That’s just the reality of the system we work with. I know most people don’t like that idea, but unless you want to get into a US style mess of a system, you ‘re going to have to deal with the realities of our system.

For those of you out there who think this all sounds insane and crazy, well it is. But it’s fun too and I have to say that this is the first time since the Conservatives took office that we’ve seen real cooperation in our government. Just to add in to the craziness, the Governor General may actually play a huge role in all of this. This post is an archaic relic from British Rule that traditionally stands largely as a figurehead. If she ends up playing a big role, that will get really, really interesting.

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