COALITION?
Liberals, NDP differ
NDP leader Tom Mulcair is happy to keep it in the headlines. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau treats it like the plague. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is ready to pounce on it. The issue? A potential LiberalNDP coalition government.
QThis was a big deal after the 2008 federal election, wasn’t it? Why?
AWithin weeks of an election, Stephane Dion’s Liberals and Jack Layton’s New Democrats negotiated a deal to topple the minority Conservatives and form a coalition government, with both parties at the cabinet table. The Bloc Quebecois promised it would support the coalition with votes in the Commons, but would not be part of the government. Dion and Layton planned to ask then- Governor General Michaelle Jean to skip calling another election and give them a chance to govern, but Stephen Harper got to her first. He convinced Jean to prorogue Parliament so he wouldn’t be defeated. The coalition deal fell apart; Harper survived.
QWhy did the issue resurface in 2011?
AIn an election campaign, Harper told voters he needed a majority because, if not, the Liberals, NDP and Bloc would quickly get into power with a coalition as they had tried to in 2008. There was no such plan by the three opposition parties, but Harper made “coalition” his clarion call at every stop on the hustings. He won a majority.
QWhy is it back in the news now?
AMulcair is keeping the story alive, making it clear to the media this week that he’s open to striking a deal with Trudeau after the next election, which is slated for Oct. 19. Mulcair says that whenever he “opens the door” publicly to the idea, Trudeau “slams it shut.”
“My first priority is to get rid of Stephen Harper. The first priority of Justin Trudeau is Justin Trudeau,” the NDP leader says.
QHas Mulcair always favoured a coalition?
AHe did in 2008. But by 2012, when he was running for the NDP leadership, he had changed his mind and spoke categorically against pursuing one again. “The no is categorical, absolute, irrefutable and non-negotiable. It’s no. End of story. Full stop.”
QHas Trudeau always been against a coalition?
AHis position also has changed. He was among the Liberal MPs who was onside with Dion in 2008 when the Liberals were talking coalition with Layton. But now, as leader, Trudeau won’t countenance the possibility.
QWhat would it take for a coalition to happen?
AFor starters, Mulcair and Trudeau would need to find a way to start communicating. The NDP has had little time for Trudeau, and bristles at the media attention he receives.
QWhat might happen this year?
AIf Harper wins a minority government, the Liberals and NDP will come under pressure from party grassroots to defeat him in Parliament. If they do that, they would need to convince Gov. Gen. David Johnston (whose term has now been extended to 2017) that he should not call another election. At the very least, Johnston would likely need to be convinced one of the two opposition parties could form government and command the “confidence” of a majority of MPs in the Commons.
That could mean a formal coalition, or, if Trudeau has his way, a more informal arrangement in which the Liberals govern in a minority Parliament with the support of the NDP.
QWhat would Canadians think?
AThat’s the question Harper will be asking himself. He was able to effectively portray the 2008 deal as an undemocratic plot involving Quebec separatists, and he successfully revived those fears in 2011.