Form coalition to stop Tories

Re Aftermath of 2008 election offers lessons for 2015 vote, Opinion Feb. 9 I disagree with Prof. Nelson Wiseman’s reliance on Gov. Gen. David Johnston to withstand the bullying tactics Stephen Harper displayed in 2008. Michaëlle Jean was completely cowed by Harper, and I still blame her for failing to recognize that a coalition government is absolutely legitimate, notwithstanding Harper’s blatant lies and obfuscation on the matter.

To place the future of our country in the hands of a single person’s ability to resist the likes of Harper is wrong. We know that Harper’s overflowing election war chest will allow him to release a barrage of lies and innuendo against both Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair, and this could well result in a minority government for Harper, if not a first-past-the-post “majority.”

To prevent this, the more than 60 per cent of voters for whom the Harper regime is anathema must demand that the Liberals, NDP and Greens present a coalition to the electorate prior to the election.

The NDP’s Nathan Cullen and Liberal Joyce Murray each came second in their respective leadership race, and both have expressed support for a pre-election coalition, as has Elizabeth May, Green Party leader. It is past time for them to talk.

Maggie Laidlaw, Guelph, Ont. Nelson Wiseman is right in alerting us to the likelihood that no party may win a majority in the next federal election. That has happened in roughly half of the elections over the last 100 years.

Under those circumstances, it is important to note that no party has “won” the election and that the party with the most seats has no advantage. The key question becomes: Which party or group of parties can secure the support of a majority of MPs in the House of Commons and thus have the right to form a government?

Joseph Wearing, professor emeritus, Trent University