On ensuring an unelected official does not decide the fate of our country

Also available on the Calgary Herald's Q.

The Governor General is a figurehead position, it has been for many years. It is unfair to ask an unelected official to decide the fate of our country.

Therefore there is only one option Michaelle Jean has before her: do whatever the Prime Minister asks of her. Assuming the PM enjoys the confidence of the House, he represents the will of 308 elected officials. This is the precedent and is exceedingly fair.

However it is also the reason Stephen Harper cannot ask her to prorogue Parliament.

To ask her to do so would be to ask an unelected official to decide the fate of our country. To do this would be near political suicide. It would be considered by many, myself included, as cowardly and undemocratic. The House of Commons is the governing body and they alone should be the ones to decide the future of Canada. Its members are our representatives. This is what we sent them to Ottawa to do.

In my eyes this leaves Stephen Harper with only three options. He can only present one to the Governor General, and she should agree to whichever one he proposes regardless of her own personal opinion.

1. Work with the opposition MPs to avoid defeat on Monday’s non-confidence motion – This is obviously my favourite option as it means Parliament returns to civility and we can get back to the job of governing and fixing the current economy situation we are in. It is however the hardest option of the three to undertake because it requires patience and quick work.
   
   If they go this route the Conservatives only have until Monday to strike a deal on the economy with the Liberals or the NDP. Or the Bloq. All you need is the support of one of those parties and we can get back to business as usual. Harper has already shown he is willing to back down on the majority of items proposed in the offending Fiscal Update – the Coalition should show they are willing to do the same. It is time to make at least one more concession to one other party. This is democracy in action. After Monday’s vote, you will have officially failed or succeeded at being a minority government. And you would only have two options left to choose from if you prove to be a failure.
   
   Proroguing is an extension of this option but one that you have asked an unelected official to grant you extra time to undertake the task. Instead, go ask an opposition leader and get more time democratically by gaining the confidence of the House of Commons, and Canadians.
   
   
2. Call an election – There is no shame in this if you can’t work with other parties. Let Canadians decide if we agree with you or the opposition. If we agree with you then you will probably get a majority. If not, you’ll become the opposition and the party we think can do the best job governing will be given a chance. Or you may be given a message that we don’t trust anyone fully and we are happy with a minority government so quit your bitchin’ and get back to work.
   
   Of course one could argue that this is what we just did on Oct. 14, but sometimes people need to be told twice.
   
   If you don’t like the option of facing the electorate once more that leaves you with only one last option.
   
   
3. Step aside and let the Coalition give it a try – If you think the first option is going to hurt the Tories pride this one will really sting. But it isn’t such a bad option. They will have a minority and with the support of the Bloq you could bring them down anytime you like. When the Conservatives of course will be in a much better position to win an election with a majority.

The morale of the story is there are still options available to the Government that don’t result in an unelected official deciding the fate of our country. We should expect the rest of the House of Commons to respect any decision the Prime Minister makes so we can avoid that; just as we would expect him to obey the will of the House if they decide this Parliament will not continue.

Of course there is that fourth looming option: prorogue. Suspending Parliament only to avoid a confidence motion is something I think most Canadians can agree is ridiculous for the reason I outlined above, hence why I’ve ruled it out altogether. But prevailing thought is this is what the Prime Minister will announce he is going to ask the Governor General to do. If he really does go down this road, I’d like to think she kicks him out of her office and says, “Get back to work and stop running away from your problems.” Although as an unelected official I don’t think she can do much more than agree to whatever he asks.

So if a suspension is what he asks for, and what he gets, the Prime Minister certainly will have lost my confidence forever for putting the future of our country in the hands of someone other than Parliament.

If I Did It (on purpose): Confessions of Ed Stelmach

Note: This post is my first cross-post with the Calgary Herald's Q. I'll be posting there ever so often from here on in. (So big thanks the the Herald for having me join their online team.)

Election-mania blew through Alberta on Monday night like a hurricane hell-bent on providing the change we’ve been standing from the roof tops shouting for. Okay, judging by the voter turnout it was more like a really small dirt devil on an abandoned baseball diamond that more or less thought about bringing the change a select few bloggers bitched about online. I guess what I’m trying to say is: just like has happened with the US presidential election, the pundits got it WAY wrong.

Some of these so called “experts” may have predicted as many as 60 seats for Ed Stelmach’s Progressive Conservatives, but I heard no one predict more than 70 would be their headcount for the next four years. That is a staggering endorsement for the status quo when ALL of the build-up to the election revolved around “change”.

Congratulations have go to Ed Stelmach for proving he really is the heir to King Ralph’s everyman crown. Writers and political scientists alike called him “bumbling”, pointing out he “struggles with his command of the English language”, and even went as far as to say he often “sounds like Woody Allen trying to make a quick decision”. (These all may, or may not be things I’ve said about the Premier in the past month. Although more likely, and truthfully, they’re the former.) None-the-less voters delivered a strong statement saying ‘c’mon give the guy a chance’. (Yup, that’s as strong a statement as we Albertans ever deliver with our ballots.) Whether they feel bad for how he has been treated by the media or just saw through it all to see he was just an honest guy doing his best is a moot point. What really matters is ‘Steady Eddie’ got the mandate he wanted from the people of Alberta.

But what does that say about us as Albertans? The fact we don’t care about your credentials; we care about what your actions.

Did Ed and his team really see this train leaving the station back when he was sworn in as premier? Is that why they decided to govern for 15 months without a mandate from the citizens? Were they really that shrewd that they knew they had to show voters what they could do before requesting judgement? Probably, yes. And that, I think is the real reason the PCs came out on top last night. Ralph Klein admitted he had no plan anymore and was just phoning it in, and in 2004 voters appeared leery. Ed had to be the opposite of Ralph on that point and needed to show potential voters he could fix the province.

Good on him for realizing this so quickly. That’s not bad for Alberta’s second premier in a row to not even have a university degree.

Now let’s all hope he keeps on the same pace and continues to fix the problems Albertans know we have. Now’s not the time to reflect on a job well done. After all, Ed, you did run on a platform of “change that works for Albertans”. We’re all watching, so get to work on giving us that change we’ve asked for.

30 Second Summary of the Alberta Election Thus Far

As we find ourselves passing the half-way point of the provincial election you have no doubt noticed I have pretty much been entirely silent during thus far. While I could blame my seemingly abandoned blog on the fact I was in Asia for the first third of the writ period, or the fact I’m still mad Premier Stelmach hasn’t apologised for calling an election while I was out of the country, or that I’m in the middle of packing for our upcoming move, I won’t. No, I won’t. Instead I blame it almost entirely on the fact there has been little if anything worth talking about. (That and I’m lazy.)

In that spirit I offer you here, my thirty second summary of what’s happened up to this point in the election:

• Ed Stelmach sounds like Woody Allen trying to make a quick decision each and every time he speaks. This is frustrating the majority of PC voters, members and candidates.
• Kevin Taft can make all the policy announcements he likes but people still aren’t saying they will vote for him or his party.
• Brian Mason and the NDP are struggling to be remembered.
• People have no idea who George Read is but a small number of Albertans will vote for the Green Party anyway.
• The Wildrose Alliance have yet to earn any of my allotted 30 seconds.

There you go. What else do you need to know? Did I really need to be blogging daily to give you more details? If you want more details however, I am back and will begin weighing in again. In my absence I give kudos to the following blogs for doing a great job keeping everyone informed.

From the right: Alberta Tory, Ken Chapman

Somewhere in the middle with me: The Enlightened Savage

From the left: Calgary Grit, Daveberta

Some newbies: Alberta: Get Rich or Die Trying, Four Strong Winds

General coverage: Alberta Election 2008

If you know of other blogs that are doing a great job covering the election please feel free to post them below for everyone to visit.