Bruce Strachan
Right Side Up
To coalesce or not to coalesce, that is the question. And in the current Canadian political context it's presenting an intriguing discussion. The setting for this dilemma though is not the Shakespearean stage; rather it's the political backrooms of Ottawa. At issue, should the Liberals and the NDP form a coalition and go on to defeat the hated Stephen Harper Conservatives?
The coalition question has been tossed around our nation's capital for years. This latest resurrection appeared a few weeks ago and like all good theatre - political or Shakespearean - it comes complete with a revenge plot, political desire, a couple of ghosts, the odd clown and a message.
Former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien was the first old ghost to suggest a Liberal/NDP merger. Arguing for the political union, Chretien said, "If it's do-able, let's do it."
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, in a fit of true-Grit huff and puff, countered Chretien's musings saying, "We had some discussions of this ridiculous discussion of fusion of the two parties.
"No one has any authorization to even discuss this matter. It's ridiculous. I am a Liberal. I am proud to be a Liberal. The people around me are Liberals. We are going to form a Liberal government."
Then it was time to send in the clowns as long-serving Liberal advisor and Chretien strategist Warren Kinsella said, "Serious people are involved in discussions at a serious level."
This was followed by the recent admission of Liberal Party president Alfred Apps who said, "Liberals should have rejected the will of Canadians and formed an undemocratic coalition with the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP immediately after the 2008 election."
Finally, last week one more old and greying ghost arrived on the coalition stage in the presence of former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow - a New Democrat - who urged the leaders of the Liberal Party and the NDP to have the courage to engage in closer co-operation.
All of which leads us to the central set of questions, such as would an NDP/Liberal coalition work? Could a centre/left party emerge and form a majority government? And finally, would this red realignment result in better governance for Canadians?
To all of the above I'd say no. First, the numbers aren't there. Currently the combined House of Commons count for the Liberals and the NDP is 113 seats. The Conservatives hold 144. Recent polls show those numbers holding if an election were held in the near term. However, that same polling cannot take into account how the Canadian electorate would accept a one-party Liberal/NDP alliance.
For example, it could be successfully argued that a good number of New Democrats would abandon ship and vote Green, or stay home if their current comfortable political home moved to the right.
The same observation could be made about centre-right fiscally conservative Liberals who would find Stephen Harper more to their liking than a centre-left coalition.
Second, it's doubtful the new coalition could represent the wonderfully diverse political mosaic that makes up Canada. Although it's cumbersome, our current four-party House of Commons (with two independents) certainly reflects a huge cross-section of political leanings and philosophies. And why not, Canada is a huge country.
Why would we support a movement narrowing our political options? Indeed, as I write this, the NDP has just announced it will pull out of an arrangement allowing MPs to see secret Afghan detainee records.
Now this may be just another loopy left-wing leap to the margins, or it may be a truly brilliant strategy designed to energize and enlarge debate on the Afghan detainee issue.
At this juncture, we don't know. But, right or wrong, the dissident NDP opinion adds a welcome dimension to our Canadian political landscape.
If the Liberals and the NDP are truly in search of more House of Commons influence then those parties have to develop policies that attract Canadian voters. Stephen Harper has staked out the fiscal-responsibility turf and in this current era of international economic nervousness, that's a good place to be.
So what's left? What are the Conservatives missing? What do Canadians want and what will they support at the polls? Environmental policy, social issues, defence spending, education? We won't know until that policy is presented.
But there is one thing we do know; a political coalition that diminishes the scope and latitude of substantive debate will not provide the answer.
