PSR’s Friday 6 o’clock News Report Moved To Sat, Mar 26

In 2011 with less than 40% of the vote, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives formed a majority government and stayed in power for four years. There was nothing the opposition could do to stop whatever the Conservatives felt was needed to be done. Was that a dictatorship in the making. An election was called 4 years later.

In 2015, with a similar just under 40% of the popular vote, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals formed a majority government and the opposition again had no way to stop whatever it was that the Liberal government wanted to do. Was that a dictatorship in the making? Didn’t an election occur four years later?

In 2019, the Liberals formed a minority government but called an election within two years that a lot of people criticized for being unnecessary. And, it was unnecessary when the Liberals won another minority government with virtually the same seat count for all parties.

Now, to have some kind of stability, the NDP and the Liberals have come to a formal arrangement that in return for some things that the NDP want, the NDP will not vote in favour of any non confidence vote. This type of arrangement is not illegal nor undemocratic. In fact, nearly every European government has some form of coalition. The difference in Canada? Neither Singh nor any member of the NDP is in the cabinet. The NDP can still vote against any bill that they don’t like unless it is a confidence vote like the throne speech or a budget.

Now we have a government/arrangement with two parties representing around 50% of Canadian voters instead of one party representing less than 1/3. Dictatorship? Hardly.

And while not exactly the same, I wonder what backroom deals were promised to the former Progressive Conservatives when they joined with the Alliance to form the CPC and stop the vote split on the right. What was promised to the Gordon Wilson type Liberals when the more Conservative Gordon Campbell took over the Liberal party and ran as a coalition type party with a more right wing agenda.

Arrangements happen. In this case it is very transparent. An election will be called in three years. The NDP and the Liberals will be held to account. Hardly a dictatorship in the making.

The MSM has run plenty of stories explaining and questioning the arrangement. They have run plenty of stories giving the Conservatives and the BLOC a chance to criticize it. Reading the MSM you will get enough information to reach your own conclusion. That is how good journalism works. Having one guy scream DICTATORSHIP isn’t providing the same balance.