Formation of the Next Government of Canada
| Author | Gregory Tardi |
| Pages | 585-618 |
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25
FOMATION F THE NEXT
GOVENMENT OF CANADA
MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
e leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May, expressed the view that
even with a mere plurality of seats, Prime Minister Trudeau should
attempt to form a new government.
MONDAY, JULY 22, 2019
Elizabeth May returned to the theme of the formation of a government
in an eventual minority situation. In response to ongoing polling results
trending toward a minority government, she put forward the position of
possibly backing a government of any composition that would agree to
back the Greens’ environmental program. While this may appear to be
a story primarily about political positioning, it has elements of consti-
tutional convention in relation to the determination of who is to form
government and with what degree of stability (see August , , below).
1 www.hungtonpost.ca/entry/elizabeth-may-green-party-election_ca_
5ce1badbe4b00735a9192979.
2 www.hungtonpost.ca/entry/elizabeth-may-minority-2019-election_ca_
5d35c1bbe4b0419fd33042bd; www.rabble.ca/news/2019/07/elizabeth-may-says-greens-
could-prop-conservative-government.
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ANATOMY F AN ELECTION
SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2019
In the lead-up to an election, it is customary for federal authorities to
conduct exercises to be able to do briefings for new governments of what-
ever political coloration. is is entirely legitimate; it reflects both the
conventional and customary political neutrality of the Public Service of
Canada and the ongoing need for policy reassessment. ere is media-
based evidence that this has been going on in anticipation of the present
campaign.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019
ere was a story in the media on this day about the seeming surge in
popularity of the Green Party. Read in isolation, this may have remained
a passing observation about the statistical outcome of current polling. It
needed to be read in context, however. At about the same time, there
was a story about the statistical evenness of support for the Liberal Party
and the Conservative Party. Only in this context does the story about
the Green Party take on serious amplitude in terms of constitutionalism.
In Canadian practice, especially at the federal level, the concept of
coalition government is not only little known, it was just about rendered
anathema in the aftermath of the general election, when Prime
Minister Harper foiled a Liberal-NDP attempt at coalescing, together
with the support of the Bloc Québécois. Yet, the prospect of a coalition
based on the support of the Greens for either the Liberal Party or the
Conservative Party is exactly the scenario one ought reasonably to con-
template from the polling results and the combination of media stories.
Nevertheless, no matter how keen observers might be to test the limits of
Canadian constitutional practice, this occurred at a time that was still
likely three weeks before the issue of the writs. e best course of action
was to continue observation.
3 www.nationalnewswatch.com/2019/07/27/behind-the-scenes-work-on-skills-policy-
detailed-in-election-tinged-documents.
4 www.cbc.ca/news/politics/greens-rise-occasions-attacks-1.5240860.
5 https://abacusdata.ca/dead-heat-in-national-support-as-the-federal-election-approaches.
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Formation of the Next Government of Canada
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019
As part of its pre-election activity, the Liberal Party publicized ParlVu
footage, that is the audio-visual equivalent of Hansard, from , in
which Andrew Scheer, then a first-term Conservative backbencher mem-
ber of Parliament, expressed his opposition to the Civil Marriage Bill,
that eventually became SC , c . In political terms, this meant that
Mr Scheer’s political instinct was opposed to same-sex marriage. e
publicity given this film footage could be related to the Liberal eort
to counteract Conservative attacks on the prime minister in the context
of the SCN-Lavalin scandal. Alternatively, it could be a way of discour-
aging support for Mr Scheer on the part of millenials. Several political
parties used the occasion to urge Mr Scheer to participate with them
in pride events. In the present context, what mattered was the various
political parties’ reaction to the revelation. e most direct such reac-
tion was on the part of the NDP. True to its stance favouring constant
extension of human rights, the NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, declared
promptly and likely without inter-party discussion that if the Conserv-
atives obtained a minority governing position as a result of the election,
the NDP would not uphold it. is further diminished the possible
options for coalition.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019
In the circumstances of a minority government, third parties are per-
ceived as junior partners, coalition material, or preventors of governing.
However, it would be foolish to ignore that in our regime of constitu-
tional conventions, junior partners have considerable leverage in build-
ing viable, that is, sustainable governments. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh
oered a reminder of this by stating publicly, in response to the
6 www.cbc.ca/news/politics/andrew-scheer-gay-marriage-lgbtq-goodale-1.5256095;
www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2019/08/22/andrew-scheer-said-gay-couples-lack-
inherent-quality-of-marriage-in-tape-of-2005-speech-unearthed-by-liberals.html.
7 www.cbc.ca/news/politics/singh-scheer-minority-1.5256647; www.ctvnews.ca/politics/
singh-would-not-support-conservatives-if-ndp-holds-the-balance-of-power-aer-fall-
election-1.4561260; https://globalnews.ca/news/5801330/andrew-scheer-same-sex-
marriage; https://nationalpost.com/opinion/andrew-coyne-why-singh-says-he-wont-
work-with-the-tories-and-may-says-she-will.
8 www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ndp-leader-singh-accused-of-sending-
wrong-message-by-ruling-out.
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