There seemed to be quite a lot of enthusiasm when Prime Minister Stephen Harper first announced that Canada would have fixed election dates. As it was, Parliament could sit for up to five years before its dissolution and a new election was necessary. In a minority Parliament, the government could fall at any time if it lost the vote on a money bill or on anything else that was deemed by that government to be a matter of confidence. Once the government fell, the Prime Minister would have to go to the Governor General and advise him or her that he could no longer govern. Although the Governor General had the power to ask someone else to form a government the usual practice was to dissolve Parliament and set an election date.
In a majority government however, the Prime Minister had the sole discretion to seek dissolution at any time during the five year period. Naturally being politicians, prime ministers would choose the time that seemed to be the most politically expedient to them. It was this seemingly unfair advantage to the government of the day that made the idea of fixed election dates attractive to the voters. Although we are in a minority Parliament, the next election date was set for October 19, 2009. And although the opposition could have brought down the government at any time, very few people foresaw the possibility that the Prime Minister himself could or would be able to pull the plug. But that’s what he’s doing.
Harper’s statements about bringing the current Parliament to a close were met by shock and awe in some circles (we are somewhat of a boring country). Stéphane Dion accused him of not complying with his own law. It is now believed that Parliament will be dissolved shortly and Canadians will go to the polls in the middle of next month. The reality is that the changes to Canada’s election laws are nothing more than a sham.
Section 56.1 of the Canada Elections Act states:
Nothing in this section [the section providing for fixed election dates] affects the powers of the Governor General, including the power to dissolve Parliament at the Governor General’s discretion.
Even that section of the Act is meaningless. The power of the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and require a new election is found in Canada’s Constitution. Taking that power away from the Governor General would require a constitutional amendment; a simple change in an ordinary statute has no effect.
Stephen Harper was thus able to play the same political game that fixed election dates were supposed to do away with. He effectively suckered Dion into giving him the green light to force an election at a time of his choosing. With the possibility of the economy tanking and with Stéphane Dion’s Green Shift not catching on, Harper will never be in a better position to fight an election than he is now. Dion was given a great choice; go to the polls now or continue to prop up the Tories by abstaining on important votes for the next year. Harper will suffer some backlash for not abiding with the fixed election dates but he’s no doubt hoping that this will be more than offset by the current disarray of the once mighty Liberals.
But now that the fixed election dates are known to simply be a sham, they should be done away with. The only thing worse than what is currently happening is if we really had fixed fixed election dates. We would become like the United States where campaigns seem to begin earlier and earlier with each election cycle. This reality was noticeable in Ontario where the campaign leading up to the province’s first election date started way much earlier than when the writ was dropped. No doubt the losing parties in that contest will start even earlier next time in an attempt to gain an advantage. Canadian politics is so exciting that lengthy campaigns are likely to increase the number of people who die from boredom each year.
Let’s go back to the way things were – scrap those meaningless fixed election dates.
