Political Crisis Recedes in Canada

August 20, 2009 | Observer Staff | Comments 0

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By Jamie Huckabay

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper successfully passed his federal budget on February 4th with the support of the opposition Liberal Party, marking a return to the uneasy status quo in Canadian politics. The fate of the Conservative minority government has been in doubt since the three opposition parties attempted to form an unprecedented coalition to topple Mr. Harper two months after a general election.

Canada’s staid political culture was shaken loose by the proposed coalition as supporters of both sides staged public demonstrations. The Liberal Party would have been the senior partner in a government with the left-wing New Democratic Party, and supported in the legislature by the separatist Bloc Quebecois from Quebec.

Prime Minister Harper took to the airwaves to denounce the proposed alliance with the Bloc as a betrayal of the country and undemocratic. Conservative support exploded outside Quebec from 37% to 50% and the party set new fundraising records. After a tense 2 hour meeting with the Governor General (the head of state), Mr. Harper secured the prorogation or temporary suspension of Parliament until the end of January to prevent the coalition from voting down the government.

Soon thereafter, the coalition began to show signs of instability. The then-leader of the Liberal Party, Stephane Dion, had just suffered the worst electoral result for the party in decades and had agreed to resign shortly. Opponents of the coalition within the party soon forced Mr. Dion’s ouster, short-circuiting the selection process to install human rights expert and former Harvard professor Michael Ignatieff as leader.

Mr. Ignatieff played coy until the budget was unveiled, extracting a high political price from the Prime Minister for his support. The budget is brimming with stimulus goodies that send the country into deficit for the first time in 12 years.

But what caused this unprecedented and un-Canadian crisis? It stemmed from Mr. Harper’s attempt to eliminate all public subsidies for federal political parties. The opposition parties are heavily dependent on the $1.95 per vote subsidy to fund day-to-day party operations and retire campaign debt. Critics have argued that this clause was intended to bankrupt the opposition parties and cripple their campaign capacity for future elections.

Supporters argue that the policy would particularly punish the Bloc Quebecois, who receive 95% of their total funding from the federal government. Eliminating these supports would weaken the party and create opportunities for federalist parties, Liberal and Conservative alike, to secure electoral victory.

On the whole, the episode has left the Conservative government in a weakened position, although their public support has not diminished. The media has decidedly placed the blame on Mr. Harper. The Prime Minister also faces a formidable foe in Mr. Ignatieff, who is seemingly off to a strong start as leader. The Liberal Party does not appear keen for an election, as they are satisfied to let the government wear the recession. Mr. Harper is eager for a fresh start, beginning with President Obama’s first foreign visit to Canada on February 19th.

SAIS students may be asking: how does this relate to my regional interests? The Canadian calamity speaks to how political parties relate to the state. Eliminating supports for subsidy-dependent parties caused an immediate and drastic reaction. After all, these programs are usually designed to the mutual benefit of all involved. Once these programs are in place, political parties will never relinquish the comfort of cold, hard cash.

Jamie Huckabay is a first year M.A. student in the Canadian Studies program.

Filed Under: Featured • February 2009 • News