When Canada wants to bring down a government, we go about it a little bit differently than some other countries. When we wanted to throw off the shackles of English rule, we asked politely. The Queen was nice enough to give us the right to change our Constitution without having to go and ask the Queen again. I suspect she just wanted us to finally leave her alone.

Now, after disappointing election and a go-nowhere session of Parliament, Canada's left wing parties have finally grown some balls and decided they've had enough. They've banded together to ask the Queen's representative, the Governor General, to allow them to take over.

For those of you who don't obsessively follow Canadian politics (ie: 99% of you), here's the rundown of what has happened so far:

Canada had an election back in October. Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party formed a minority government by winning 143 of Canada's 308 seats in Parliament. Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party suffered a catastrophic drop in numbers, going from 103 seats in 2006 to 77 in 2008. Quebec's separatist Bloc Quebecois came in thrid with 49 seats and the New Democratic Party finished fourth with 37. There are also two independents in Parliament but no one really pays any attention to them. This means that the Conservatives need the support of at least one of the other parties to put through any legislation or economic matters (known as votes of confidence). If they lose the confidence of Parliament they are no longer seen as being able to lead the country. But we'll come back to that in a minute.

Last week the Conservatives presented their economic statement. They outlined the state of the Canadian economy and introduced some extremely contentious acts under the guise of saving money. They suggested suspending the right to strike for public workers, stating that a stable civil service is necessary for survival during economic hard times. They suspended pay increases for many civil servants, including members of Parliament and senators. And, in what may have been the tipping point of the statement, they proposed eliminating the public funding subsidy currently available to political parties. Parties are given $1.95 for every vote they receive in a federal election. This provides a great deal of the party funding. Moving to strike public funding overwhelmingly favours the Conservatives who draw a great deal of money from private and corporate donations. The opposition parties also strongly objected to the lack of a financial stimulus package which they feel is necessary to prop up Canada's suffering auto and forestry industries.

So the opposition stands ready to defeat the Conservative government when the statement faces a confidence vote on Monday. If the government is defeated, Prime Minister Harper will be forced to go to the Governor General to inform her that he has lost the confidence of Parliament. Normally this would trigger an election but we just finished an election and the opposition parties have cooked up something brilliant and new.

They joined together to form a proposed coalition government. The Liberals and NDP have signed an agreement that would form a new government. The Bloc, while not officially part of the new government, have agreed to support it for at least 18 months. The coalition now awaits the official word from the Governor General.

Now, to answer the question being screamed all over the internet. "IS THIS LEGAL WTF OMG!?!?! HOW CAN THEY DO THIS?!?" Easily. While it is standard procedure for the Governor General to call a new election when a government loses confidence, it is not her only option.

She may consult with Parliament to see if there is another party who would have the confidence of Parliament. That is the solution currently being presented to her. Harper can also attempt to beat the coalition to the punch and ask the Governor General to suspend Parliament until January. The hope is to come back with a better proposal and to allow the coalition time to fall apart. The whole country now awaits the decision of Michaelle Jean who is on her way back from a tour of Europe. She is expected to meet with Harper tomorrow.

The thought of a coalition has sent waves of outrage across the country. I've personally been involved in half a dozen arguments with close friends over the issue. A handful of protesting Facebook groups have already sprung up and are seeing their memberships grow by the hour. I've even seen calls for the Western provinces (Alberta being a Conservative stronghold) to separate from Canada. The irony of calling for Western separation while railing against the separatist Bloc party is not lost on me.

No matter what happens, this has been one of the more interesting events in Canadian politics in recent years.


FreakPirate fully supports the formation of a coalition government. Unfortunately he seems to be among the minority of people who actually understand Canadian politics and has some common sense.