How is the Hung Parliament working out for Canada?

[Anarcho-Socialist]

Is the government relatively stable or unstable because of this?

I'm asking this because the U.K. General Election is underway and a Hung Parliament here is a possibility.

I'd like your thoughts on the matter.

[MADem]

1. All I can think of from your subject line, is a parliament of

Chippendales!!!

[Anarcho-Socialist]

3. OK, that's it...

:spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

[Demit]

2. How hung is the Parliament?

[Anarcho-Socialist]

4. They've all got wood...

...en personalities.

:spank: :spank:

[Spazito]

5. I think it is working well

A minority government right now is keeping Martin in check on issues like the missile defense decision. From what Martin had said prior to the election, he was leaning toward supporting it but with only a minority government, he had to listen to the opposition NDP and Bloc who were against our participation.

Kyoto is another push that I am not sure Martin would have acted on as quickly if he wasn't in a minority position.

If the opposition forces an election soon due to the Sponsorship scandal, I think we will get another minority government, hopefully with the NDP picking up the needed seats to be the balance of power.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

6. Thanks for the response

I appreciate your insight.

[KamaAina]

7. So, will "She Bangs" now replace "O Canada" as the national anthem?

Oh, right, that'd be the William Hung Parliament... :spank:

[ninty]

8. In Canada

The minority government has been kept in check by the oposition parties on issues like Koyoto, but recently there is real talk of an election.

It started with koyoto, the opposition saying they wouldn't pass the bill and essentially collapse the government, the liberals conceded on some issues, but now the gomrey inquiry is really heating up and there has been talk of an election for a couple weeks now. The liberals say their going to see how things would work out, but I can tell you now, holding an election now would be bad for the liberals. They'd lose a lot of seats in Quebec. I wouldn't be suprised if every riding in Quebec voted Bloc.

Pertaining to your specific question though, if the government doesn't run into any scandals, yes a minority government can work pretty well. You need a good opposition though. If the only opposition in Canada were the conservatives then the liberals would probably have to become less liberal and more conservative for fear of the government collapsing. The Bloc and NDP sort of balance this out .

I'm not sure of the situation over in Britain, but as long as there is pressure from either side, then the government has to try to please everyone, and thus it becomes more accountable.

[V. Kid]

9. Questionably since....

there's a big scandal right now, and unfortunatley more substantive policies are being ignored for the sake of it. Don't get me wrong the governing party needs to have some sort of punishment for scandalizing the parliament, no innuendo intended. ;-) Unfortunatley the NDP doesn't have the balance of power, the BQ does. And their only intrests are in weakining the country so as to strengthen the prospect of Quebec independence. As such I'd much rather a diffrent party hold the balance of power. They're progressive so that's good, but I'm a federalist so their sepratism isn't something I like.

The latest polling has indicated the Liberals are still relativley popular, and would win another solid minority or an outright *albiet close* majority. However this polling was done before the biggest bombshells from the Gomery comission was released. When this happens Liberal support in English Canada could plunge, and if that's the case another election could be held soon. If that's the case the Conservatives could win an election, and so long as it's a minority goverment that wouldn't be an awful thing, however a Conservative majority wouldn't be particularly great. That being said Canada is a socially liberal country, and so long as the Conservatives allow social conservatives a prominent role in determining policy, they wouldn't last for longer than one term.