Ottawa

The sound of stopping Harper

Two articles today make arguments Stephen Harper predicted on the day in March when he visited Rideau Hall. Tonight’s, from Postmedia:

“‘Say Mr. Harper is returned with a comparable minority’ to what he has now, says Franks. ‘Say within a few weeks of Parliament meeting there’s a vote on the speech to the throne and Mr. Harper is defeated. The Governor General is then entitled to determine if any other party leader will enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons.’

“…Ignatieff has not explicitly ruled out the idea of trying to lead a non-coalition, minority Liberal government if the Conservatives fail to secure the majority Harper says is crucial for the country, and then fail to secure enough support in Parliament to govern.”

This morning’s, from the Globe:

“Stack it all up, set events in motion, and they tumble toward a Tory minority government quickly falling and being replaced by a Liberal government propped up by at least the NDP. (Conservative partisans: Please note the lack of the word ‘coalition’ in the preceding sentence. Liberal partisans: Please note that nothing your leader has promised rules out such a move.)

“…Errol Mendes, professor of constitutional and international law at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of law, says there will be no stay of execution: whatever the risks, the opposition will move immediately. The Tories are ‘doomed’ in a minority situation, he says…”

There will be more and more of this discussion as election day approaches. Its effect on voter intentions is hard to predict.

 

 

 

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