Don Desserud
Is a ban on floor-crossing politicians unconstitutional?
Former federal minister Steven Fletcher says a Manitoba law banning the practice infringes on his freedoms—and the rights of his constituents
Two questions for Stephen Harper (III)
After interviewing Mr. Layton and Mr. Ignatieff, Peter Mansbridge will sit down with Mr. Harper on Thursday. Assuming that the parameters of our democracy might be a topic raised, here, again, are two questions for Mr. Harper.
Stephen Harper and constitutional convention
Tom Flanagan, a former advisor to Mr. Harper, is asked for his opinion on the 2004 gambit.
“An odd (!) understanding” of how Parliament works
As I did yesterday, I turn to Prof. Don Desserud, the University of New Brunswick expert on our parliamentary system, for insights into what is being said by Stephen Harper about that much-debated episode in 2004—you know, back when he was cooperating, but not coalition-conniving, with Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe.
Who gets to govern? Venturing deep into the post-May 2 scenario weeds
The question, it seems to me, is a simple one: can the party that didn’t win the most seats in a Canadian election legitimately form a government? Well, I guess it would be better to say deceptively simple.