If you were the Governor General, what would you do?
- Thread starter CBC News
- Start date
I'd put all four in a room and remind them their first obligation should be the welfare of the nation and its people. Then I'd tell them to stay there until they sorted it out.
He did not win a majority, pure and simple.
And he refused to form a coalition to govern, as is required. He does not have support of Parliment.
If we get real technical though, he has no right to the office of prime minister, nor does the office exist in our constitution.
Technically the queen (through the GG) could walk up to to Jane Doe on the street and make her PM.
It is a terrible system.
There is no rule that says the PM is the leader of the party with the most seats. None, its just tradition.
We have had Prime Ministers who are not members of Parliment before.
Technically the Prime Minister can be prime minister for ever.
And Constitutionally, I do not believe the prime minister has any actual power nor does the office have to exist (The same as the cabinet).
There is also (btw) no need to call an election after a vote of non-confidence.
Not that it matters, because the MP's don't have to really obey any special rules of the "prime minister" which is in actuallity, a make believe post.
But thats all theoretical, in the day to day workings, people obey the PM as if he special powers, so he does.
There is no rule that says the GG is the leader of the party with the most seats. None, its just tradition.
We have had Prime Ministers who are not members of Parliament before.
Zzarchov, that is what I have been saying all along (I assume you mean the PM, and not GG). Even you are I could theoretically become the PM. How? It is simple.
Let us say Conservative party elects you (or I) as the leader. As the leader of the majority party in the Parliament, you automatically become the PM; you have the confidence of the Parliament (assuming Cons have more than 50% of the seats).
But you are not a member of the Parliament, a necessary condition for becoming a PM. Well, no problem. A Conservative MP in a safe conservative seat resigns; you run in his place and are assured of getting elected.
Or you don’t want to take even that much trouble? Again, no problem. Harper appoints you to the Senate before he steps down. As a member of the Senate, you are a member of the Parliament and so eligible to serve in cabinet.
So theoretically anybody can become the PM. I don’t think too many people are aware of that.
We have had Prime Ministers who are not members of Parliament before.
Zzarchov, that is what I have been saying all along (I assume you mean the PM, and not GG). Even you are I could theoretically become the PM. How? It is simple.
Let us say Conservative party elects you (or I) as the leader. As the leader of the majority party in the Parliament, you automatically become the PM; you have the confidence of the Parliament (assuming Cons have more than 50% of the seats).
But you are not a member of the Parliament, a necessary condition for becoming a PM. Well, no problem. A Conservative MP in a safe conservative seat resigns; you run in his place and are assured of getting elected.
Or you don’t want to take even that much trouble? Again, no problem. Harper appoints you to the Senate before he steps down. As a member of the Senate, you are a member of the Parliament and so eligible to serve in cabinet.
So theoretically anybody can become the PM. I don’t think too many people are aware of that.
I know I know, but by that time we will all be sick and tired of all the whining coming from the conservative camp.
Harper is a much better man than the idiot dion or the rest of the three stooges. And she would say that....
If I were governor general I would sit down and take a LONG, HARD look at the difference between the political theory of this country, and the political practice.
In theory, we do not vote to elect a leader, in theory we vote to elect MP's. We vote to elect a person to fill a chair and give a voice for our region in Parliament. THEORY.
In practice, parties choose and campaign a leader, and encourage votes to help get that leader into government. In practice we elect a leader via our choice of MP. In practice, Canada's voice was heard through its choice of Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada.
Now, due to this break between theory and practice, Dion and his ilk, have chosen to sneak in through a back door loop hole and attempt to take what they feel the Canadian people owed them... power. And they're doing this by perching atop the separatists. Dion is about to cost this country dearly, in a time when we can't afford it. Dion does NOT have Canada's best interests in mind.
If I were GG, I'd be calling an election, so that people like me, who've never voted Conservative before, can express our displeasure at his tactics by voting in a majority and putting an end to Dion and Layton's nonsense.
In theory, we do not vote to elect a leader, in theory we vote to elect MP's. We vote to elect a person to fill a chair and give a voice for our region in Parliament. THEORY.
In practice, parties choose and campaign a leader, and encourage votes to help get that leader into government. In practice we elect a leader via our choice of MP. In practice, Canada's voice was heard through its choice of Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada.
Now, due to this break between theory and practice, Dion and his ilk, have chosen to sneak in through a back door loop hole and attempt to take what they feel the Canadian people owed them... power. And they're doing this by perching atop the separatists. Dion is about to cost this country dearly, in a time when we can't afford it. Dion does NOT have Canada's best interests in mind.
If I were GG, I'd be calling an election, so that people like me, who've never voted Conservative before, can express our displeasure at his tactics by voting in a majority and putting an end to Dion and Layton's nonsense.
Nice comment considering you and everybody else living today doesn't have a clue on whether or not it would work.
The only thing people can go by is past examples.... it has been done at least twice in Canadian History, Once during WWI or around that time, and the second in Ontario..... against the Conservatives..... how ironic.
Both did what they were meant to do and they worked for the time being.... and I suspect it will work.
You can suspect it won't, but you sure as hell can't tell me it wont.
Spoken like a true conservative. Dion and Layton are both well educated and honourable men who are playing under the rules. All above board and in broad daylight. Harper fired the first few shots.....So he thinks he can dish it out, but can he take it? Harper won't win in yet another election so the obvious thing is to let the coalition govern.........They can't do any worse than Harper.
Great day to you K
Harper started war and hi will pay fore it more the Canada will by having Deon as an interim.... Harpers lights on integrity are out, broken, they don’t work......
37% is a minority. Harper instead of offering the olive branch to the opposition he told them he has a double-edged sword and that the war is on, when Harper realized that he put his foot in his mouth he retracted like a coward.......
Good luck. With your democracy......................
If I were governor general I would sit down and take a LONG, HARD look at the difference between the political theory of this country, and the political practice.
Sorry, Karrie, but there is no difference between theory and practice. Indeed, there cannot be any difference. If the constitution says something, practice cannot do something otherwise.
In theory, we do not vote to elect a leader, in theory we vote to elect MP's. We vote to elect a person to fill a chair and give a voice for our region in Parliament. THEORY.
OK so far.
In practice, parties choose and campaign a leader, and encourage votes to help get that leader into government. In practice we elect a leader via our choice of MP
OK so far.
In practice, Canada's voice was heard through its choice of Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada.
Now here you are wrong. Canadians did NOT choose Harper as the Prime Minister. Even leaving aside the fact that Canadians did not vote for any Prime minister, Conservatives did not get a majority, so Canadians did not vote for Harper as you seem to imply.
Now, due to this break between theory and practice, Dion and his ilk, have chosen to sneak in through a back door loop hole and attempt to take what they feel the Canadian people owed them... power.
There has been no break between theory and practice. Non conservatives have a majority of seats, a majority of votes. So it is quite proper, both theoretically and practically, that they form the government.
Dion is about to cost this country dearly, in a time when we can't afford it. Dion does NOT have Canada's best interests in mind.
That is your personal opinion. Many Canadians, including myself think differently.
If I were GG, I'd be calling an election, so that people like me, who've never voted Conservative before, can express our displeasure at his tactics by voting in a majority and putting an end to Dion and Layton's nonsense.
I don’t know how old you are Karrie, but I am older than Methuselah. I remember Mulroney got his second majority and people became disillusioned with him very soon after that.
I still remember one New Brunswick voter say on television “I voted Conservative, and I want my vote back.”
Sorry, it doesn’t work out that way. Voters are fickle, they change their minds frequently. If we started having general election because some voters feel differently about a party, We will be having election every couple of weeks. That is not democracy, that is anarchy.
If you vote Liberal or NDP and now regret your vote and now want to vote Conservative, you will have to wait until next election. We cannot have a general election, spend 300 million $, just so people like you have changed their mind. Besides, the most likely outcome of another election is another minority. That won’t solve anything, except to give you the satisfaction that you voted right (Conservative) this time.
Besides, suppose we have another election, you vote conservative, then two weeks later you get disillusioned with Conservatives. They should we hold another election?
Sorry, Karrie, but there is no difference between theory and practice. Indeed, there cannot be any difference. If the constitution says something, practice cannot do something otherwise.
In theory, we do not vote to elect a leader, in theory we vote to elect MP's. We vote to elect a person to fill a chair and give a voice for our region in Parliament. THEORY.
OK so far.
In practice, parties choose and campaign a leader, and encourage votes to help get that leader into government. In practice we elect a leader via our choice of MP
OK so far.
In practice, Canada's voice was heard through its choice of Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada.
Now here you are wrong. Canadians did NOT choose Harper as the Prime Minister. Even leaving aside the fact that Canadians did not vote for any Prime minister, Conservatives did not get a majority, so Canadians did not vote for Harper as you seem to imply.
Now, due to this break between theory and practice, Dion and his ilk, have chosen to sneak in through a back door loop hole and attempt to take what they feel the Canadian people owed them... power.
There has been no break between theory and practice. Non conservatives have a majority of seats, a majority of votes. So it is quite proper, both theoretically and practically, that they form the government.
Dion is about to cost this country dearly, in a time when we can't afford it. Dion does NOT have Canada's best interests in mind.
That is your personal opinion. Many Canadians, including myself think differently.
If I were GG, I'd be calling an election, so that people like me, who've never voted Conservative before, can express our displeasure at his tactics by voting in a majority and putting an end to Dion and Layton's nonsense.
I don’t know how old you are Karrie, but I am older than Methuselah. I remember Mulroney got his second majority and people became disillusioned with him very soon after that.
I still remember one New Brunswick voter say on television “I voted Conservative, and I want my vote back.”
Sorry, it doesn’t work out that way. Voters are fickle, they change their minds frequently. If we started having general election because some voters feel differently about a party, We will be having election every couple of weeks. That is not democracy, that is anarchy.
If you vote Liberal or NDP and now regret your vote and now want to vote Conservative, you will have to wait until next election. We cannot have a general election, spend 300 million $, just so people like you have changed their mind. Besides, the most likely outcome of another election is another minority. That won’t solve anything, except to give you the satisfaction that you voted right (Conservative) this time.
Besides, suppose we have another election, you vote conservative, then two weeks later you get disillusioned with Conservatives. They should we hold another election?