1) In constitutional monarchies such as Canada, “The Queen rules but does not govern”, following the long-standing doctrine, going back to the 17th century England. In practice, it means the Queen of Canada (Lizzie Windsor) or her representative will agree with whatever their main counselor (the Prime minister) will advise unless it’s way over the top.

2) As for the power trip of coalition party leaders, I think the person who wrote this has missed the previous episodes of this series which runs on canadian screens since early 2006.

In previous episodes, we’ve seen the government trying to push the most outrageous planks of their agenda (compulsory sentences, the reversal of the burden of proof in selected criminal cases) and last week, fresh from an election that returned another minority, the Finance minister starts about pushing for an electoral finance reform which was never discussed before and the suspension of the right to strike by civil servants, and the the end of the pay equity settlement process decided by the courts. In the last parliament, the Liberals abstained a lot because they were scared to go to the polls, and Harper tried the same trick again. This time the Liberals said “no”.

3) As for the Bloc québécois, they are in favor of Quebec’s independence and they don’t hide that fact. They are the big reason why Harper got yet another minority after they won 49 out of 75 seats from Quebec (last time they had 50 seats). Harper is clearly pissed off at Quebec voters and his party has organized a nice round of Quebec-bashing in anglo Canada.

4) As for the main issue in this crisis, the economy and how to stimulate it, there are two views: Barper’s supply-siders (the PM is a right-wing economist by trade), and the other parties agreeing to an aggressive stimulus package to help the economy.

The goal as far as I can tell is to vote Harper out in the spring, by electing this ‘coalition’ but it doesn’t really make any sense. The parties wouldn’t combine and the MPs that were elected just weeks ago will probably mostly be the same a few months from now. That government posts would be held by a combination of Liberals and NDP members is preposterous not only because neither party alone have more elected representative than the Conservatives, but also because a combination government is in the interest of Politicians only and not citizens.

I didn’t vote for Harper in October and I agree that he isn’t our finest leader, but that idea that Dion would be our Prime Minister is infuriating considering how unpopular he proved to be. Their coalition may be legal but it is a blatant insult to how we elect our leaders. Harper has his faults, but exchanging power(cabinet positions) for support in the House is a sneaky deal and we deserve better from the people we choose to represent us.

Instead of trying to throw out the party that was elected I would prefer that our Politians try and work together to sort out the real problems that are facing our nation. The notion that we can’t do that under a Conservative government is an insult to the Canadian people. We may not have a perfect system but I don’t think that taking it apart further is going to be helpful.

1. This is not the United States. Canadians do not elect a leader or even a party. We elect individual MPs. Each and every single one of those MPs will still have their seats regardless of who is on top. And whoever is on top needs the majority of MPs in those seats to vote for what they are doing. Sounds pretty democratic to me.

2. A prorogation of Parliament at this stage would only be a grave abuse of power. Harper has already once delayed this confidence vote and will only seek suspension of Parliament to delay it again. He is hiding from responsibility. Is this the PM that you all want? Really?

3. Harper attempted to form the exact same coalition. We all know this now. Also, he has been mudslinging for several days now. The way to have an effective government is not to call all the other elected officials names. Call the Bloc “separatists”. Call the NDP “socialists”. See how far that gets him in Parliament. He’s digging his own grave here. There is no chance after his comments for Canada to have an efficient, effective government. Here’s something to try at home: Call your significant other one of the worst names you can think of. Now ask if you can buy a new car. Good luck.

4. Harper’s excuse for calling an election several months ago was that Parliament just was not working. The parties could not come to agreement, etc, etc. His attempt to gain a majority failed and we are at exactly the same spot that Harper himself admitted wasn’t working. Isn’t it about time for us to have a government that can get things done?

5. The Bloc’s aim in this coalition is not to split up the country. They’re not even in the coalition!! They will have no cabinet positions. They will simply not be voting against the coalition in matters of confidence for 18 months. Wow. Pretty scary eh? If you think so, it appears logic escapes you.

6. If the positions were reversed and the Conservatives were heading up this coalition, I would still be in favor. As long as every one of these points is true, we are not in the middle of a “coup” and we will not have a “dictatorship”. This is the most democratic thing to happen to us in a while. We elected all of these people. Now let them work.

She waves at crowds and generates millions in tourism. That’s her job. I can’t believe some people think she has political power.

I disagree here. The Tories were using the economic crisis to gut publicly funded elections, which would hurt the other three parties. They were using the economic crisis as an excuse for a power grab for themselves. Then when called on it, Harper basically lied and attacked the Liberals for something they’ve done in the past (working with the Bloc).

The GG cannot do anything outside of what they are told to do. It is an illusion cast many years ago to maintain the silly belief that a sun hadn’t set on a certain Empire.

Those actions you describe cannot be initiated by the GG nor can she deviate from her very limited options, she is a sock puppet that can speak two words but only in specific circumstances.

For Pete’s sake the Queen doesn’t even run England anymore.

Do you really think that Queen Elizabeth chooses the Governor General? I mean REALLY chooses the Governor General as opposed to rubber stamping the choice of Canada’s Prime Minsiter?

The GG’s purpose to to keep parliament in line and not abuse the system. For example, if a minority party continually wants to call elections, the GG can put a stop to it and let the opposition try to form a coalition government.

Almost always, the GG complies with the request of the prime minister. In this case, Harper requested an early prorogation (suspending parliament for several weeks). He’s never asked for that before, however if he were to rely on tricks like that, the GG would probably smack him and let the opposition form the gov’t.

I think the GG gave Harper a piece of her mind, he came out of the meeting saying “we all made mistakes here” instead of “THE OPPOSITION WANT’S TO KILL US ALLLLLLLLLL”.

Do you think there’s an American politician on this planet that could align with a party whose whole goal is to seek independence from the U.S. – and not be throwing his/her entire career down the crapper in the process?

Yes, Sarah Palin and the Alaska Independence Party.

OTOH, I can’t imagine a Democrat being able to get away with that, so maybe it’s not okay if you’re a liberal.

Oliver, picture what we’d be talking about if the Governor General had turned down the Prime Minister’s request. According to the BBC, “A prime minister’s request to temporarily suspend parliament had never been turned down, but nor had such a request been made when the government was certain to lose a confidence vote” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7765206.stm). The Governor General didn’t want to be seen to tip the domino that would eventually lead to the removal of a Prime Minister. Given the stink that still floats around the Governor General of Australia’s decision to dismiss Gough Whitlam in 1975 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_constitutional_crisis), she probably did the right thing.

Doesn’t make the office of Governor General any less nonsensical. Burn everything British except their coal!

FAIL.