Good piece from the Montreal Gazette

Coalition debate reveals our appalling ignorance of Parliament; Canadians don't elect a prime minister and government - Parliament does

Montreal Gazette
Friday, December 26, 2008
Page: A31
Section: Editorial / Op-Ed
Byline: JOSEE LEGAULT
Column: Josée Legault
Source: The Gazette

I know this won't read like much of a holiday column. No references to It's a Wonderful Life, or anything like that. But there's something the political scientist in me needs to get off her chest about one thing that happened in this country this year.

I'm referring to something that was revealed when the federal opposition parties were talking about a coalition government: the abyssal ignorance, even in parts of the media, about how our own parliamentary system works.

When it became clear that Stephen Harper no longer had the confidence of Parliament - the pillar of responsible government - words like coup d'état, putsch and anti-democratic where thrown around at the possibility that the governor-general could ask the Liberal-NDP coalition to form a government, if it could command the confidence of a majority of MPs.

The political scientist in me almost fainted at the comments. It was one thing for the Conservatives to use these words in their partisan battle to sway public opinion, but it was another to read and hear commentators and columnists throughout Canada, in French and English, repeating those unfounded assertions.

Let's be clear: It would have been perfectly legal, democratic and legitimate in our British-style system for the G-G to hand power to a coalition capable of showing it could govern and have the confidence of the House.

But the distortions continued. One example among many: On a public affairs show in Quebec, when the host was told by a constitutional expert that we do not vote for a government or a prime minister, but for the Parliament from which the leader of the party that gets the most seats becomes prime minister, the host shouted back: "Well, if it's not we who elect the prime minister, who does?"

No question, the Conservatives had a great time seeing the public and the media's inability to understand even the most basic principles of our parliamentary system. When even some in the media don't seem to know such basic facts, who can be surprised that many voters never really understood what happened during this political crisis.

A Dominion Institute/Canadian Press poll was done a few days after the G-G agreed to Stephen Harper's request to prorogue Parliament until Jan. 26. Here's what it found: A full 75 per cent thought the prime minister or the governor-general is Canada's head of state. (It's actually the queen.) Twenty-five per cent thought our political system is a "co-operative assembly," while 17 per cent believed it's a "representative republic." And 51 per cent were sure Canadians elect their prime minister directly - with 70 per cent of Quebecers thinking that.

Marc Chalifoux, director of the institute, said Canadians were highly interested in the crisis in Ottawa, but they lacked the basic knowledge to have an informed opinion of it. No kidding.

Our schools seem to be failing to teach how our own democracy functions, so it's no surprise that such misinformed opinions remained after days of media reports on the subject.

That's no surprise because many commentators don't know how the system works, and Conservative spin doctors were everywhere attacking the idea of a coalition, saying it would be undemocratic and unCanadian. They kept repeating their false mantra: "Canadians elect their prime minister and their government." Therefore, they said, this coalition is a "coup attempt" intended to "overturn" the results of the election. The Dominion Institute poll shows just how well that claim worked.

In 2008, basic knowledge about our parliamentary system was damaged. This kind of damage produces even less informed, if not disinformed, citizens.
Let us do better in 2009.