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Politically Incorrect

The death of responsible government

by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Responsible government has been a cornerstone of our parliamentary system of government since before Confederation. The principle of responsible government was introduced in the United Province of Canada in 1848, one year after it was recognized in Nova Scotia. Despite the fact that responsible government has played an important part in our country’s history, many Canadians have no idea what it means.

Responsible government does NOT mean that the government is responsible to the people of Canada. Canadians, unlike those of other countries such as the United States, have very little electoral power. We don’t vote for who will be prime minister. We don’t even elect a government. The only decision that Canadian voters make is to select the person who will represent their riding in the House of Commons. The Governor General of Canada decides which party will form the government and can even decide who in that party can lead it if the current leader appears unable to form a government. almost always, the party that wins the most number of seats forms the government with the leader of that party becoming the prime minister. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. During the last days of the Chrétien-led Liberal government, when Chrétien appeared to be faltering, there was speculation that the Governor General might have asked leadership contender Paul Martin to form the government. Much of the power that people think they have actually rests with the Governor General.

Responsible government means that the government is responsible, not to the people but to the House of Commons. Once a government is installed in power, it can keep governing (subject to the requirement of holding an election at least once every five years) as long as that government can maintain the confidence of the House.

When the current government lost the first motion that specifically stated that the House had no confidence in the government and Paul Martin refused to go to the Governor General to seek a dissolution of Parliament, he effectively killed the principle of responsible government that has served Canada well for over 150 years. It was clear from the wording of that motion that the House of Commons had lost confidence in the governing Liberals. Martin’s argument that it was only a motion that made a referral to a committee was really irrelevant to whether or not the Liberals had a mandate from Parliament to continue to govern. It became, as andrew Coyne wrote in the National Post, government by technicality. Paul Martin simply thumbed his nose at Parliamentary tradition and said "who cares".

When the prime minister realized that the House of Commons expressed that it had no confidence in his government he should have immediately gone to the Governor General and asked that Parliament be dissolved instead of arguing technicalities and promising that a later vote of confidence would be held.

and Stephen Harper, as leader of the Official Opposition was hardly any better. Instead of publicly musing about the Governor General getting involved, he should have gone to Rideau Hall and asked her to dissolve Parliament. although the Governor General holds a lot of power, she’s unelected and it really isn’t her place to take unilateral action if she doesn’t like the way things are proceeding. But if Harper had sought dissolution then it would have been up to adrienne Clarkson to make a decision one way or the other.

The prime minister brags about how he used to play in the halls of the Parliament Buildings when he was a boy and daddy was a cabinet minister. He obviously didn’t learn very much; not the least of which was respect for the institution is that actually meant something in his father’s day. Beginning with the Trudeau era, the power of Parliament has been eroded and more and more power given to the prime minister and the PMO. With his arrogance and his desperate attempt to hold on to the power that he sought so long, Paul Martin finally excised responsible government from our Parliamentary democracy that has served Canadians well since before Confederation.

Putting the nail in the coffin of our democratic parliamentary system of government will be Paul Martin’s legacy.