Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis / / ed. by Peter H. Russell, Lorne Sossin.

• MitwirkendeR: Cameron, David R.,; Dodek, Adam,; Franks, C.E.S. (Ned),; Gaudreault-Desbiens, Jean-François,; Heard, Andrew,; Leclair, Jean,; Leduc, Lawrence,; Levy, Gary,; Russell, Peter H.,; Skogstad, Grace,; Slattery, Brian,; Smith, Jennifer,; Sossin, Lorne,; Valpy, Michael,; Weinrib, Lorraine E.,; White, Graham,
• HerausgeberIn: Russell, Peter H.,; Sossin, Lorne,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2018]; ©2009
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (224 p.)

In November 2008, as the economic decline was being fully realized, Canada's newly elected minority government, led by Conservative Stephen Harper, presented a highly divisive fiscal update in advance of a proposed budget. Unable to support the motion, the Liberal and New Democratic Parties, with the backing of the Bloc Québécois, formed a coalition in order to seek a no-confidence vote and to form a new government. In response, Conservative cabinet ministers launched a media blitz, informing Canadians that the opposition was mounting a 'coup d'état.' Ultimately Governor General Michaëlle Jean allowed Parliament to be prorogued, the coalition fell apart, and a budget was accepted by the House in January 2009. However, widespread public uncertainty and confusion about the principles of government evident during the crisis revealed a grave lack of understanding about the mechanics and legalities of parliamentary democracy on the part of Canadians. With a foreword by former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis brings together journalists, political scientists, and leading constitutional experts to analyse the crisis and to discuss the nature of Canada's democracy. The contributors bring perspectives from both French and English Canada and cover all aspects of the crisis, including the prorogation of Parliament, the role of the governor general, the proposed Liberal-NDP coalition, the challenges of minority parliaments, and the now-evident rifts in the culture of Canadian democracy. Knowledgeable and comprehensive but still highly accessible, Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis provides a reasoned and timely response to Canada's parliamentary crisis of November 2008.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction -- PART ONE. The Events and Their Background -- 1. The 'Crisis': A Narrative -- 2. A Crisis Not Made in a Day -- PART TWO. The Governor General's Decision to Prorogue -- 3. To Prorogue or Not to Prorogue: Did the Governor General Make the Right Decision? -- 4. The Governor General's Suspension of Parliament: Duty Done or a Perilous Precedent? -- 5. Prime Minister Harper's Parliamentary 'Time Out': A Constitutional Revolution in the Making? -- PART THREE. Constitutional Conventions -- 6. Why the Governor General Matters -- 7. When Silence Isn't Golden: Constitutional Conventions, Constitutional Culture, and the Governor General -- 8. Of Representation, Democracy, and Legal Principles: Thinking about the Impensé -- PART FOUR. Coalitions and Parliamentary Government -- 9. Coalition Government: When It Happens, How It Works -- 10. Learning to Live with Minority Parliaments -- 11. The Coalition That Wasn't: A Lost Reform Opportunity -- PART FIVE. Tensions in Canada's Democratic Culture -- 12. Western Canada and the 'Illegitimacy' of the Liberal-NDP Coalition Government -- 13. Parliamentary Democracy versus Faux Populist Democracy -- 14. Ultimately, the System Worked -- Contributors -- Index