See the story here by Andrew Potter, he tells it better than I could.
Since that post I've never really understood the fetish for this whole 4 year thing, fixed election date thing. I don't think it's a systemic problem, but a problem with the politicians.
I also think the point about having elections on serious issues a la 1988 is a useful aspect of the current system as Potter describes.
Link
1 comment:
I find it interesting that you would say Canada (or rather, quote somebody else that said) always had fixed election dates, since I would say 98% of the population wouldn't be able to recite the 5-year maximum that's written into the Constitution.
That said, the only time Canadians have waited five years (or close to) for an election is when the governing party is desparate and delays calling the election (Turner following Trudeau and Campbell following Mulroney come to mind). While I believe that there needs to be certainty in knowing when elections are held (i.e. in the case of a majority government), I am warming to the idea that this simply is not realistic in a minority situation. If the opposition can use its power to bring down a minority government 1 day after an election, I think its only fair that the governing power also retain the right. However, if there's a majority government, then neither the government nor the opposition should be able to initiate an election prior to the four (or five) years.
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