Prime Minister Paul Martin said yesterday there will be no talks toward a formal coalition with the NDP or other opposition parties, insisting he has a "stable" minority government and can move forward on his Liberal agenda.
Although he gave a nod to the difficulties of currying opposition favour to push his government program through Parliament, Mr. Martin said he has a mandate and enough consensus to proceed on the central elements of his platform — health care, child care and a new deal for cities.
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"Lookit, I'm very realistic. This is not a majority government. This is what I believe to be a very stable, but nonetheless minority, government and we will work within that context. There have been no discussions, nor are we talking about coalitions or those kinds of agreements," he said during a news conference.
He has spoken to all three opposition leaders, he said, but only to congratulate them on their campaigns and express the need to work together.
One day after his Liberal Party won an unexpectedly strong minority government but was left without a single obvious partner to help command a majority in the 308-seat Commons, Mr. Martin said his core program has enough common ground to win support.
"If you take a look at it in terms of health care, in terms of child care, in terms of cities, I believe that that not only strikes a responsive chord with Canadians, but I think that it does fit within the overall perspective of most of the opposition parties."
But Mr. Martin's advisers acknowledge that discussions will have to come in the weeks and months ahead with the opposition parties to lay out the government's plans and get a sense of how much support for them exists.
Preliminary planning is already going on. Much of a health-care accord with the provinces — the focus of a summit, likely in mid-August — probably could be implemented without passing legislation, for example. Most of the health-care delivery issues — such as home care and pharmacare programs — lie with the provinces and could be funded through the usual budget process.
Similarly, a new child-care program, which an official yesterday called the "neglected jewel" of the Liberals' platform, would be built on an existing legal framework. And the plan to hand taxing power to municipalities would be done in a budget.
Indeed, it may be months before a vote of confidence in the Commons.
Yesterday, Conservative House Leader John Reynolds said his party also wants health-care change and said he is prepared to "support good legislation." The Conservatives would support Canadian participation in the U.S. missile defence plan, which the NDP and Bloc oppose. But it may not come to a fight in the Commons, because no legislation would be necessary for this, either.
"There's a lot that can be done," an official said.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, however, emphasized that Canadians should prepare for a leftward shift in Parliament, given that the Liberals and the NDP, together, hold half the seats in the House of Commons. But he warned that they will have to do more than simply shift left.
"[Mr. Martin] has only a minority and it now appears to me that, even with the NDP, that's not going to be quite enough to pass legislation," he said on his campaign plane in Calgary. "I think the Liberal Party will obviously now have to listen."
Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said yesterday running a minority government will take "hard work, a great deal of finesse and commitment to compromise and the building of the necessary consensus to do that which I think Canadians want us to do."
