"The King-Byng controversy of 1926 . . . is quite germane to the present constitutional crisis," Gerald Owen argued Friday in his Globe essay Peace, order and good government
"Like Prime Minister Stephen Harper's party today, Arthur Meighen's Conservatives then had more seats in the Commons than any other party.
"Most Canadians now expect the party with the largest number of MPs to form the government, and many think that this is required by democracy . . .
"But more is not necessarily most, or more than half, and a mere plurality can be quite ineffectual, as Mr. Harper may or may not find on Jan. 26, 2009.
"In 1926, Lord Byng, the Governor-General, made a mistaken judgment about the viability of a Meighen government, and W.L. Mackenzie King did very well out of expressing great outrage in the election that followed, winning a working Liberal majority, thanks to some Liberal-Progressives.
"Byng's error seems obvious in hindsight. Nonetheless, it is an advantage of constitutional conventions, as opposed to legal rules, that a governor-general has some leeway and discretion, with powers held in reserve, to assess who will really be able to get things through Parliament."
It's an interesting argument. That's why we at globeandmail.com were pleased that Mr. Owen joined us online to take your questions on his essay and on the political crisis that ended Thursday with Governor-General Michaelle Jean's controversial approval of Mr. Harper's request to prorogue Parliament to allow his Conservative government to avoid defeat in the Commons on a non-confidence motion that could have led to another election or could have brought a Liberal-NDP coalition, with Bloc support, to take power.
Your questions and Mr. Owen's answers appear at the bottom of this page.
Gerald Owen is a member of The Globe's editorial board. He has been the editor of The Idler and Books in Canada magazines, a reporter for The Lawyers Weekly and a columnist for The National Post.
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.
Brodie Fenlon, globeandmail.com: Thanks for joining us Mr. Owen.
Ken DeLuca, Arnprior, Ont.: I believe the Governor-General got it right — both in the letter and spirit of the law, as well as in her role in our parliamentary democracy. Technically, Stephen Harper still enjoyed the confidence of the House and was, therefore, her trusted and legitimate adviser for the moment. True, Harper did an end-run around Parliament, but he was just barely within the rules . . . My question: Must the GG always ignore the political impact of her decision and rely only on the question of how to get Parliament functioning democratically? The two issues seem to be intertwined when the PM comes so close to undemocratic actions and acts as if he had over-reaching presidential powers or even royal supremacy. He is the head of government by leave of Parliament only. He is not the head of state. God Save the Queen!
Gerald Owen: Yes, the two issues are intertwined, because the Governor-General has to assess the political impact in the sense of figuring out whether a new government will have any staying power. Of course, she or he has to be non-partisan — which maybe was easier before we had Canadian governors-general.
Garth West: Gerald, I'd be interested to hear your observations about [Sir John A.] Macdonald's use of the royal prerogative to dodge a bullet from the Pacific scandal in 1873. Has it been brought up before? I certainly haven't seen it. And yet, that incident — which allowed the Prime Minister to avoid the wrath of his own party members who had deserted to the opposition for an extended period -- is far more germane as a precedent for what happened last week than King-Byng. He eventually had to face the music and [Liberal Alexander] Mackenzie won the election that fall.
