Editorial cartoon by Brian GableBrian Gable/The Globe and Mail
Stephen Harper's continuing to whine about the perils of a coalition winning the confidence of the House (and thereby sparing the Canadian people the horror - there's no other word for it - of a fifth election in seven years) is starting to sound at best like special pleading and at worst like those "birther" freaks who complain that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States and therefore ought not to be President.
Michael Ignatieff gave us all a blinding glimpse of the obvious when he pointed out that, after the election, should the Tories fail to gain the confidence of the House after, say, tabling a budget the Grits would be well within their rights to approach the Governor-General and give it the old college try. The Globe reported the matter thusly:
"But although [Ignatieff's]description of various possible scenarios will receive the nod of constitutional experts, it will likely conflict with what Canadians expect: that the party with the most seats in a minority Parliament governs until it is defeated, and the result of that defeat is an election."
Here's something else Canadians expect; to be left the hell alone come barbeque season. Jack Layton said it best: "We shouldn't immediately go back to an election; that would be ridiculous."
Now if Stephen Harper can win a majority on his record god bless him and happy days. That said, he's not going to win holding up the coalition bogey as our version of a Honduran coup d'etat. Like they say in Texas, that dog won't hunt.