2019 Federal Election

[ijmorlan]

I'm not sure it's right to describe it as ignorance on the part of voters. In part, it is, because we simply encounter the situation so infrequently. But I do think the general sense is "this party won the most seats, its platform was most acceptable to the most voters, so it's incumbent on the other parties to try to find a way to work with them." That's not always going to be possible, of course, you're right about that.

That general sense is wrong, and specifically in a way which is why PR gets so much discussion. If we had PR then the first part of the statement would be true. The second part would still be wrong, because usually the other parties have (and would still have under PR) more votes than the supposed winners. It’s weird to say that 55% of the MPs representing parties that took 65% of the vote should knuckle under and do whatever 45% of the MPs representing a party that took 35% of the vote want.

Your arguments are sound, but they're academic. If the Liberals (say) fail to win a plurality of seats, but try to work with other parties to govern regardless, the argument will be that a vote for the Liberals is a vote for an unknown platform consisting of Liberal and others' policies. That will resonate with many Canadians.

My argument was about the “should” somebody gave where they were saying that parties involved in a coalition should pay a political price. It is bizarre to suggest that doing what the system is designed to do, in an effort to form a government from parties elected by a majority of the votes instead of from a single party elected by less than a majority of the votes, “should” cost those parties politically.