|
| quote: | Originally posted by ShadoWolf
No, in that case it's the Governor General's duty to allow Stephen Harper to form the government.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King-Byng_affair
However, since the GG was appointed by Martin (and not the British government), you can bet that she'll flaunt constitutional conventions to support the Lieberals.
Oh, and she's a separatist too, so you can bet that will come into play as well (supporting Lieberals would lead to the break-up of Canada). |
no...that is NOT automatically the GG's duty. I believe your not properly applying that precedent, but correct me if I'm wrong:
AFTER an election, the Governor-General could support an outgoing gov't (e.g. Martin's Liberals) in the event of an opposition (Conservative) minority win, *if* the outgoing gov't gained the confidence of the house (i.e. Liberals would have to arrange a deal with the NDP and/or Bloq to form a majority gov't, which could in theory happen if the NDP and/or Bloq didn't want Harper to become PM).
What happened back then was just that...outgoing gov't requested that they maintain power, despite losing the election, because they brokered a deal to form a majority with another party...that deal eventually fell apart, so the opposition who won the election with a minority then assumed power. An immediate non-confidence vote followed, bringing down that minority gov't, and the original outgoing gov't party won the following election.
source: http://www.mapleleafweb.com/feature...ity-govern.html
| quote: | ...
The Role of the Governor General
Normally, the Governor General plays a symbolic role in a federal election, automatically granting the prime minister’s request to dissolve Parliament at the beginning of the election campaign, and then calling on the victorious party to form a Cabinet.
However, the governor general’s role is less clear in the case where another political party defeats the current government, but doesn’t receive enough votes for a majority. In that case, the prime minister and Cabinet may request to stay in power as long as they can maintain the confidence of the House. In order to do so, they would have to demonstrate they have the support of a third party, and that this would give them a majority. Based on the political precedent of the 1925 election, the governor general may grant this request.
For example, if the Conservatives would have won a minority on June 28th, 2004, the governing Liberals could have remained in power if Prime Minister Martin could have demonstrated to Governor General Adrienne Clarkson that he had reached an agreement with the NDP. Under this scenario, the governor general would have only turn to the Conservatives if the Liberals were unable to broker a deal with the NDP, or lacked enough votes to form a majority even with their support.
The circumstances surrounding the 1925 constitutional crisis between Prime Minister Mackenzie King and Governor General Lord Byng are as follows:
In 1925, the governing Liberals lost the election, winning only 99 out of 245 seats.
The Conservatives won 116 out of 245 seats, which would have given them a minority government.
Because he had the support of the Progressive Party, giving him a majority in the House of Commons, Liberal leader Mackenzie King asked Governor General Lord Byng not to dissolve Parliament. The governor general granted King’s request.
Due to a scandal, King lost the Progressives’ support and asked the governor general to call an election.
Byng refused, and called on Conservative Leader Arthur Meighen to form the government. Four days after taking power, the House passed a non-confidence motion, bringing down Meighen’s government.
The Conservatives lost the following election. |
i.e. the GG does not have the power to simply "help the Liberals".
The Liberals would 1. have to lose the election with another party winning with only a minority, and 2. broker a deal with another party/parties to form a majority gov't in order to approach the GG to keep them in power.
|