In November 2008, as the economic decline was being fully realized, Canada's newly-elected minority government, led by Conservative Stephen Harper, presented a highly divisive fiscal update in advance of a proposed budget. Unable to support the motion, the Liberal and New Democratic Parties, with the backing of the Bloc Québécois, formed a coalition in order to seek a no-confidence vote and to form a new government. In response, Conservative cabinet ministers launched a media blitz, informing Canadians that the opposition was mounting a 'coup d'état.' Ultimately Governor General Michaëlle Jean allowed parliament to be prorogued, the coalition fell apart, and a budget was accepted by the House in January 2009. However, widespread public uncertainty and confusion about the principles of government evident during the crisis revealed a grave lack of understanding about the mechanics and legalities of parliamentary democracy on the part of Canadians.

With a foreword by the former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis brings together journalists, political scientists, and leading constitutional experts to analyze the crisis and to discuss the nature of Canada's democracy. The contributors bring perspectives from both French and English Canada and cover all aspects of the crisis, including the prorogation of Parliament, the role of the Governor General, the proposed Liberal-NDP coalition, the challenges of minority parliaments, and the now-evident rifts in the culture of Canadian democracy.

Knowledgeable and comprehensive but still highly accessible, Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis provides a reasoned and timely response to Canada's parliamentary crisis of November 2008.

Peter H. Russell is a professor emeritus in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto.

Lorne Sossin is a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.

Table of Contents: [Back to Top]

Foreword
The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson

Introduction
Peter H. Russell and Lorne Sossin

Part One: The Events and Their Background

1. The "Crisis": A Narrative
Michael Valpy

2. A Crisis Not Made in a Day
Gary Levy

Part Two: The Governor General's Decision to Prorogue

3. To Prorogue or Not to Prorogue: Did the Governor General Make the Right Decision?
C.E.S. (Ned) Franks

4. The Governor General's Suspension of Parliament: Duty Done or a Perilous Precedent?
Andrew Heard

5. Prime Minister Harper's Parliamentary "Time Out": A Constitutional Revolution in the Making?
Lorraine E. Weinrib

Part Three: Constitutional Conventions

6. Why the Governor General Matters
Brian Slattery

7. When Silence Isn't Golden: Constitutional Conventions, Constitutional Culture, and the Governer General
Lorne Sossin and Adam Dodek

8. Of Representation, Democracy, and Legal Principles: Thinking about the Impensé
Jean Leclair and Jean-François Gaudreault-Desbiens

Part Four: Coalitions and Parliamentary Government

9. Coalition Government: When It Happens, How It Works
Lawrence Leduc

10. Learning to Live with Minority Parliaments
Peter H. Russell

11. The Coalition That Wasn't: A Lost Reform Opportunity
Graham White

Part Five: Tnesions in Canada's Democratic Culture

12. Western Canada and the "Illegitimacy" of the Liberal-NDP Coalition Government
Grace Skogstad

13. Parliamentary Democracy versus Faux Populist Democracy
Jennifer Smith

14. Ultimately, the System Worked
David R. Cameron

Contributors

Index

Reviews

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