Parliament

Overview of Parliamentarism: Coalition Government

Coalition governments are ones in which two or more political parties enter into a formal agreement to govern together. The parties form a coalition with one another - hence the term "Coalition Government."

Coalition governments are quite rare in the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy that use the "First past the post" system of voting, which traditionally has resulted in one party winning a majority of seats. In countries that use some form of proportional representation, coalitions are the norm because it is more difficult for a party to win a majority of the seats.

As discussed in previous sections, a government can only govern if it has the support of the majority of members in the House of Commons or provincial legislatures (see Responsible Government). In the event that a party finds itself in a minority government situation, this support, or confidence, is crucial to its survival.

One of the key reasons why coalition governments are so rare in Canadian politics is because of the role and strength of political parties. Most MPs in the House of Commons, or provincial members of a legislature, belong to a politcal party. While membership in a political party is not mandatory, it is rare that individuals are elected as independents, and independent MPs have very little sway in the House of Commons, since the rules of Parliament generally apply to members of recognized parties, not individuals. Similarly, parties that fail to win enough seats to qualify as a "recognized party" see their members treated as independents, unless an agreement is reached to accord them more rights in the House.

Also, political parties exert an incredible amount of control over their MPs in the House. This is due in large part to a practice called “party discipline,” in which the leadership of a political party will use certain tactics, such as the threat of demotion within the party hierarchy, to ensure that MPs ”toe the party line.” Consequently, the importance of political parties in the House of Commons, combined with our FPTP voting system, tends to favour partisanship and confrontation between the parties rather than cooperation, since each party is seeking to increase its popularity with voters and gain some sort of strategic advantage over its competitors.

While our system of voting most often results in a party winning a majority of the seats, this is not always the case. Minority governments, as has been discussed, have occurred 12 times at the federal level in Canada. A minority government governs much differently than majority ones: because it does not have a clear majority in the House, the government cannot simply use party discipline to guarantee support in the legislature. Instead, it must negotiate with opposition parties to gain their support for government legislation. This is usually done on a legislation-by-legislation basis. The government may, for example, strike a deal with one opposition party to gain the support it needs for one piece of legislation, and then negotiate with a different political party on another piece of legislation. In some instances, there are formal agreements between two or more parties in which one party agrees to support the other for a specific period of time in exchange for specific policy initiatives being introduced. One of the best examples of this would be the 1985 agreement between the Liberals and NDP in Ontario.

Coalition governments are different from majority and minority governments in that they involve two or more political parties forming the government together (whereas the other two involve only one political party sitting as government). In coalition governments, members from each coalition party will fill cabinet posts. It may be the case, for example, that the Prime Minister is from one political party, while the Minister of Finance is from another. The coalition parties will work closely together to develop government policy, and their MPs will vote in unison in the House of Commons.

Coalition governments usually occur when no single political party has a majority of MPs - two or more parties will form a coalition and together exercise a majority in the House. However, it is important to note that a coalition can be formed even when a single political party has a majority of MPs in the House. It may be the case that the majority party desires complete unity in the legislature, for example, during war or some national crisis, and, as a result, asks other political parties to join it in government.

Coalition governments, be it in Canada or in other parliamentary democracies, are formed for several different reasons. One sort of coalition government occurs in parliamentary systems when no single party holds a majority of seats in the national legislature. Instead of forming a minority government, two or more political parties enter into a formal agreement to form the government together. In most cases, such coalition governments will involve a major political party entering into a coalition with a minor party, or several minor parties, to gain the few seats it needs to enjoy a majority in the legislature. Such coalitions are often very unequal, with the larger, dominant coalition partner holding the majority of key government positions and exerting greater influence on government policy.

Why would a major political party in this situation prefer to form a coalition government instead of governing with a minority? Such decisions depend, in large part, on the make-up of the legislature following an election. If the major political party is only a few seats shy of a majority in the legislature, and there is a smaller potential coalition partner that holds a similar ideology and enough seats to make up the difference, then a coalition government may make more sense than a minority one. The major political party gets the benefit of playing the dominant role in a stable government, with a like-minded – but weaker – partner. The smaller party, in return, gets to participate directly in government decision-making to a greater extent than may have otherwise been the case.

Coalition governments are very common in countries that have long traditions with a proportional representation electoral system. This type of electoral system can often produce a fractured legislature in which no single political party has a majority of seats.

Coalitions in National Crises

Coalition governments are also, on occasion, formed when a single party has a clear majority in the legislature. This type of coalition usually occurs as the result of a national crisis or emergency, such as war or widespread civil unrest, which requires difficult and potentially divisive political decisions. The governing party will seek complete unity in the legislature in dealing with the crisis by inviting opposition parties into government through a coalition. Members of the former opposition parties will take up key government positions and participate in government decision-making.

The purpose of this type of coalition government is quite different from those formed under minority situations. The objective here is not to secure enough seats to form the government; the governing party already possesses a majority in the legislature. Rather, the objective is to organize the legislature in such a way that it can deal with a national crisis in an effective and unified manner. By bringing all parties into government, partisan politics is temporarily removed from the legislative process, and responsibility for difficult policy decisions is spread amongst most or all of the political parties in the legislature.

Grand Coalitions

A grand coalition is a coalition government in a multi-party parliamentary system where the two largest political parties unite in a coalition. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are two dominant parties with different ideological orientations, and a number of smaller parties which are large enough to secure representation in the parliament. The two large parties will each try to secure enough seats in any election to have a majority government alone, and if this fails each will attempt to form a coalition with smaller parties that have a similar ideological orientation. Because the two large parties will tend to differ on major ideological issues, and portray themselves as rivals, or even sometimes enemies, they will usually find it more difficult to agree on a common direction for a combined government with each other than with smaller parties. Consequently, grand coalitions are rare.

Important coalition governments in Canadian history

The Great Coalition (1864-1867)

Prior to Confederation, several coalition governments ruled throughout the Canadian colonies. One of the more important of these was the Great Coalition of 1864-67, which was formed in the Province of Canada. This was a large coalition involving most political parties in the Colony’s legislature at the time. It was formed in order to overcome legislative deadlock that had plagued the Colony for several decades, and eventually led the Colony into Confederation.

At that time, the Province of Canada consisted of Canada West (present day Ontario) and Canada East (present day Quebec), and was heavily divided along linguistic, religious, and ethnic lines. English-speaking Protestants, with strong ties to the British Empire, dominated Canada West. In contrast, Canada East was a former colony of France, and was predominately French-speaking and Catholic.

When the British formed the Province of Canada under the Act of Union, 1840, it gave the Colony a “unitary” parliamentary government in which there was only one level of government with a single legislative assembly. Moreover, the British instituted a double majority rule to govern the operation of the Colony’s assembly. Most parliamentary systems operate under a simple majority rule whereby the government only needs the support of a majority of all members of the assembly to pass legislation. Under the double majority rule, however, the Canadian colonial government needed two majorities. It had to gain the support of the majority of assembly members from Canada West, as well as the majority of members from Canada East.

The intent of this rule was to give each part of the Colony a veto on government legislation. At any time assembly members from either Canada West or Canada East could pool their votes together and defeat any piece of government legislation that they felt was against their interests. The effect of the rule, however, was legislative deadlock and the continual defeat of governments. The Colony’s linguistic and religious divisions resulted in assembly members from one part of the Colony constantly pooling their votes to block the legislative proposals of the other side.

In 1864, a consensus was reached in the Colony’s assembly to create a coalition government to reform the political system and end the legislative deadlock. This coalition government, commonly referred to as the “Great Coalition,” included the Conservative Party, the Clear Grits of Canada West, and the Parti Bleu of Canada East. John A. Macdonald, the leader of the Conservative Party, and Étienne-Paschal Taché became joint heads of the government. The only party not to join the Great Coalition was the Parti Rouge of Canada East.

One of the most important outcomes of the Great Coalition was Confederation, which led to the creation of the Dominion of Canada. The Great Coalition saw confederation with the Maritime colonies as a means of reforming the politics of the Province of Canada and of ending its legislative deadlock. With Confederation, the colony would be dissolved and Canada West and Canada East would become separate provinces, each with their own provincial legislatures and jurisdictions. In 1864, representatives from the Great Coalition proposed the idea of confederation to the Maritime colonies. Three years later the new Dominion of Canada was proclaimed. The Coalition Government was disbanded immediately when Confederation was realized.

The Union Government (1917-20)

Since Confederation there has only been one coalition government in Canada’s history: the Union Government of World War I. This was a coalition between the Conservative Party, led by Robert Borden, and Liberals and independents. The coalition was formed in order to broaden support for the Borden government and its controversial conscription policy.

In 1917, Prime Minister Borden announced that his government was going to introduce conscription to increase troops for the war in Europe. This policy was strongly opposed by many groups in Canada, in particular, French Canadians in Quebec and rural farmers. These groups resented being forced to participate in a British foreign war.

Prime Minister Borden hoped that a coalition government consisting of Conservatives and Liberals would help overcome these growing divisions within the country on this issue. Wilfrid Laurier, then leader of the Liberal Party, was opposed to conscription; he refused to lead his party into a coalition with the Conservatives. Many English-speaking Liberals, however, disagreed with their leader and left the party to join Borden in a coalition commonly referred to as the “Union Government.” Ultimately, the Union Government was successful in wining the general election of 1917 and eventually pushing conscription through Parliament.

With the end of the war in 1918, the primary raison d’être for the Union Government ceased to exist and the coalition began to break apart. Many former Liberals returned to their original political party, and the coalition dissolved completely with Prime Minister Borden’s retirement in 1920.