tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/coalition-governments-77468/articlesCoalition governments – The Conversation2023-07-31T10:30:44Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2107222023-07-31T10:30:44Z2023-07-31T10:30:44ZMorrison labels Robodebt findings against him unsubstantiated and absurd and accuses government ‘lynching’ campaign<p>Scott Morrison has accused the Robodebt royal commission of making wrong, unsubstantiated and absurd findings against him, in a detailed statement to parliament.</p>
<p>The former prime minister, who was excoriated by the commission, was unrepentant, giving no ground on any of the criticisms Commissioner Catherine Holmes made of him in her report.</p>
<p>He also accused the government of a “campaign of political lynching” to discredit him and his service to the country, once again weaponising “a quasi-legal process to launder [its] political vindictiveness”. </p>
<p>Rising on the first sitting day after the report’s release during the recess Morrison, speaking to a near-empty house, said he rejected the commission’s findings he had allowed cabinet to be misled, provided untrue evidence, and pressured departmental officials. </p>
<p>Morrison was social services minister when the scheme, announced in the 2015 budget, was being worked up. He was an enthusiast for pursuing savings in the welfare area and saw the plan, based on income averaging, as a powerful means to do this. </p>
<p>But the scheme was found to be illegal and, by the time he was prime minister, it had raised $1.76 billion unlawfully from hundreds of thousand of people, and the government was forced to repay a huge amount in total to people wrongfully pursued for money they didn’t owe.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/robodebt-royal-commissioner-makes-multiple-referrals-for-prosecution-condemning-scheme-as-crude-and-cruel-209318">Robodebt royal commissioner makes multiple referrals for prosecution, condemning scheme as 'crude and cruel'</a>
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<p>In his statement, Morrison reiterated that when he was social services minister and the plan was being prepared, the final advice to him was that legislation was not required, and he had no reason to doubt the integrity and knowledge of officials. This superseded an earlier minute indicating legislation could be needed.</p>
<p>The commission’s suggestion it was reasonable he would or should have formed a contrary view to this advice was “not credible or reasonable,” Morrison told parliament. </p>
<p>He said when the scheme was announced in the 2015 budget, the Labor opposition did not express concerns about its legality. </p>
<p>“The commission’s finding unfairly and retroactively applies a consensus of the understanding of the lawful status of the scheme that simply was not present or communicated at the time,” Morrison said. “This is clearly an unreasonable, untenable and false basis to make the serious allegation of allowing cabinet to be misled.” </p>
<p>Morrison said the commission’s finding he had given untrue evidence was “unsubstantiated, speculative and wrong”, with the commission seeking to reverse the onus of proof. “I had stated in evidence what I understood to be true, the commission failed to disprove this and simply asserted it unilaterally as fact.”</p>
<p>Arguing the commission’s allegation pressure was applied to officials that prevented them giving frank advice was “absurd”, Morrison said the department had already initiated the proposal before he arrived as minister. “How could I have pressured officials into developing such proposals, while serving in another portfolio?”, he said. “The department had already taken the initiative and were the proponents of the scheme.”</p>
<p>Further, “the Commission’s suggestion that an orthodox policy setting of seeking to ensure integrity in welfare payments would be seen as intimidating to the department and its senior executive is both surprising and concerning. That is their job.”</p>
<p>Morrison said that “at no time did the department advise me as minister of the existence of the formal legal advice prepared prior to my arrival in the portfolio, regarding the scheme.” </p>
<p>He said the “uncontested fact that senior departmental executives withheld key information regarding the legality of scheme from their minister is inexcusable.”</p>
<p>Morrison once again expressed his “deep regret” for the scheme’s “unintended consequences” on individuals and their families. </p>
<p>Opposition leader Peter Dutton told the ABC Morrison had put “a very strong case” of his position, and he had been right to put it in parliament. </p>
<p>The commission has referred a list of people involved in Robodebt for further action, but the names have not been released. </p>
<p>A key top bureaucrat involved in the scheme, Kathryn Campbell, has resigned from the public service in the wake of the report’s condemnation of her.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The former prime minister, who was excoriated by the commission, was unrepentant, giving no ground on any of the criticisms Commissioner Catherine Holmes made of him in her report.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1946222023-01-02T19:44:54Z2023-01-02T19:44:54ZMMP in New Zealand turns 30 at this year’s election – a work in progress, but still a birthday worth celebrating<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499402/original/file-20221207-12-c8ddx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5607%2C3724&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a tidy alignment of round numbers, this year’s general election will also mark the 30th anniversary of the <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/25-years-since-mmp-referendum/">binding referendum</a> that ushered in the <a href="https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/what-is-new-zealands-system-of-government/what-is-mmp/">mixed member proportional</a> (MMP) system of voting. It will also be the tenth election held under the proportional system, truly a generational milestone in New Zealand’s political history.</p>
<p>But the public disquiet that led to the country voting out the old first-past-the-post (FPP) system goes further back, at least as far as the 1978 and 1981 elections. Both saw the centre-left Labour Party lose, despite having won a higher percentage of the vote than the victorious centre-right National Party. </p>
<p>The winner-takes-all nature of FPP also sidelined popular minority parties. In 1981, for example, the Social Credit Party won 20.7% of the vote but only two seats. In fact, most parties’ seats in parliament rarely reflected their share of the vote. </p>
<p>In 1984, Labour commanded 60% of parliament, having won only 43% of the vote. Six years later, National owned 70% of the seats based on 47.8% of the vote. As Lord Hailsham famously put it, Westminster jurisdictions were (and are) effectively “<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-polls-showing-labour-could-govern-alone-is-new-zealand-returning-to-the-days-of-elected-dictatorship-146918">elected dictatorships</a>”. </p>
<p>FPP governments tended to deploy their parliamentary majorities with the kind of arrogance that eventually led to the vote for change. Moreover, FPP parliaments failed to reflect the country’s demographic diversity: 77 of the 99 members of the final FPP parliament were men, there were only eight Māori MPs, a single Pasifika MP, and no one of Asian heritage. Hardly a house of representatives.</p>
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<span class="caption">Prime Minister David Lange in 1985: a TV blunder led to electoral change.</span>
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<h2>Accidental reform</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/what-is-new-zealands-system-of-government/report-of-the-royal-commission-on-the-electoral-system/">Royal Commission on the Electoral System</a> (RCES) made an early case for change in 1986, but until the late 1980s electoral reform was a niche issue. It took a televised blunder from Labour prime minister David Lange to ignite the debate. </p>
<p>In the final leaders’ debate before the 1987 election, National’s Jim Bolger criticised Lange for ignoring the RCES recommentations. To his own colleagues’ surprise, Lange then went off-script and <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/35680/party-leaders-debate-1987">gave an undertaking</a> that Labour would stage a referendum if reelected. </p>
<p>Lange reneged on the promise, enabling Bolger to give his own commitment during the 1990 campaign that a National government would hold a single binding referendum on the electoral system.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/labours-single-party-majority-is-not-a-failure-of-mmp-it-is-a-sign-nzs-electoral-system-is-working-148328">Labour's single-party majority is not a failure of MMP, it is a sign NZ's electoral system is working</a>
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<p>In the event, National strung the process out by legislating for two referendums. An indicative ballot in September 1992 was the first time in a Westminster parliamentary democracy that citizens were given the opportunity to change their electoral system – 84.7% of the 55% of eligible voters who turned out opted for change, and 70.5% indicated a preference for MMP. </p>
<p>That result triggered the second and binding referendum, a straight drag race between FPP and MMP, held in conjunction with the 1993 general election. The campaign leading up to the crucial decision was divisive and at times dirty.</p>
<p>On one side stood the pro-MMP Electoral Reform Coalition, supported by the minor political parties, Grey Power, some unions and the Māori Congress. On the other side, the Campaign for Better Government was backed by powerful corporate lobby group the Business Roundtable, the Employers Federation and a number of chambers of commerce. </p>
<p>Neither Labour nor National took an official position, but most MPs supported FPP. Indeed, Labour’s Helen Clark and National’s Simon Upton established the bi-partisan Campaign for First-Past-the-Post.</p>
<p>The second referendum was far closer than the first, with 53.9% ticking the box for MMP. But the result meant that when the country went to the polls in 1996, it was under a new electoral system. Contrary to some predictions, the sky did not fall.</p>
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<span class="caption">MMP in action: more women, more minorities in parliament.</span>
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<h2>Moderation and compromise</h2>
<p>Fast forward three decades and the political landscape has changed considerably. Parliament is larger, with 120 members (<a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/have-your-say/vote-in-elections/">occasionally one or two more</a>, depending on the electoral caclulus), and therefore better placed to scrutinise executive activity. </p>
<p>It’s also more diverse than its FPP predecessors: the current House of Representatives contains more or less equal numbers of female and male MPs, 25 Māori MPs (bearing out the hopes of those for whom MMP meant “more Māori parliamentarians”) and 18 members of Chinese, Cook Island Māori, Eritrean, Indian, Iranian, Korean, Maldivian, Mexican, Samoan, Sri Lankan and Tongan descent.</p>
<p>There are also wider lessons to be drawn. The arguments of naysayers notwithstanding, MMP has not led to government instability. We have learned how to form and maintain <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/10/what-is-confidence-and-supply-and-how-does-it-differ-from-a-coalition.html">multi-party and minority governments</a>, none of which has fallen to a confidence motion or failed to pass a budget. And, unlike <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/20/1130184234/liz-truss-prime-minister-resigns-uk-turmoil">the original Westminster jurisdiction</a>, New Zealand prime ministers have generally seen out multiple
parliamentary terms.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/coalitions-kingmakers-and-a-rugby-world-cup-the-calculations-already-influencing-next-years-nz-election-195010">Coalitions, kingmakers and a Rugby World Cup: the calculations already influencing next year’s NZ election</a>
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<p>MMP also tends towards <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300426130/mmp-at-25-mmp-has-changed-parliament-for-good-but-has-it-stopped-parliament-changing-new-zealand">policy moderation</a>. For some – including the senior public servants who hoped it would lock in the public financial management reforms of the 1980s and 1990s – that’s the point. Others argue it prevents decisive policy action. </p>
<p>Despite heading a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54582346">single party majority government</a> – the only one under MMP, and the first since 1951 to secure a majority of the vote – Jacinda Ardern has tended not to rule by virtual decree the way some of her FPP predecessors did. She has been cautious (<a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/co-governance-work-looks-set-to-be-put-on-hold">too much so for some</a>), mindful that more normal minority or coalition government <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/468165/political-poll-national-on-39-percent-while-labour-drops">will inevitably soon return</a>.</p>
<p>Ardern’s reluctance to throw her parliamentary weight around can be read another way, too. The imperative under MMP to build and maintain executive and legislative alliances also encourages political centrism. </p>
<p>Compromise can be frustrating, but over the long haul it can also help prevent the kind of <a href="https://inquirepublication.com/how-the-first-past-the-post-electoral-system-is-polarizing-the-us/">political division</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/28/boris-johnsons-move-to-prorogue-parliament-a-constitutional-outrage-says-speaker">constitutional chicanery</a> that have plagued nations with FPP electoral systems. Zero-sum games tend to apply in electoral politics: when winners take it all, others lose out. </p>
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<span class="caption">Coalition and compromise: Deputy Prime Minister and NZ First leader Winston Peters with Jacinda Ardern in 2020.</span>
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<h2>A work in progress</h2>
<p>Not everything has changed under MMP. True, small parties are often central to the formation of governments, either as formal coalition partners or parliamentary support parties, but the two major players continue to dominate. </p>
<p>Their combined vote share has dropped – in the nine elections before 1996, National and Labour captured 82.5% of the vote between them, compared with 72% across all nine MMP elections. But under MMP they have provided all of the prime ministers, the overwhelming share of cabinet ministers, and the vast majority of budget commitments.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lowering-new-zealands-voting-age-to-16-would-be-good-for-young-people-and-good-for-democracy-145008">Lowering New Zealand's voting age to 16 would be good for young people – and good for democracy</a>
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<p>MMP also needs refining as it evolves. The increase in the number of constituency seats relative to list seats is eroding the system’s capacity to deliver true proportionality. </p>
<p>And the thresholds for securing parliamentary seats are under scrutiny as part of the <a href="https://electoralreview.govt.nz/">Independent Electoral Review</a>. The 5% party vote threshold is <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/debate-should-the-mmp-5-per-cent-party-vote-threshold-be-reduced/7MITXPCYZQXTHPHZFKJ2JZE3EU/">arguably too high</a>, while the ability to “coat tail” several MPs into parliament off a single constituency win <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/brian-rudman-cut-off-the-coat-tails-and-end-mmp-rorts/3EE5YIFEHX3Q6IOXJ2SCYWHUQ4/">unduly advantages small parties</a>. But those are details in which there are few, if any, devils. </p>
<p>Aotearoa New Zealand, as elsewhere, faces challenges to its democracy. But coalition governments and diverse parliaments are not among them. Most people won’t notice when MMP celebrates its tenth election this year – that alone is a sign of just how far we’ve come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194622/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Shaw does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It was the first time in a Westminster democracy that citizens were given the chance to change their electoral system. The rest is history.Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1733382021-12-08T15:27:27Z2021-12-08T15:27:27ZHere are five factors that drove low voter turnout in South Africa’s 2021 elections<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436313/original/file-20211208-25-myoagt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Abstention in the 2021 local government election was largely driven by a combination of individual and administrative barriers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Guillem Sartorio/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Why do so few South Africans vote? The 2021 local government elections witnessed the lowest turnout for democratic elections in South Africa: <a href="https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/csir-predicts-48-voter-turnout-for-2021-local-government-elections/">just under half</a> of registered voters came to the polls. This reflects a longer trajectory of declining voter turnout, which has been in evidence since <a href="https://www.kas.de/documents/261596/10543300/The+South+African+non-voter+-+An+analysis.pdf/acc19fbd-bd6d-9190-f026-8d311078b670?version=1.0&t=1608">at least 2009</a>. </p>
<p>South Africa is not alone in facing declining voter participation. Internationally, this is a trend that has been documented <a href="https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/voter-turnout-trends-around-the-world.pdf">since the 1990s</a>. Nonetheless, falling turnout is a critical barometer of the health of the post-apartheid democratic project. How people vote is a signal of their political and ideological preferences – but whether they vote at all tells us something about people’s approval or disapproval of the institution of democracy itself, as they experience it. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.kas.de/documents/261596/10543300/The+South+African+non-voter+-+An+analysis.pdf/acc19fbd-bd6d-9190-f026-8d311078b670?version=1.0&t=1608">Most of the available research</a> into the barriers to voting and motivations for abstention has used social attitudes surveys, either conducted before or some time after an election. While valuable, such surveys cannot capture the mood of the people in the period immediately after the election. </p>
<p>This is what we set out to do. <a href="https://www.kas.de/documents/261596/10543300/Methods+brief.pdf/23b045d3-4368-ad32-41d6-78797dae92da?version=1.0&t=1638353453174">With our team</a> we conducted 3,905 telephone interviews, talking to both voters and non-voters in five metropolitan municipalities: eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay and the cities of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Tshwane. People were asked about their participation in the 2021 and 2016 local government elections, as well as the 2019 national and provincial election.</p>
<p>Five main reasons emerged for not voting. The most common were individual barriers and administrative barriers, followed by complaints about service delivery and corruption, uninterest or disillusionment, and a lack of political alignment. </p>
<p>Our research supports <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02589346.2020.1715161?journalCode=cpsa20">other analysis</a> highlighting that the South African electorate is becoming less tied to race and identity based voting but are increasingly making a wider evaluation of the performance of political incumbents.</p>
<h2>Who are non-voters?</h2>
<p>Electoral non participation was a <a href="https://www.kas.de/documents/261596/10543300/Voter+abstention.pdf/f68bc266-00e4-8070-f074-3b466ac5119f?version=1.0&t=1638354848974">much more fluid phenomenon</a> than we had anticipated. </p>
<p>When looking at voter abstention amongst eligible voters across the last three elections, we found that only 14% of those surveyed had abstained in all three of the last elections – a category to whom we referred as “hardened abstainer”. </p>
<p>Of those who abstained in the 2021 poll, more than half (58%) had voted in at least one of the last two elections. In contrast, 59% of those surveyed who had abstained in the previous two elections opted to vote in the 2021 election. This highlights that, while we know that more people are choosing to abstain, this is also a complex phenomenon: people are making largely context-based decisions on whether to vote or not.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.kas.de/documents/261596/10543300/Voter+abstention.pdf/f68bc266-00e4-8070-f074-3b466ac5119f?version=1.0&t=1638354848974">Our research</a> showed that non-voters were more likely to be young (under 35), and students – 59% of whom abstained from the 2021 local government election within the five municipalities. They are also more likely to be black African, Indian or coloured than white. Non-voting was also higher at both the lowest and highest income groups. </p>
<p>But voter abstention is driven by much more than a socio-demographic profile: it reflects how people assess the political landscape.</p>
<h2>Five key reasons</h2>
<p>We asked participants to explain in their own words why they chose not to vote. Five main reasons emerged.</p>
<p>A third (34%) of the responses cited an individual barrier. The most common were not being in their registered voting district on election day, being at work or simply being too busy. </p>
<p>A further 22% indicated some form of administrative barrier. The most common reasons here were not being registered or not having an ID. Of this group, about a quarter had attempted to vote but encountered a problem at the voting station; either they found they were not registered or were registered in a different voting district. </p>
<p>The third most common explanation was what we termed performance evaluations – reasons related to complaints about service delivery and corruption. This accounted for 19% of explanations and centred on people not having seen changes for themselves or their communities. </p>
<p>One respondent said:</p>
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<p>…according to me … this thing of voting is useless because there is corruption and we are not working. This voting this is not working for us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Performance evaluations were more frequently cited by black African non-voters and by the unemployed. They also featured more prominently in the explanations provided by those living in informal settlements (30%), backyard rooms (27%) and township and government-provided RDP houses (21%) than in those offered by people living in suburban houses (11%) and of those living in flats, apartments or townhouses (12%).</p>
<p>A further 17% were uninterested or disillusioned with voting. Men spoke of this more often than women, as did those with higher levels of education. Levels of self-reported uninterest and disillusionment also seemed to increase with income: 32% of those earning more than R40,000 a month reported being uninterested and disillusioned, about double the rate of those earning under R10,000 a month.</p>
<p>A lack of political alignment was the least common reason, accounting for only 4% of explanations overall. However, it is interesting to note that this reason was more commonly expressed among high income earners. </p>
<h2>The future of voter turnout</h2>
<p>Overall, then, abstention in the 2021 local government election was largely driven by a combination of individual and administrative barriers. Not registering to vote is a preemptive disengagement from electoral democracy, while being “too busy” suggests that participating in electoral democracy is not strongly valued by some. These reasons are deeply suggestive of a particular form of disengagement from electoral democracy</p>
<p>Encouragingly, our findings seem to suggest that voter abstention is a fluid phenomenon. Abstaining in one election does not necessarily mean disengagement with the electoral process forever. This, perhaps, puts the onus on political parties to connect with those who disengaged from the 2021 local government election and speak to their concerns.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173338/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carin Runciman received funding from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung for this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Bekker received funding from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung for this research. </span></em></p>The South African electorate is becoming less tied to race and identity-based voting but are increasingly making a wider evaluation of the performance of political incumbents.Carin Runciman, Director, Centre for Social Change, University of JohannesburgMartin Bekker, Computational Social Scientist, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1382742020-05-19T14:04:27Z2020-05-19T14:04:27ZCanada missing in action on Israel’s proposed annexation of the West Bank<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335763/original/file-20200518-83348-18x2o78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6720%2C4124&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People keep social distance amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak during a protest against the coalition deal between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz and government corruption in Tel Aviv on May 2, 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The leaders of the two of Israel’s largest political parties — Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz — <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/05/18/857728475/agreeing-on-almost-nothing-a-shaky-coalition-government-takes-office-in-israel">have formed a coalition government</a>. </p>
<p>In an initial six-month period, the coalition will address only two issues: <a href="https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/covid-19-concerns-were-behind-israel-power-sharing-deal">fighting COVID-19</a> and annexing significant parts of the West Bank.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52680096">The annexation agreement was met with swift condemnation</a> by an array of countries and institutions, as well as Israeli human rights activists. In contrast, Canada has developed a debilitating case of diplomatic laryngitis on this issue.</p>
<p>Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, <a href="https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/77856/israel-statement-high-representative-josep-borrell_en">stated on April 23 that:</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“… any annexation would constitute a serious violation of international law. The European Union will continue to monitor the situation and its broader implications, and will act accordingly.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>At the UN Security Council, the French ambassador offered <a href="https://onu.delegfrance.org/The-two-state-solution-is-the-only-way-to-bring-a-sustainable-peace-to-the">a strong denunciation</a> on the same day: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It would constitute a blatant violation of international law, which strictly prohibits the acquisition by force of occupied territories. Such steps if implemented would not pass unchallenged and shall not be overlooked in our relationship with Israel.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The other four European members of the Security Council — the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prioritising-peace-and-cooperation-in-the-middle-east-in-the-midst-of-covid-19">United Kingdom</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/BelgiumUN/status/1253347689368104960">Belgium</a>, <a href="https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/77856/israel-statement-high-representative-josep-borrell_en">Germany</a> and <a href="https://un.mfa.ee/national-statement-at-the-un-security-council-on-middle-east/">Estonia</a> — also criticized the looming threat of annexation.</p>
<h2>Ireland, Norway speak up</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.dfa.ie/pmun/newyork/news-and-speeches/speeches/2019/un-security-council-debate-on-the-middle-east.html">Ireland</a> and <a href="https://www.norway.no/en/missions/UN/statements/security-council/2020/unsc-the-situation-in-the-middle-east-including-the-palestinian-question/">Norway</a>, the two countries Canada is competing against for two open United Nations Security Council seats in 2021-22, have both publicly opposed Israel’s annexation plans.</p>
<p>Leading Israeli human rights organizations, including <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-no-gantz-democracy-and-annexation-don-t-go-together-1.8798600">B’Tselem</a> and <a href="https://www.yesh-din.org/en/the-potential-impact-of-west-bank-annexation-by-israel-on-the-human-rights-of-palestinian-residents/">Yesh Din</a> — have spoken out against the proposed annexation. A <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/the-occupied-territories-bill-1.4246708">joint letter</a> by prominent liberal Israelis — including former ambassadors, the former speaker of the Israeli Knesset and prominent writers — said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“For too long the world has sufficed with issuing condemnations in response to the government of Israel’s ongoing breach of international law and its human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But where’s Canada? As a Special Rapporteur for the United Nations Human Rights Council on the situation in the Palestinian territory, I argue that Canada is missing in action. </p>
<p>No public statements against Israel’s annexation proposal have been issued. No planned accountability measures have been floated. No criticism, however mild, has been offered.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335767/original/file-20200518-83357-16n5l5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335767/original/file-20200518-83357-16n5l5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335767/original/file-20200518-83357-16n5l5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335767/original/file-20200518-83357-16n5l5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335767/original/file-20200518-83357-16n5l5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335767/original/file-20200518-83357-16n5l5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335767/original/file-20200518-83357-16n5l5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335767/original/file-20200518-83357-16n5l5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne speaks to reporters in Ethiopia in February 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In mid-March, Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne did, however, issue a statement related to illegal annexation. <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2020/03/statement-by-minister-of-foreign-affairs-on-sixth-anniversary-of-illegal-annexation-of-crimea.html">He marked</a> the sixth anniversary of the Russian annexation of Crimea by saying that: “Canada unequivocally condemns this violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and of international law.”</p>
<h2>Violation of international law</h2>
<p>The unilateral annexation of territory is <a href="https://undocs.org/A/73/447">strictly prohibited</a> in international law. This is a centrepiece of the 1945 Charter of the United Nations, and has been consolidated by treaties and resolutions, judicial rulings and scholarly writings ever since.</p>
<p>Indeed, this prohibition has acquired the status of a <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199796953/obo-9780199796953-0124.xml"><em>jus cogens</em></a> norm in international law, meaning that it is accepted as a fundamental principle of law by the international community and no exceptions are permitted. </p>
<p>Territorial conquest and annexation are now regarded as intolerable scourges from darker times because they invariably incite devastating wars, political instability, economic ruin, systematic discrimination and widespread human suffering.</p>
<p>Speaking specifically to the five-decade-long Israeli occupation, the UN Security Council has affirmed, on eight occasions since 1967, the principle of “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory” by war or force. This principle was cited by the council to condemn as unlawful Israel’s two prior annexations of <a href="http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/478">East Jerusalem, in 1980,</a> and the <a href="https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/73D6B4C70D1A92B7852560DF0064F101">Syrian Golan Heights in 1981.</a></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335867/original/file-20200518-83348-6ewy1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335867/original/file-20200518-83348-6ewy1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335867/original/file-20200518-83348-6ewy1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335867/original/file-20200518-83348-6ewy1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335867/original/file-20200518-83348-6ewy1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335867/original/file-20200518-83348-6ewy1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335867/original/file-20200518-83348-6ewy1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The UN Security Council meets on the situation in Syria at UN headquarters in October 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mary Altaffer</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, Canada, along with most of its western allies, swiftly followed their unreserved condemnations <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2019/03/canada-imposes-new-sanctions-in-response-to-russias-aggressive-actions.html">with substantive economic and political counter-measures.</a> </p>
<p>Russia was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/24/politics/obama-europe-trip/index.html">expelled from the G8</a>, import and export bans were imposed for goods manufactured in Crimea, an array of economic sanctions and restrictions were enforced and targeted individuals faced travel bans and asset freezes. </p>
<h2>Part of Trump’s ‘peace’ plan</h2>
<p>The Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank is a central feature of U.S. President Donald Trump’s so-called <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/peacetoprosperity/">Peace to Prosperity</a> Plan on the Middle East, announced in late January 2020.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-so-called-mideast-peace-plan-dispossesses-palestinians-132182">Trump’s so-called Mideast 'peace plan' dispossesses Palestinians</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In response, the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-eu/eu-rejects-trump-middle-east-peace-plan-annexation-idUSKBN1ZY1I9">European Union</a> stated that the plan broke with “internationally agreed parameters,” while <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/484260-pope-warns-of-inequitable-solutions-after">Pope Francis</a> warned about the “danger of inequitable solutions.” </p>
<p>According to an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/27/grave-concern-about-us-plan-to-resolve-israel-palestine-conflict">open letter</a> from 50 former European prime ministers and foreign ministers:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The plan envisages a formalization of the current reality in the occupied Palestinian territory, in which two peoples are living side by side without equal rights. Such an outcome has characteristics similar to apartheid — a term we don’t use lightly.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2020/01/statement-by-foreign-minister-on-the-release-of-us-middle-east-peace-plan.html">Canada’s official response</a> was a vanilla statement by Champagne that would have left no one in the White House unhappy. He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Canada recognizes the urgent need to renew efforts toward a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and will carefully examine the details of the U.S. initiative for the Middle East peace process.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335771/original/file-20200518-83371-6qubf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335771/original/file-20200518-83371-6qubf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335771/original/file-20200518-83371-6qubf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335771/original/file-20200518-83371-6qubf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335771/original/file-20200518-83371-6qubf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335771/original/file-20200518-83371-6qubf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335771/original/file-20200518-83371-6qubf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335771/original/file-20200518-83371-6qubf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Harper and Netanyahu talk following a joint news conference in Jerusalem in January 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2010, Canada <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/security-council-rejection-a-deep-embarrassment-for-harper/article1370239/">lost its prior bid</a> for a Security Council seat partly because of the Stephen Harper government’s supine embrace of Israel. </p>
<p>In 2015, newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that “Canada is back” on the world stage and <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/backgrounders/2018/06/10/building-more-peaceful-and-secure-world">promised to support</a> a rules-based international order.</p>
<h2>Same as it ever was under Trudeau</h2>
<p>Yet <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02722011.2018.1434552">under Trudeau</a>, Canada has maintained Harper’s consistent pro-Israel voting record at the UN General Assembly, and avoided even polite criticism of Israeli behaviour in the occupied Palestinian territory that most other middle powers routinely censure. </p>
<p>In 2018, Canada’s Parliament renewed its free-trade agreement with Israel, which continues to allow goods from the illegal Israeli settlements to enter the Canadian market tariff-free, notwithstanding <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-45.9/">domestic legislation</a> that designates civilian settlements in occupied territory to be war crimes.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-updated-trade-agreement-with-israel-violates-international-law-117547">Canada’s updated trade agreement with Israel violates international law</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In its current Security Council bid, Canada faces two serious challengers in Norway and Ireland that have solid international reputations, the built-in support of their European neighbours and a principled position on the protracted Israeli occupation of Palestine. </p>
<p>If Canada’s campaign for a council seat is once again unsuccessful, its taciturn approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will surely have been a contributing factor.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138274/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Lynk is Associate Professor of Law at Western University. He was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2016 as the Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. </span></em></p>In 2015, Justin Trudeau announced that ‘Canada is back’ and promised to support a rules-based international order. Yet Canada has maintained the previous Conservative government’s pro-Israel stance.Michael Lynk, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1244492019-10-16T16:27:46Z2019-10-16T16:27:46ZWhy Canada should embrace a coalition-style ‘fellowship of parties’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297370/original/file-20191016-98640-wpwcsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5960%2C2782&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Jagmeet Singh of the NDP could all play roles if Canada opts for a coalition government.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes/Chris Wattie/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh broke a cardinal rule of Canadian politics recently when he dropped the “c” word — <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-coalition-ndp-windsor-1.5320394">coalition</a>. Although coalitions are healthy, democratic and quite common around the world, Canada’s two biggest political parties use it as a blunt object to scare voters. </p>
<p>Canada has been governed by Liberals or Conservatives for its entire <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=his&document=chap2&lang=e">152-year history</a>, and in all that time, neither party has seriously delivered changes to the electoral system that would reflect what voters ask for at the ballot box. </p>
<p>It’s difficult to let go of power, especially when you allow yourself to believe you’re revered. That’s the stuff of dictatorships, though, and it should have no role in a democracy. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297162/original/file-20191015-98661-1fc9l1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297162/original/file-20191015-98661-1fc9l1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297162/original/file-20191015-98661-1fc9l1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297162/original/file-20191015-98661-1fc9l1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297162/original/file-20191015-98661-1fc9l1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297162/original/file-20191015-98661-1fc9l1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297162/original/file-20191015-98661-1fc9l1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297162/original/file-20191015-98661-1fc9l1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trudeau and Singh chat following a recent leaders’ debate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The promise was clear in the <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/macleans-annotates-the-2015-speech-from-the-throne/">2015 Speech from the Throne</a> — first-past-the-post elections were toast and Canada’s antiquated electoral system would finally see the overhaul we so desperately need. First-past-the-post means that in every riding, the candidate who wins the most votes wins. The winner doesn’t need an absolute majority, or more than 50 per cent of the votes.</p>
<p>But the allure of <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-for-canada-in-new-zealands-indigenous-friendly-electoral-system-83768">total power</a> that first-past-the-post offers to political parties earning less than 40 per cent of the popular vote is apparently too seductive. So here we are again.</p>
<p>We’re stuck with first-past-the-post in Canada, but that doesn’t mean we have to return to the time-honoured tradition of using our vote as nothing more than a veto of the worst possible option. That’s how Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer want us to understand minority parliaments, because they both thirst for inflated majorities. </p>
<p>We can work creatively to bring about democratic renewal, but doing so requires a firm commitment from key opposition parties like the NDP, Greens and even the Bloc Québécois. </p>
<h2>Look to Trinidad & Tobago</h2>
<p>My proposal is simple — do what Trinidad and Tobago did in their 2010 election. Faced with a mighty incumbent party and a desire to change their first-past-the-post system into something that better translated votes into seats, opposition parties formed the <a href="https://jyoticommunication.blogspot.com/2010/05/column-test-begins-for-kamlas.html">People’s Partnership</a> in which each member maintained their party’s distinctiveness, but came together on several overlapping interests. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297156/original/file-20191015-98661-6or8f4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297156/original/file-20191015-98661-6or8f4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297156/original/file-20191015-98661-6or8f4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297156/original/file-20191015-98661-6or8f4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297156/original/file-20191015-98661-6or8f4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297156/original/file-20191015-98661-6or8f4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297156/original/file-20191015-98661-6or8f4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297156/original/file-20191015-98661-6or8f4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister-elect Kamla Persad-Bissessar waves to supporters at her party headquarters on the night of the general election in 2010 after her five-party coalition won the vote.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This was not a traditional coalition government. That’s because unlike coalition governments that are cobbled together when a single party fails to win a majority of seats, such an arrangement is carefully negotiated ahead of the election and delivered to citizens so they have a real choice ahead of the election. </p>
<p>Candidates would run in the election under their party’s banner — be it Green, NDP, BQ or as an Independent — with the clear understanding that they intend to work with fellow parties as promised ahead of the vote. </p>
<p>This would lead to far more seats for all these parties. And it puts voters in charge of essentially hiring a government for four years, rather than leaving them to the whim of partisan horse-trading that follows a minority election.</p>
<p>Even if we had a <a href="https://www.fairvote.ca/proportional-representation/">proportional representation</a> system, the best we could hope for is a small party acting as a king- or queen-maker. That lets the small party veto policy, but only if they are willing to fight an election.</p>
<p>This is better, sure, but we should be dispensing with royalty, not trying to exercise just a little more control over it.</p>
<p>You might be thinking: What makes this proposal different from just forming a new party? </p>
<h2>Party loyalty demanded</h2>
<p>A fellowship of parties maintains party distinctiveness, and establishes a temporary basis of unity until the goals are achieved. Forming a new party or switching our electoral model won’t remedy the <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2019/proportional-representation-wont-fix-canadas-accountability-problem/">fundamental democratic failings of our system and its related political culture</a>, in particular how it demands party loyalty. </p>
<p>Jody Wilson-Raybould, former Liberal justice minister and attorney general, recently told <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-september-25-2019-1.5295787/jody-wilson-raybould-wants-a-minority-government-and-is-willing-to-work-with-whomever-is-in-power-1.5295789"><em>The Current</em></a> that the confines of party whips and political agenda are harming the ability of members of Parliament to do what is right, which shaped her decision to run as an Independent.</p>
<p>If the NDP, Greens, BQ and influential Independents like Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott formed a limited partnership — a one-term government collaborating on areas of overlapping interest — they could win the election or, at a minimum, offer a powerful and constructive perspective on critical issues facing the next Parliament. </p>
<p>Such a fellowship would negotiate who would represent the group, and by extension, an actual majority of voters. This person would be both the leader of their individual party and the leader of the one-term fellowship. </p>
<p>Ultimately, their priorities would be up to them to determine, but in my reading of the non-contentious points of agreement in Canada based on what parties have been talking about publicly, it would include:</p>
<p>1) Committing to be a one-term government, with no ambition of seeking re-election. This will protect whoever leads the fellowship from falling victim to the allure of power that contaminated Justin Trudeau and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/msj-rejects-kamlas-unity-call-6.2.908614.a92abf41fc">former Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissesser</a>, who both got cold feet when it came time to deliver on electoral reform. It cost Persad-Bissesser her job, and Trinidad & Tobago their chance at democratic renewal. </p>
<p>The People’s Partnership in Trinidad accomplished lots in its tenure in office, but failed to overcome the hubris of majority power. They had no one-term commitment, and sought to preserve their own majority status in subsequent elections, which they lost. We must learn from that mistake in Canada — a one-term commitment solidifies a serious promise to Canadian voters. </p>
<p>2) Working toward democratic renewal, including lowering the voting age from 18 to 16. Much has been done by all parties on this in the last Parliament, and it should be resumed. <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5962709/montreal-climate-strike-photographs/">Teenagers are more politically engaged</a> than ever, and if <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-oct-3-2019-1.5306425/thursday-october-3-2019-full-episode-transcript-1.5307937">16-year-olds</a> can drive, carry a gun in the Canadian Army Reserves and give sexual consent, they should be able to vote.</p>
<p>3) Addressing the <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2019/09/24/Takeaways-Canada-UN-Climate-Emergency-Meeting-New-York/">climate emergency</a> and its broad implications, including Indigenous sovereignty and provincial jurisdiction.</p>
<p>4) Expanding national <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5882960/what-is-pharmacare-canada/">pharmacare</a> and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5951503/election-2019-toronto-child-care/">daycare</a></p>
<p>5) Marginally increasing taxes on the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5981369/canada-election-2019-tax-cuts-hikes/">wealthiest</a>. </p>
<p>6) Building nation-to-nation relationships with Indigenous Peoples across the country instead of reducing their concerns <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/unreserved-heads-to-the-polls-1.5314954/we-seem-to-have-completely-fallen-off-the-radar-an-indigenous-take-on-the-2019-election-1.5315050">to pipelines</a>. This includes enshrining the principles <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html">of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)</a> into Canadian law.</p>
<p>It ain’t perfect, but it’s a concrete start.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ajay Parasram is affiliated with The MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance as well as the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, NS Office. </span></em></p>We’re stuck with first-past-the-post electoral system in Canada, but that doesn’t mean we have to use our vote as nothing more than a veto of the worst possible option.Ajay Parasram, Assistant Professor and Founding Fellow, MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.