Canadians go to the polls on Monday to elect a new government and prime minister. Until shortly before elections were called, the three main political parties were level pegging in polls at around 30 percent each: the ruling Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau (son of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau), and the Tom Mulcair-led New Democratic Party (NDP). Initially the NDP moved ahead and the Liberals fell behind. Recently Trudeau has been moving up at the expense of his fellow-left of center NDP, with Harper in second place. In the event of a minority government, it is hard to see how Harper could garner support from either Trudeau or Mulcair.
In my analysis of the last federal election (The Japan Times, May 9, 2011), noting the "centralization of power in the hands of the prime minster and political staffers, with the resulting diminution of the role and status of the Cabinet, parliaments and parliamentarians," I expressed concern at "the extent to which constitutional conventions, parliamentary etiquette and civil institutions of good governance have been chipped away in Canada."
Several newspapers have endorsed the Trudeau-led Liberals for believing in dialogue, compromise and consensus instead of division and prejudice. As Montreal's Le Presse put it, "After 10 years of destructive government that lives on meanness and narrow-mindedness, Canada needs a government based on intelligence, dialogue and optimism."