Not so long ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper seemed loathe to say that what he really wanted was a majority. In his early days as Tory leader, voters seemed fearful Harper harboured a secret plan to bring in an extreme conservative agenda.
Seven years later, with support for his leadership high, Harper is pushing hard for a majority for the first time, telling election-weary voters that only "a strong, stable, national majority government" can give Canada the stability it needs.
Polls suggest that voters, too, want a majority. A recent Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll found that 45 per cent of Canadians would like majority government elected on May 2; only 20 per cent said they'd be happy with another minority.
It's hardly surprising that political parties prefer majority wins. Not only are they the mark of a true victory, majorities makes governing easier. With majority support, governments can pass legislation with less opposition and less interruption. Minority governemnts, on the other hand, tend to fall often, as we're seeing here in Canada.
But are minority governments really so bad for voters?
One political expert argues that not only should Canadian voters stop dreading minorities, they should embrace them.
Public Policy Forum president David Mitchell says minority governemnts may actually be a "healthier" political option, because they prevent ruling parties from pushing through their own agendas and force them to co-operate with the others.
Mitchell says one would think that after three successive minority governments over seven years, Canadians would have gotten used to minorities by now. What's more, he points out, many governments all over the world operate by coalition rule.
"Minority governments have become the new normal, not only in Canadian politics but virtually everywhere where there is a Westminster, British-style government," Mitchell told CTV's Canada AM Tuesday from Ottawa.
Britain's David Cameron currently holds the reins of power in a minority government, as does New Zealand's John Key and Australia's Julia Gillard.
"Minorities are very common. In fact, we're living in an age of minority governments," said Mitchell.
Though once rare in Canada, minority governments have been a consistent reality for voters since 2004. Our federal politicians, too, have grown accustomed to them: nearly two-thirds of MPs in the Parliament that just fell had only ever participated in minority governments.
And yet, as the Decima polling numbers suggest, Canadians still seem convinced that majority governments are best.
Perhaps we hold on to the perception that minority governments that don't get anything done, that they're hamstrung by their divisions. But the Public Policy Forum conducted a survey of more than 2,000 voters last fall that showed that a majority of respondents (55 per cent) felt that the minority parliaments of the past seven years have performed effectively, overall.
Canada hasn't had many minority governments, but some have been able to push through contentious and historical legislation. In the 1960s, Lester Pearson's minority Liberal government was able to introduce universal health care by co-operating with the New Democratic Party. Pearson's government also brought in the Canada Pension Plan and government loans for university students – again, by working with the other parties of the day.
"Some very creative public policy comes out of so-called ‘hung' parliaments. But it requires the minority government of the day to work closely with the other parties," Mitchell said.
