Roundup: May’s magical thinking

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It was Elizabeth May’s turn to go before Peter Mansbridge last night, and as with all other leaders, she too got the basics of government formation wrong – but unlike the others, May just got it wrong in a different way. She insisted that if Harper got a minority government, the opposition parties should be able to call the Governor General to insist that they get a chance to form government before Harper. Nope, that’s not how it works, because the incumbent remains the Prime Minister until he or she resigns. That’s because the position can never be vacant. Ever. Her Majesty must always have a government in place, and it’s the GG’s job to ensure that happens. So really, no matter the result on election night, the leader whose party wins the most seats isn’t invited to form government – the incumbent is still the government until they choose to resign, which may or may not involve testing the confidence of the Chamber first. May also revealed that she has the GG’s number and will make that call herself, as though he is obligated to take it. Remember of course that May has also previously written the Queen about issues, and treated form letter responses as vindication. It’s part of her particular problem of over-reading her mandate – she’s hugely conflated her role as an MP with that of being in government in the past, and it’s a problem with how she interacts with the system. It’s also part of her curious insistence that somehow, a handful of Green MPs sitting in opposition and not in a coalition cabinet would magically make a minority parliament a less fractious place. How, exactly? Did none of the proponents of more minority governments learn any lessons from the three minority parliaments prior to 2011? Apparently not, because the magical thinking prevails.

On the campaign:

  • Stephen Harper announced new funds for an anti-terrorism study while playing up security fears.
  • Thomas Mulcair announced his infrastructure plan, and said the government would likely need more time on an assisted dying law.
  • Justin Trudeau promised a richer youth jobs programme than the one Mulcair announced on Thursday.
  • Here is the Friday campaign roundup.

Good reads:

  • Emmett Macfarlane calls out the Conservatives’ and NDP’s blatantly unconstitutional Senate plans. Kathleen Wynne and Philippe Couillard both denounced Mulcair’s abolition plans, and Harper’s appointment moratorium.
  • Mark Kennedy looks at how the NDP has subtly been shifting their campaign messaging.
  • Cuts to the defence budget have meant cuts to military recruiting – yet Harper has still promised to boost the number of reserves as an election plank.
  • Jason Kenney gave more hints as to action on the refugee crisis, but it still seems limited to cherry picking religious and ethnic minorities.
  • Kady O’Malley and Mark Kennedy discuss the campaign to date (video).
  • The Canadian Press lists all of the candidate gaffes to date.
  • Terry Glavin cuts through the spin and the noise around the Kurdi family’s application for refugee status in Canada.

Odds and ends:

The legendary former mayor of Mississauga has lunch with Laura Stone, and plugs her support for Justin Trudeau.

In case anyone was wondering about the propriety of the Conservatives’ new election consultant, there’s nothing in the Act that would bar him.

Former Harper advisor Bruce Carson goes to court on Monday on charges of influence peddling.