Minority Governments in Canada: a Study of Legislative Politics
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MINORITY GOVERNMENTS IN CANADA: A STUDY OF LEGISLATIVE POLITICS Marc Gervais Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Political Science School of Political Studies Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa © Marc Gervais, Ottawa, Canada, 2011 ABSTRACT Despite their prevalence, the study of Canadian minority governments has been the object of few published studies. In particular, the issue of how governments that must rely on the support of one or more opposition parties in Parliament manage to remain in power (viability) and pass their legislative proposals (effectiveness) has not been thoroughly investigated. This study examines the parliamentary dynamics at play in these situations by applying a majority building framework grounded in and supported by three theoretical perspectives, namely the rational choice tradition, new institutionalism, and the role of party politics and party systems, to four minority governments that have occurred in the last 50 years or so: 1- Diefenbaker (1957-1958), 2- Pearson (1963-1965); 3- Clark (1979-1980); and, 4- Harper (2006-2008). The data on the specific circumstances that held during these minority governments has been gathered from archival records, from the recorded debates and votes in the House of Commons, from previous Canadian studies on minority government, from political autobiographies, and from third party accounts of the events at the time. The study finds that majority building is a function of primarily two interrelated variables: 1- bargaining power (interparty dynamics and intra-party cohesion) and 2- agenda control (House business, confidence tests, other institutional features). It also stresses the importance of government concessions as an effective means of achieving desired goals and outcomes. Furthermore, this study highlights the capacity and skill of individual parliamentary actors in the exercise of legislative politics generally and in manipulating institutional and party system levers specifically, as a contributing factor to their government‟s duration and legislative output. This study adds to the empirical knowledge of the minority experience in Canada and provides a conceptual framework to better understand legislative politics and its impact on the success of minority governments in Canada and elsewhere. ii RÉSUMÉ Malgré leur fréquence, les gouvernements minoritaires au Canada n‟ont pas souvent fait l‟objet d‟études. En particulier, peu d‟attention a été portée à la question de comment un gouvernement minoritaire réussi à obtenir l‟appui d‟un ou de plusieurs partis d‟opposition dans le but de rester au pouvoir (viabilité) et de faire passer ses propositions législatives (efficacité). Notre étude examine les dynamiques parlementaires qui se déploient dans ses situations. Plus précisément, elle cherche à les comprendre à la lumière d‟un modèle de stratégies menant au consensus sur un vote parlementaire. Ce modèle est fondé sur trois perspectives théoriques, soit la tradition du choix rationnel, le nouvel institutionnalisme et le rôle de la politique partisane et du système de partis. Nous étudions quatre gouvernements minoritaires des cinquante dernières années : 1- Diefenbaker (1957-1958), 2- Pearson (1963-1965), 3- Clark (1979-1980) et Harper (2006-2008). Nous avons accumulé nos données sur ces gouvernements minoritaires à partir de documents d‟archives, de la transcription des débats et des votes à la Chambre des communes, d‟études canadiennes sur les gouvernements minoritaires, d‟autobiographies politiques et des souvenirs de tierces parties présentes lors du déroulement des événements que nous étudions. Notre étude identifie deux variables liées à la création de majorités législatives au Parlement, soit : 1- le pouvoir de négociation (la dynamique entre les partis et la cohésion à l‟intérieur des partis) et, 2- le contrôle de l‟agenda parlementaire (affaires découlant de la Chambre, les motions de confiance et d‟autres facteurs institutionnels). De plus, elle identifie l‟importance des concessions gouvernementales dans l‟atteinte de ses objectifs. Notre étude souligne l‟importance de la capacité et du doigté des joueurs parlementaires particuliers dans l‟exercice de la politique législative en général et dans la manipulation des composantes institutionnelles et partisanes en particulier pour garantir la longévité et l‟efficacité de leur gouvernement. Notre étude contribue à ajouter à notre connaissance de l‟expérience minoritaire au Canada et nous offre un modèle nous permettant de mieux comprendre la politique législative et sa contribution au succès des gouvernements minoritaires au Canada et ailleurs. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature ....................................................................... 7 I Western European Literature .......................................................... 7 II Legislative Studies in Canada ......................................................... 21 Chapter 3: Research Plan ..................................................................................... 33 I Theoretical Framework ................................................................... 33 II Hypothesis ...................................................................................... 69 III Methodology ................................................................................... 69 Chapter 4: Diefenbaker (1) .................................................................................... 80 Chapter 5: Pearson (1) .......................................................................................... 128 Chapter 6: Clark .................................................................................................... 200 Chapter 7: Harper (1) ............................................................................................ 252 Chapter 8: Conclusion ........................................................................................... 332 Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 349 iv APPENDICES Appendix A Canada‟s 12 Minority Governments ........................................... 363 Appendix B Chronology of Events – Diefenbaker (1) ..................................... 364 Appendix C Key Votes – Diefenbaker (1) ...................................................... 365 Appendix D Government Bills – Diefenbaker (1) ............................................ 367 Appendix E Chronology of Events – Pearson (1) ........................................... 368 Appendix F Letter to Governor General (April 12, 1963) ............................... 373 Appendix G Key Votes – Pearson (1) ............................................................ 376 Appendix H Government Bills – Pearson (1).................................................. 381 Appendix I Chronology of Events – Clark ..................................................... 384 Appendix J Key Votes – Clark ...................................................................... 385 Appendix K Government Bills – Clark ............................................................ 386 Appendix L Gallop Polls, July to December 1979 .......................................... 387 Appendix M Chronology of Events – Harper (1) ............................................. 388 Appendix N Key Votes – Harper (1) ............................................................... 390 Appendix O Government Bills (1) – Harper (1) ............................................... 393 Appendix P Government Bills (2) – Harper (1) ............................................... 395 v LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Majority Building Framework ........................................................... 68 Table 3.2 Duration of Canada‟s Minority Governments ................................... 70 Table 3.3 Legislative Output of Canada‟s Minority Governments .................... 72 Table 3.4 How and Why Canada‟s Minority Governments Ended ................... 73 Table 3.5 Object of Our Study ........................................................................ 75 Table 4.1 Government Activities – Diefenbaker (1) ......................................... 107 Table 5.1 Interesting Facts on Key Votes – Pearson (1) ................................. 190 Table 5.2 Closest Votes – Pearson (1) ........................................................... 191 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 Seat count of the 23rd General Election (June 10, 1957) ................. 81 Figure 5.1 Seat count of the 26th General Election (April 8, 1963) .................... 129 Figure 6.1 Seat count of the 31st General Election (May 22, 1979) .................. 200 Figure 7.1 Seat count of the 39th General Election (January 23, 2006) ............ 253 LIST OF DIAGRAMS Diagram A Duration / Output Axis ..................................................................... 76 vi LIST OF ACRONYMS CCF Co-operative Commonwealth Federation CPC Conservative Party of Canada LPC Liberal Party of Canada MP Member of Parliament NDP New Democratic Party PC Progressive Conservative PMB Private Members‟ Business SC Social Credit SFT Speech from the Throne vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The first sentence of The Canadian Democratic Audit on legislatures reads: “Legislatures, and the men and women who serve in them, are at the