Quote:
Originally Posted by Slava
I see your point here, but the mandate isn't even a majority mandate. If it were there is no issue here.
I don't see your point here. This is the way Canadian politics works. Klein did the same thing when he came to power, as did Stelmach. Campbell did the same thing and so would who ever replaces Harper (assuming he were to hold power long enough).
Dion is really no more "unelected" than Harper. Dion is subject to the same constraints of governing as Harper is really, only he has a smaller number of seats for his own party...otherwise he is relying on the coalition to keep him there, just as Harper was/is.
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That's true in a technical sense, but it's hard to deny that Dion is even weaker than Harper. The election showed two things:
1. Harper's support stayed about the same. He failed to gain any ground in the popular vote, though through vote splitting did gain a modest number of seats.
2. Stephane Dion was widely and roundly rejected by Canadians in nearly every region.
In that sense, I think Ignatieff would actually be a better choice--though it's hard to justify picking him over the other candidates. This is just terrible timing for the Liberals in a lot of ways.