In support of the Bloc Québécois

Contrary to everything that I used to believe in, I have recently come to the conclusion that the Bloc Québécois, a Québéc-based separatist party that routinely wins ~15% of the seats in every federal election, is a positive force in Canadian politics.

If you were to have asked me a few months ago what I thought of the federal separatist party I would have loudly denounced them as nothing more than influence peddlers who cared nothing for the rest of Canada and wanted to screw English speaking Canadians out of their tax money and then leave us to rot, like some form of twisted Robin Hood.  Furthermore, as a party that only fields candidates in Québéc, the Bloc cannot claim to be a “federal” political entity.   On these grounds, I would have ranted, the Bloc should not be allowed to run for federal office.

Now here’s the funny thing:  I still believe that Gilles Duceppe and his band of merry separatists are out to screw the rest of us, and that they would like nothing more than to part ways with Anglo Canada taking as much money as possible and shirking their portion of the national debt in the process.

But – unwittingly – they serve a higher purpose.  The Bloc Québécois have become Canada’s useful idiots.

Since 2004, when the lid was blown off of the Sponsorship Scandal, Canada has been living through a series of minority governments, at first led by the Liberal Party, but since 2006 under the control of the Conservatives.

Minority parliaments are a rarity in Canada – there have only been a few times in the country’s history that one of the big two parties has not been able to secure more than 50% of the federal seats, and thus earned the right to govern the country by fiat.  Fortunately, the Liberal party (often called “the Natural Governing Party of Canada”) was seriously destabilized by the revelations of the Sponsorship Scandal and, particularly in Québéc, they have never really recovered.

In theory, minority parliaments are far more favorable than majority parliaments for average Canadian citizens:  if things are work according to plan, the party with the most seats will be able to steer the legislative agenda in general terms, but will be forced to make concessions to the other three parties in order to get bills passed and survive confidence motions.

So far, the theory has sucked; the Conservatives and Liberals are used to dictatorial rule and both clearly want to seize full control over parliament and govern without cooperation – they each want a majority.

This is where the utility of the Bloc Québécois comes in.  It is clear to pollsters that, until something can be done to break the stranglehold that the separatists have on Québéc, there will not be another majority government in Canada.  A strong Bloc means a high likelihood of unending minority parliaments.

Eventually the federal politicians will have to learn how to co-operate.

Functional minority rule will serve all Canadians far better than leftist or rightist dictatorships.  Despite their protestations to the contrary, neither the Conservatives or the Liberals hold all of the answers on how best to govern the country, and in fact sometimes the small parties – the NDP, the Green party, and even the Bloc – have positive contributions to add to the mix.  Drawing on a wider, less polarized set of views and policies, and crafting a legislative agenda that reflects the diversity of Canada should be the ultimate goal.

Of course, the political oligarchy that is used to running Canadian politics unimpeded by the checks and balances that a minority parliament provides, is working to undermine the Bloc Québécois and restore the status quo that has existed since the birth of our nation.  The big parties are already considering ramming through legislation that would add more federal seats to the country’s political map – none in Québéc – thus reducing the overall percentage of parliament that the Bloc can lock up.  Still, experts agree that it may take more than that to return Canada to the days where majorities were common.

Thankfully, it is in the best interests of Quebecers – even those who aren’t keen to see the province separate from the rest of Canada – to keep a powerful contingent of Bloc Québécois MPs in office to actively lobby for their interests.  Québéc has been showered in federal funds by politicians trying to buy their votes, and responding to the bribery will only bring and end to the patronage – so why change votes?

Ironically, the self interest and greed of Québéc nationalists may be the one thing that saves Canada from a return to majority governments, and finally convinces our politicians to cooperate with each other, and become reasonable stewards of the country.  Long live the Bloc Québécois!