It’s called “minority government fatigue” and a newly-released Canadian Press-Decima Harris poll shows more of us are suffering from it.
The survey shows 64 per-cent of Canadians asked want a majority in the Commons, up from 52 per-cent who responded to a similar poll in 2007.
Huron-Bruce Conservative MP Ben Lobb tells Bayshore Broadcasting News his party’s government is getting things done despite disagreements with and threats from the Opposition Liberals.
Lobb says a minority government works when all parties in the Commons have Canadians’ interests at heart.
Lobb points to discussions between Prime Minister Harper and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff that headed off a vote of non-confidence over the federal budget.
If the government had lost the vote, we might have been in the middle of a federal election campaign by now.
Lobb says Canadians want government that works.
He says whether the government side of the Commons is in a minority or majority position, Canadians want to see results and professional conduct from their MP’s.
Lobb says he was disappointed when the New Democrats panned the federal budget which set off another wave of uncertainty as to whether the Harper government could survive.
Lobb says the NDP made things worse by not suggesting alternatives to what was contained in Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s spending plan for the nation.
Lobb says the key to making a minority government work is willingness to give-and-take and to compromise.
Pollster Jeff Walker says more Canadians may vote strategically in the next election in an effort to put either the Tories or the Liberals into a majority position.