Since becoming head of the NDP, Thomas Mulcair has enjoyed great success ridding his party of those remnants of radicalism (explicitly socialist clauses in the constitution, Libby Davies, etc.) that have historically imperiled his party's electoral fortunes. Yet those tempted to take a second look at the New Democrats must remain wary of the radicalism that remains.

Mulcair stands alone this election as the only leader refusing to disavow interest in organizing a backdoor "coalition government" in the event voters do not produce the outcome he desires. It is an agenda more extreme in consequence than any airy commitment to Marxism or loudmouthed backbencher.

40 out of 41 times, Canada's ruling party has been the one that elected the most seats to the House of Commons, even when the total was not an outright majority. The lone exception was the election of 1925, when incumbent Liberal prime minister Mackenzie King was allowed to remain in office despite losing to the Tories 99 to 116. The decision was made by the governor general, who in those days was a lord sent by London to supervise on the Empire's behalf. Canadians of the time still considered themselves subjects of a colony, and were resigned to the occasional intrusion of British power into their self-governance.

Should his party win a plurality of seats this October, Mulcair will happily become prime minister of an NDP minority government. But he jealously guards the privilege.

If the Conservatives win the plurality instead, Mulcair has repeatedly implied his party would begin immediate proceedings to unite with Justin Trudeau's Liberal caucus to prevent Stephen Harper from serving a fourth term, presumably offering himself as PM-alternate.

The anti-democratic nature of this idea can only be defended with coy dishonesty on the campaign trail. Is the Liberal Party truly terrible, or are they acceptable co-governors in waiting? Is Justin Trudeau unfit to rule, or would he make a perfectly decent prime minister so long as Mulcair gets to serve as deputy? "We're ready to work with other parties," Mulcair replies.

More destructive would be the crisis of political legitimacy such a scheme would provoke. Everything Canadians understand about the winning and losing of power over their country would come unraveled in the immediate aftermath of an election — precisely the moment when such things should be clearest.

We received a preview of this in 2008, when Stephane Dion attempted to unseat Prime Minister Harper with a coalition coup of his own, but that scheme bore the obvious hopelessness of occurring months after the last election. Mulcair promises to spark a similar duel between a hostile parliament and a prime minister who has no intention (or obligation) of leaving, but this time in a much more politically sensitive moment.

The plot would require a united-left no-confidence vote against Harper at the first available opportunity, but as the man who summons parliament, Harper could delay this inevitability for months while governing through executive decree alone (not uncommon even in ordinary times; 71 days elapsed between the 2006 election and the first subsequent sitting of parliament).

When parliament did reconvene and pass Mulcair's motion, Harper would almost certainly call a new election. Obnoxious, perhaps, but not unprecedented either. It is here where the crisis really heats up.

Since it is the governor general who formally signs off on election calls, Mulcair presumably expects Governor General Johnston to do something no holder of his office has done in eight decades — ignore the instructions of a prime minister. Indeed, the entire coalition plan hinges on the expectation that an unelected governor general — one appointed by Harper himself, in fact — would have the tenacity to overturn 80 years of Canadian precedent in favor of installing as prime minister a party leader the majority of Canadians had just finished voting against. Plausible in 1925, perhaps, when governor generals possessed England's mandate to act arbitrarily. Today it would be an appalling affront.

In fairness, there are reasons to imagine Mulcair's plan would not get even this far, not the least of which being Justin Trudeau's stated disinterest in playing along. Yet stranger things have happened than Justin Trudeau going back on his word.

Canada's tradition of minority governments is not perfect, but it has the asset of being understood and anticipated. Mulcair's promise to sacrifice it, and fear of the national trauma to follow, deserves to loom over his campaign just as clouds of ill-conceived ideas have darkened all NDP campaigns prior.

 

Written by J.J McCullough