Dispatches from the sunburned wastelands

The BBC news anchor was perplexed: "So, the Canadian government just fell, because your Parliament lost confidence in their ability to govern...What does this mean for Canadian politics?"
The Canadian expert being interviewed smiled: "Nothing much, really - there will have to be another election in a month or two, of course, which means campaigning throughout the Christmas holidays."
"But didn't Canada just had an election recently?"
"Yes, but a minority government got elected, you see, and they didn't want to form a coalition, like they do in Europe all the time, they just fought and squabbled, which led to this."
A pause.
"So, what will the outcome of this new election be, do you think? Will that solve the confidence crisis in Canadian politics?"
"Oh no, polls indicate that the liberals will win again, and form anther minority government." The interviewer from the BBC frowned: "So you just had an election, but the people lost confidence in the government, they had a no-confidence vote in parliament, the government fell, and now people are going back to the polls, and it looks like they are going to re-elect the same minority government?"
"Canadians, eh," the Canadian expert said , enigmatically.

Posted by HannesB at 12:31 AM Comments