First past the post sucks, but we can live with a minority government. Depending on how the undeclared ridings go, there could be two possible coalition governments: Lib/NDP or Lib/BQ. Keeping the Clowns out and the Liberals under control is tolerable.
The Bloc Quebecois are separatists who put Quebec first, but are reasonable on most other issues. The downside of a large number of BQ MPs is that they might be willing to form a coalition with the Clowns if that were an option; the NDP never would.
It will be a Liberal- NDP government. It would be toxic for any party to work with the Bloc politically and the Liberals know that so that will not happen. The NDP suffered big losses and will not be anxious for another election and will thus work with the Liberals. There is also a long tradition of those parties working together federally and and in most regions.
Dustbin may play politics and not sign a fixed coalition with either the NDP or BQ. Either party gives him a majority and the only way a non-confidence vote happens is if both vote with the Clowns. He may play one off against the other in a game of “what you give me?”
Yes, “tolerable” is a good word for it. I was so relieved that it wasn’t a Scheer government, even a minority would have been awful.
Yes, FPTP does suck, partly because (in my part of the country at least) it kept the Greens completely shut out. Their overall popular vote tripled (or so I heard on CBC radio this morning) but it translated into nothing electorally here.
It went from 3.45% to 6.5%, so not quite double. Pity.
Harper taught Parliament how to govern maliciously and unethically in a minority gov’e without cooperating with his “enemies”. I hope Trudeau, who has largely been useless, does not take lessons from Harper’s example.