John Ibbitson today:
We could easily have a situation in which a Liberal minority government is defeated because it cannot work with the NDP, and then a Conservative minority government is defeated because it can't let itself get too close to the Bloc. Since a new governor-general is to be appointed shortly, the Prime Minister should take great care to ensure that he or she is qualified to handle an unstable Parliament.
This aspect of the governor general's role is, to my mind, the most serious reason Romeo Leblanc was such a bad choice for the office - in a real constitutional crisis, he would have had no way of presenting himself as a neutral arbitrator.
Perhaps, given that prime ministers are always going to treat Rideau Hall as a genteel patronage appointment (Hnatyshyn; Leblanc; Clarkson) it would make more sense to give the parliamentary referee function to the Chief Justice, or perhaps to the whole Supreme Court. Or maybe a jury of nursery school teachers; they would have the right conflict resolution skills at their fingertips.
In the meantime, it's a pity Louise Arbour is booked elsewhere. Any other ideas?
Posted by Patrick at March 22, 2004 12:35 PM