A Lesson Worth Remembering: The Rae-Peterson Accord

Rae - The Accord 25 Years Later : "The election in early May of 1985 had elected a minority parliament, with the Conservatives at 50, the Liberals at 45 and the NDP at 25.(...) Eugene Forsey, who at that time was generally recognised as a constitutional guru, said an arrangement between two parties, each with fewer seats than the governing party, but able together to command a working majority in the House, was “constitutional in every respect”, and insisted I had the obligation to explore every option to create a stable and working legislature.(...) The Conservatives insisted on meeting the House and bringing in a Throne Speech, but their defeat followed soon after and a new government was sworn in without a constitutional crisis.  The Accord government worked effectively and efficiently, and passed the laws it said it would. (...) In a parliamentary system elections produce a parliament, and parliament makes a government.  That was the lesson learned in 1985.  Prattle about “winning a mandate” with less than a majority in parliament is just that – partisan spin, all sound and fury, signifying nothing.  It is a lesson worth remembering"