As the only non-Conservative MP elected in the province of Alberta, there is a chance that newly elected Edmonton-Strathcona representative Linda Duncan could soon find herself sitting at a coalition cabinet table. But with only a handful of MPs from Western Canada, the Liberals and NDP won’t have a large variety of choice in handing out cabinet posts west of the Manitoba-Ontario border.
CalgaryGrit is predicting Winnipeg MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis, Vancouver MP Libby Davies, and Duncan as likely Western Canadian NDP MPs in the coalition cabinet, and I would suggest that Western Liberals could include Saskatchewan MP Ralph Goodale, and BC MPs Ujjal Dosanjh, Keith Martin, and Joyce Murray.
But with such little representation in Western Canada (and rural Ontario), building a broad parliamentary coalition by inviting moderate Conservative MPs to join the cabinet would send a strong signal to Canadians that the extreme partisanship and negative politics of Stephen Harper and Tom Flanagan are the politics of the past.
Perhaps it may be unlikely in this heated political climate, but smart moderate Tories like James Rajotte, Lisa Raitt, and James Moore could excel while working in cooperation with fellow cabinet ministers from other parties. Bringing Conservative MPs into a coalition cabinet could also serve to breakdown the tense partisan divisions between the Conservatives and the opposition parties in Parliament.
In the face of the ‘Collapse of Global Capitalism*’ a united ‘Grand Coalition‘ including MPs from all parties would show Canadians that not only are our elected representatives able to put aside partisan differences aside, but that they can actually work together.
*h/t DW
