Category Archives: Reform

When Snap Elections Are Good and Just

Posted on 2018/08/15 by

Introduction Journalists who cover politics often suffer from crippling boredom in the summer months when Parliament sits not and no longer provides them with a steady stream of headline fodder. Susan Delacourt and Andrew Coyne in June 2018 started raising … Continue reading →

Posted in Dissolution, Fixed-Date Elections | 3 Comments

What Does “Calling an Early Election” Mean Anyway?

Posted on 2018/08/08 by

Introduction Judging by recent media reports, the answer depends upon the length of the writ and not necessarily on the date of the election itself, as the case of Quebec in 2018 and Canada in 2015 demonstrate.

Posted in Dissolution, Fixed-Date Elections | 3 Comments

The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act’s Complexities Could Save Prime Minister May

Posted on 2018/07/09 by

Two of the most prominent cabinet ministers, and those most heavily implicated in Brexit negotiations, have resigned from Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet, and her ministry could fall. However, the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act complicates matters and could even offer the beleaguered … Continue reading →

Posted in Crown (Powers and Office), Dissolution, Fixed-Date Elections, Reform | 12 Comments

Will Wade MacLauchlan Become the First Premier to Ignore a Fixed-Date Election Law Twice?

Posted on 2018/05/24 by

The CBC recently ran an interesting article about electoral speculation — the political journalist’s favourite pastime — in Prince Edward Island when Premier Wade MacLauchlan refused to answer a simple question from an Opposition MLA on when the next general … Continue reading →

Posted in Fixed-Date Elections, Reform | 1 Comment

Germany Is The New Belgium: Of Continental Parliamentarism and Caretaker Government

Posted on 2018/01/01 by

Introduction Germany has become the new Belgium now that the Merkel III Ministry, a Grand Coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats that should only have lasted from 2013 to 2017, has become a Belgian-style long-term caretaker government. Caretaker Chancellor … Continue reading →

Posted in Caretaker Convention, Codification of Convention, Comparative, Constructive Non-Confidence, Government Formation in Germany, Officialization of Convention | Leave a comment