80%+ of Canadians want these rules – 10 rules should make it clear what a vote of non-confidence is, when prorogations are allowed, what can trigger next election etc., and other rules also needed to protect MP and Parliament rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, May 28, 2025

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on federal party leaders to learn the lessons of past minority governments and reach an agreement on eight public, written rules for a fair, democratic minority government, as many countries have, and more than 80% of Canadians want, and as the former Governor General called for in August 2016 in an interview with the Hill Times.  The rules should be enacted into law as soon as possible to help ensure Parliament runs fairly, democratically and transparently through to the next election.

The rules should make clear: when Parliament can be closed (prorogued) and for how long; what a vote of non-confidence is and what effects it has; when and how the opposition parties may get a chance to govern; that election dates are fixed unless a vote of non-confidence occurs; which party will get to try governing first after the next election, and; when the legislature will be required to open after the next election (Click here to see Backgrounder listing the 10 rules).

“As long as the federal rules for Parliament are unwritten and unclear, the Prime Minister and ruling party, even in a minority government situation, will be able to abuse their powers as much as President Trump has abused his powers, and Parliament’s ability to hold the government accountable will be undemocratically restricted,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch.

“There are no legal or other justifiable reasons for Canada’s political party leaders and the Governor General to fail to enact ten key rules for a fair, democratic minority government,” said Conacher. “It is clearly in the public interest that the ten rules be enacted to stop unfair abuses of power by the Prime Minister and ruling party that undemocratically violate the rights of Parliament and the will of the majority of voters.”

The current rules are unclear because they are unwritten constitutional conventions – even constitutional scholars disagree what lines they draw – or are too vague to be enforceable.  A large majority (78%) of constitutional scholars surveyed in fall 2012 supported writing down the conventions. The vagueness in the rules effectively allows the Prime Minister and ruling party to abuse their powers and violate the rules, as the only way to stop violations is for the unelected, unaccountable Governor General to decide that a violation has occurred and to try to stop the elected Prime Minister from doing what they want.

The Governor General, and lieutenant governors in several provinces, have almost never stopped a Prime Minister or Premier from doing whatever they want, and have allowed premiers to abuse their powers by not opening the legislature after an election, shutting it down arbitrarily for months, and calling snap elections in violation of fixed-election-date laws.  The Governor General allowed former PM Harper to call a snap election in 2008 in violation of the fixed-election-date law, to prorogue Parliament in a very questionable minority government situation, and to declare many votes in Parliament as confidence votes even though they were clearly not confidence votes.  The Governor General also allowed former PM Trudeau to call a snap election in August 2021 in violation of the fixed-election-date law and to prorogue Parliament in January 2025 in a very questionable minority government situation, and allowed PM Mark Carney to call a snap election in April 2025.

In England, Australia and New Zealand, political party leaders and MPs agreed years ago to clear, public rules so what happens after an election is fair for all the parties, and for voters.  Most countries in the world also have clear, public post-election rules.

As well, a survey of more than 2,000 Canadians by Harris-Decima in November-December 2012 showed that 84% of adult Canadians want enforceable rules to restrict key powers of the Prime Minister and provincial premiers.

After the eight rules are enacted into law, Parliament should, as the legislatures in England, Australia and New Zealand have, examine and enact other detailed fairness rules to ensure the legislature and MPs can hold the government accountable.  The rules should cover the following key areas: to ensure Parliament’s rules are enforced in a non-partisan manner, establish that a non-MP shall serve as Speaker of the House of Commons; restrict what can be included in omnibus bills; and set out the freedom and powers of individual politicians to vote how they want on resolutions and bills; how members of legislature committees are chosen; how MPs can be kicked out of a party caucus and reinstated; how an MP can legitimately choose to sit as an independent without facing a by-election; how a party caucus can initiate a review of the party leaders, and; what a Cabinet can do during an election period until the next Cabinet is chosen.

Democracy Watch also called on federal parties to establish a new, democratic and Canadianized process for choosing the next Governor General (who, like the Speaker, is a key guardian of Canada’s democracy) to assert our independence, and stop PM abuses of power.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Stop PM/Premier Power Abuses Campaign and Stop Prorogations and Other Abuses of Power Fund and Stop Muzzling MPs Campaign