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Governments have since had arrangements to win the support of parliamentary rivals, but Borden’s Unionist government was Canada’s only formal coalition government.

Q. Stephen Harper has said no one has the right to take power without an election and that Canada’s government is something to be decided by Canadians. He makes it sound like acoup d’état.

A. Hardly. Canadians don’t elect the government. Voters elect the House of Commons. The government is formed by the leader of the party that has the support – the confidence – of the majority of MPs. A party that loses the confidence of the House loses the right to govern.

Should the Conservatives be returned with a minority, by convention Harper could form a government. But it could only survive with the confidence of the NDP and or Liberals, which seems unlikely.

So it’s natural for Harper to demonize the legitimacy of coalitions.

In 2008, he faced the possibility of losing his job to a Liberal-NDP coalition led by Liberal Leader Stephane Dion with support from the separatist Bloc. Harper suggested the move was illegitimate and would thwart the will of voters.

Then he prorogued Parliament to dodge a non-confidence vote on his government’s upcoming fiscal update. He lived to fight another day.

Q. Why hasn’t Canada seen more coalitions?

A. One reason is our first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system. The candidate with the greatest number of votes wins the riding, even if they don’t get an absolute majority. Rival candidates and their shares of the popular vote are cast out, making it easier for one party to win a majority of seats (though not necessarily a majority government).